GRANT PROGRAM PIVOTS IN MIDST OF COVID-19

Deborah Bennett is the senior program officer for the Polk Bros. Foundation. The foundation is one of the more than 50 foundations and funders for the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities. Photo courtesy of Deborah Bennett
Deborah Bennett is the senior program officer for the Polk Bros. Foundation. The foundation is one of the more than 50 foundations and funders for the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities. Photo courtesy of Deborah Bennett

Grant program pivots in midst of COVID-19

BY TIA CAROL JONES

In late May, the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities announced its 2020 recipients for its Chicago Fund for Safe and Peaceful Communities, which is in its fifth year. One hundred sixty-four small community organizations were chosen as recipients for a $1 million grant. Community organizations who are grant recipients, receive up to $10,000 based on the programs they submit.

But in the midst of the pandemic, the Partnership for Safe and Peaceful Communities had to adapt to a virtual environment, with the aid of the Goldin Institute to help the grantees host virtual events.

The Polk Bros. Foundation is one of the more than 50 foundations and funders for the Partnership, whose goal is to support community-based, evidence-backed, sustainable strategies to address gun violence in 21 African American and Latino communities on the South and West sides of Chicago.

Deborah Bennett is the senior program officer for the Polk Bros. Foundation. Bennett said grantmaking decisions were made in early March.

“We did choose organizations based on what they proposed to do, but then we asked them to submit program budget and timeline modifications based upon the health and safety requirements of COVID-19. This year, we had an extra step in the process because of COVID-19,” she said.

Bennett said in the past, the fund has supported organizations that offer programs and activities aimed at building relationships between neighbors.

“They [the community organizations] had to figure out how to offer these things remotely. And so, for instance, with some of these block parties, instead of having a bouncy house and face painting and sports activities, communally, they are pivoting and providing individual families on the block with various games and sports equipment. On the same day, they’re going to engage in activities in their individual yards,” she said.

Bennett said another example of adapting and pivoting in the midst of coronavirus, is an organization that hosts a jazz festival. The organization plans to rent a flat-bed truck and play music and drive around the neighborhood so people can enjoy music from their porches.

Bennett said the Partnership brought in the Goldin Institute because it understood organizations would need help hosting their events virtually and the Goldin Institute is an expert in that area.

She said the Institute offered a series of webinars to grantees on topics like how to offer engaging events virtually.

“We are also offering at no cost to grantees personal protective equipment, like masks and gloves. We’re also in the process of assessing technologies and purchasing computers to help them offer their programs remotely.”

Bennett said the partnership wondered if it should continue to offer the grant because past programs promoted people coming together physically and now, with COVID-19, the world has changed.

“We felt like it’s even more important given the potential isolation that COVID-19 has caused that we support these kinds of community-building activities,” she said. “We want people to interact, but they will be physically distant.”

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