Homeless Response Sector Frontline Worker Funds
DUE Wednesday: We wanted to remind everyone about this incredible opportunity from Cedars Sinai and Social Justice Partners LA to give Frontline staff who worked through the pandemic, an extra bonus. The application is very easy!
We are still accepting applications for Homeless Response Sector Frontline Worker Funds
Applications for the Supporting Frontline Workers Fund are due Wednesday, October 27 . Has your organization applied? We are distributing up to $1M to Homeless Response Organizations in SPAs 2, 4, 5, 6, or 8. This will fund $500–$1,500 in cash stipends to frontline workers who provided daily, direct, and in-person services during the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you work for a qualifying organization and you’d like your organization to apply, please share this with your grantwriters/ leadership team or email us with requests for us to share with your organization’s leadership at racialequity@svpla.org .
FAQ's
If there were workers who worked in multiple SPAs including the eligible SPAs, are they eligible for the stipend?
As long your organization has a physical site in the eligible SPAs, and workers provided services in the eligible SPAs, err on the side of inclusion.
What do you consider a frontline worker?
We consider employees who provided daily, direct, in-person services to people experiencing homelessness throughout the pandemic a frontline worker. This includes people working in street outreach, in shelters, drop-in centers, food pantries, mobile showers, IHSS workers, and more.
What are the reporting requirements?
Reporting requirements will be minimal, mostly to learn about how you used the funds and questions around your organization’s challenges and efforts toward providing a living wage.
I’m a frontline worker and I’d like my organization to apply. How can I encourage them to apply?
Contact us at racialequity@svpla.org and tell us the name of the organization and the contact person or feel free to send them the link directly.
If we paid our workers hazard pay, would that disqualify them from the stipend?
As long as they did not make over $65k, then they qualify for the stipend.
Is there a maximum headcount for an organization to apply for?
There is no cap but keep in mind that we are unlikely to provide a grant for more than $100k to one organization. You can consider focusing on a subset of workers based on salary or the type of work they did.
Do workers need to still be employed with the applying organization to include them?
No. You can include former employees as long as you are able to get in touch with them and offer them the funds. We won’t be able to contact the workers directly.
What will you be doing with the data collected for the living wage report?
We will be capturing the current wages across the sector, working to concretely define a living wage, and conducting an analysis of what it would take to close the gap. The report will be oriented to public and private funders, and aims to capture the limitations of the current funding structures and propose alternative structures to close the wage gap. We hope to be in continued partnership with you for the living wage study.
What is the administrative overhead for?
You can use up to 15% of the funds for administrative overhead to cover any overhead costs, including payroll taxes and hours to administer the stipends. We will not ask for documentation of how the administrative overhead funds were spent.
