Strengthening the Greater Lehigh Valley Safety Net

The Greater Lehigh Valley COVID-19 Community Response Fund has issued more than $320,000 in emergency funding to 43 nonprofit agencies serving the residents of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties:

Benders Mennonite Food Bank
Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Lehigh Valley
Black Heritage Association of the Lehigh Valley
Boys & Girls Club of Allentown, Inc.
Boys & Girls Club of Bethlehem, Inc.
Boys & Girls Club of Easton, Inc.
Bradbury-Sullivan LGBT Community Center
Care Net of Carbon County
Casa Guadalupe Center
Catholic Charities - Diocese of Allentown
Center for Vision Loss
Champion Center
Children’s Home of Easton
Cohesion Network
Community Bike Works
Connections for Women - Bloom
Domestic Violence Service Center
Easton Area Neighborhood Center
Family Connection of Easton, Inc.
Family Promise of Carbon County
Grace Community Church Panther Valley Food Pantry
Greater Easton Development Partnership
Greater Valley YMCA
Hispanic Center Lehigh Valley
Housing Association & Development Corporation Allentown
Jewish Community Center of the Lehigh Valley
Jewish Family Service of the Lehigh Valley
KidsPeace
Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living
Meals on Wheels of the Greater Lehigh Valley
NAMI Lehigh Valley
New Bethany Ministries
Northeast Community Center
Northern Lehigh Food Bank
PA Outdoor Veterans
Pinebrook Family Answers
ProJeCt of Easton
Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley
Recovery Revolution, Inc.
Resurrected Community Development Corporation
Ripple Community Inc.
Safe Harbor Easton
SELF! LV
Shepherd House
Slater Family Network Foundation, Inc.
Special Olympics Carbon County
St. Peter’s Community Resource Center
Summit Hill Heritage Center
The Fund to Benefit Children and Youth
The Lehigh Conference of Churches
The Literacy Center
The Ortiz Ark Foundation
The Salvation Army of the Lehigh Valley
The Unidos Foundation
Third Street Alliance, on behalf of Regional Homeless Advisory Board
Treatment Trends, Inc.
Turn to Us
Turning Point of the Lehigh Valley
Valley Youth House
Via of the Lehigh Valley
Victim's Resource Center
Victory House of Lehigh Valley
Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley
West End Food Pantry
 
Two additional grants of $10,000 each were approved to support community mobilization and leadership efforts in the region.

The purpose of this team is to share information and continuously strategize and activate new and effective methods for addressing emerging needs due to the COVID -19 crisis and offer guidance on how to direct funds to address needs with individuals and community.  

Representatives from funding organizations, local government, grassroots community organizing, community health and those who have expertise in the fund’s focus populations will be convened to ensure cross sector collaboration and varied perspectives able to see all needs are being consider and effectively addressed. 

The Strategic Response Team includes members from:
Air Products
American Red Cross
Carbon County Community Foundation
Community Action Lehigh Valley
Greater Easton Development Partnership
Lehigh County Department of Community and Economic Development
Lehigh Valley Health Network
Lehigh Valley Community Foundation
Northampton County Department of Community and Economic Development
Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley
St. Luke’s University Health Network
United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley

Who is eligible to receive grants/funds?
In the first phase, the priority is to move resources to community-based organizations that are directly supporting local residents and families who are most affected by emerging health, economic, and social impacts from the COVID-19 health pandemic. We will be funding community-based services and support. Funds will be distributed on a rolling basis. As we begin to award grants, we will post them on this page. The fund will not provide grants to individuals. Grants are available to 501(c)(3) organizations that serve the residents of the Greater Lehigh Valley, which includes: Lehigh, Northampton, Carbon, and Bucks (only Palisades and Quakertown School Districts) counties.

My organization is interested in resources from this Fund. Can we be considered?
We are working closely with the Strategic Response Team to ensure that the grants awarded meet the greatest needs in communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The first round of funding will be distributed to organizations providing services for food access, supports for those who are economically vulnerable, and services for unsheltered residents and those at risk of homelessness. Funding from the Greater Lehigh Valley COVID-19 Community Response Fund will be one-time, general operating grants.

Requests are now being considered for the first round of funding. To be consider for future rounds of funding, please share your organization’s needs on this form. Information submission forms will be used for multiple purposes including: information to help guide funding decisions from the Greater Lehigh Valley COVID-19 Community Response Fund, information to help guide any future funding cycles, and where appropriate, a referral to other partners in the Greater Lehigh Valley. Please note that future funding cycles are contingent upon the availability of additional funds.
 
How will funding decisions be made?
The distribution of funds will be guided and approved by the Strategic Response Team. Representatives from funding organizations, local government, grass roots community organizing, community health and expertise in populations and needs more affected will be convened to ensure cross sector collaboration and varied perspectives able to see all needs are being consider and effectively addressed. 

When will you share who you fund?
We anticipate making a first round of investments in the coming weeks, and will publish the list of selected grantees on this website, along with short descriptions of the services and support they are providing. We hope that this will help the community navigate available resources.

How will the Fund shift gears if needed?
The Fund priorities may evolve as our region adapts to the COVID-19 outbreak. We will continue to prioritize communities most impacted, recognizing deep and historic inequities that are likely to be magnified in times of crisis. Crisis philanthropy recognizes the need to provide immediate resources for triage, as well as the importance of recovery resources to ensure community resilience.