United Way Logo
Search
Search
Menu
Newsletter
Keep Me Informed! Sign up for updates from United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley.
Join Our Mailing List
Events
News
Donate
Search for:
See The Impact
Education
Food Access
Healthy Aging
Emergency Services
Results
United Way Partners
Take Action
Give
Advocate
Volunteer
Racial Justice and Equity
COVID-19
Find Resources
Resource Center
For Individuals
For Corporations
For Campaign Coordinators
For Nonprofits
For Community Schools
Media Center
Learn About United Way
What We Do
Why We Do It
How We Do It
Who We Are
Financial Reports and Policies
Investments
Search for:
Nonprofit Resources
Home
|
Take Action
|
COVID-19
|
Nonprofit Resources
Commnunity Response Fund
The
COVID-19 Community Response Fund
has processed requestions for an initial round of funding focused on providing open, operational grants to agencies that are supporting food access, homeless and housing insecure populations and those who are economically vulnerable. For additional information and FAQs, please click
HERE
to visit the COVID-19 Community Response Fund website.
Families in Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties looking for food, shelter, behavioral health and/or childcare and school resources or need to find baby and infant essentials for all families in Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon counties can be directed to
PA211.org
.
More Resources
PA 211
We encourage members of our community to call 211 or visit their
WEBSITE
if they need help. Pennsylvania 211 East is a free, confidential, non-emergency, 24-hour information and referral service that connects Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon County residents with the health and human services they need.
PA 211 is counting on you to help them stay up-to-date with any changes to your operations. You can provide updates directly to 211 by emailing
houser@uwlanc.org
.
Child Abuse Prevention and Mitigation
Child abuse and neglect is, unfortunately, an everyday issue. At a time when parents are worried, stressed and stuck at home, we’re seeing a significant drop in child welfare referrals. Undoubtedly,the rates of abuse and neglect are rising, but the referral sources — schools, youth programs, houses of worship — are closed.
If something does not look safe, sound safe or feel safe, report it.
HOTLINE 1-800-932-0313
To connect a family in need with resources:
Lehigh County 610-782-3200
Northampton County 610-252-9060
If you suspect immediate danger, call 911.
Outreach Materials
Click on the images to download resource guides.
For Community Members: Available in
English
and
Spanish
For Essential Workers: Available in
English
and
Spanish
For Parents: Available in
English
and
Spanish
For Schools
For Service Providers
Health and Safety
Be sure to use the cloth face covering correctly! Find more information from the CDC
HERE
.
Live daily briefings from Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Levine:
www.governor.pa.gov/live/
or
Facebook
AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities
webinar series brings together local leaders and advocates who are involved in the age-friendly efforts throughout the nation. To learn more, click
HERE
.
Housing and Utilities Resources
NEW!
Rental Assistance:
Individuals facing eviction due to COVID-19 can access rental assistance through the CARES Act. Click
HERE
for details.
Utilities will not be turned off in Pennsylvania during the COVID-19 outbreak. For more information, please click
HERE
.
PPL
has stated that it will not cut off service to any customer for unpaid bills until further notice and will reconnect service for any customers who were disconnected recently.
Guidance for homeless shelters can be found
HERE
.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the
Greater Valley YMCA
- Allentown Warming Station and Bethlehem Housing Program have been temporarily suspended.
Service Electric
made a commitment to join the ''Keep America Connected'' pledge to:
Not terminate service to any residential or small business due to the inability to pay their bill.
Waive late fees that residential or small business customers incur because of their economic circumstance related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Open its Wi-Fi hotspots to everyone.
Additionally, SECTV will offer free 10x5 Internet service for 90 days for new customers during this ongoing national emergency. For more information on modem access and the 60-day financial grace period, please contact a SECTV Customer Service representative:
Toll Free in PA (800) 232-9100
Toll Free in NJ (800) 225-9102
or visit the
WEBSITE
.
RCN’s Lifeline
program has provided a discount on phone service for qualifying low-income consumers to ensure that all Americans have the opportunities and security that phone service brings. Requests may take up to 14 business days in order to be processed, For more information and to apply, visit their
WEBSITE
.
Foreclosures and evictions for mortagages insured by the Federal Housing Administration will be suspended until the end of April.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court prohibited evictions, ejectments, or other displacements from a residence based on failure to make a payment through April 3.
Food Services
The national nutrition lunch programs will continue, under the Seamless Summer or the Summer Food Service Program. Lehigh Valley Food Policy Council is working on this.
Second Harvest Food Bank
serves 60,000 people each month in Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, Pike and Wayne counties and will continue to deliver to their 200 nonprofit agencies.
To find your local food pantry, visit the 'Find Food' tab on the Second Harvest Food Bank
website
.
School districts and nonprofit agencies are coordinating efforts to continue to provide meals to our children, despite schools being closed.
The Morning Call
has compiled a list of these sites and continues to update it as more districts post their locations. Many of our local students and families are dependent on the meals that schools provide.
For an updated listing of meals click
HERE
.
Greater Valley YMCA
will continue to serve youth meals from 4-5 p.m. Monday through Friday:
·
Allentown
(425 S. 15
th
Street, Allentown)
·
Bethlehem
(430 E. Broad Street, Bethlehem)
Mental and Emotional Health
Resilient Lehigh Valley has created a user-friendly guide with mental health resources. Click
HERE
to access this list of helpful resources.
Social Emotional and Mindfulness Lesson Plans
Click
HERE
to access ready-to-go lesson plans and videos featuring ways to reduce anxiety and stress and increase sense of calm and mindfulness for elementary students, secondary students, school staff and parents and caregivers.
Lesson plans were developed by Lehigh University College of Education, Shanthi Project and Wildlands Conservancy in partnership with Resilient Lehigh Valley, Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21 and Colonial Intermediate Unit 20.
Monthly Trainings
Join Resilient Lehigh Valley for a series of free monthly virtual trainings on critical topics highlighting local leaders and local best practices. The goal of these trainings is to continue building more and better tools in our practitioner toolbox, deepening our trauma informed practices, staying connected to one another and providing care for the caregivers.
Wednesday, April 29 at 2 p.m.: Best Practices in Telehealth and Virtual Check-ins
Wednesday, May 27 at 2 p.m.: Recognizing Signs of Vicarious and Secondary Trauma
Multi-language Information and Materials
Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley has produced a series of multi-language video messages from trusted messengers:
La Familia De Paula proveé información importante
Bushe Family and COVID-19
Lehigh Valley Health Network Coronavirus (COVID-19) Preparedness and Care Guide:
English
|
Espanol
Flyers and graphics are available
HERE
.
Pennsylvania Department of Health – Translated materials are available
HERE
.
Free outreach materials including videos and graphics are available at
www.pacast.com
.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Fact Sheets available in multiple languages
HERE
.
Nonprofit Assistance
Paycheck Protection Program Resources:
For guidance from the Small Business Administration (SBA) on the Paycheck Protection Program,
click here.
For guidance from the Treasury Department on the Paycheck Protection Program,
click here.
Paycheck Protection Program application is available
here
.
The Chamber of Commerce has also issued updated guidance for small business and nonprofits.
Click here to access their guidance on calculating your loan amount
.
Independent Sector has issued guidance on the documents nonprofits need to prepare in order to apply.
Click here for their fact sheet.
For additional clarification on applying, we recommend you contact your SBA regional office, which can be found
here
or an approved SBA lending institution in your community.
U.S. Small Business Administration:
Find Eligible PPP Lenders
National Development Council:
Helping Borrowers Complete Strong PPP Applications PowerPoint
PPP Employee Wage Calculator
U.S. Department of the Treasury:
The CARES Act Works for All Americans
Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry:
Keep Yourself Safe at Work During a COVID-19 Pandemic
The
Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations
offers a variety helpful resources for nonprofits at
www.pano.org
including information about:
Legislation
Advocacy
Unemployment Compensation
Pennsylvania CareerLink Lehigh Valley
:
Unemployment Compensation, Wages and Workplace Guidance
The
Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
(CARES Act) (S. 748) provides significant funding for businesses, hospitals, schools, and social support programs, among many other things. For more information and to check out theor website, click
HERE
. For a quick overview guide on the nonprofit loans available, click
HERE
SBA’s
Economic Injury Disaster Loans
offer up to $2 million in assistance and can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing. These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. The interest rate for non-profits is 2.75%. SBA offers loans with long-term repayments in order to keep payments affordable, up to a maximum of 30 years.
Terms are determined on a case-by-case basis, based upon each borrower’s ability to repay.
Businesses may obtain information and loan applications by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the hearing impaired), or by e-mailing
disastercustomerservice@sba.gov
.
Loan applications can also be downloaded at
www.sba.gov/disaster
. Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via the SBA’s secure website at
https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela
.
FamilyWize
provides discounts to lower the cost of prescription medications - whether individuals are insured or uninsured.
Senator Browne's office published a
COVID-19 Resource Guide for Municipalities, Nonprofits and Community Organizations
to connect individuals, families, and groups with federal, state, local and private sources of funding. To access the resource guide, click
HERE
.
The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce
and
East Stroudsburg University
's CARES Act webinar shares legal, accounting, and baking insights from three Lehigh Valley professionals. To view the presentation, click
HERE
.
Technology and Staffing
Tech Soup
is a company dedicated to helping nonprofits worldwide. They provide a litany of services including tech training resources. They just made their “Working Remotely” training track free for everyone right now. This is normally a $100 track of courses and includes training on the apps and services we have available through O365. If you have any staff members that are struggling to grasp these apps, this is where they should start. The training track includes the following courses:
· Coronavirus Mitigation Resources
· Cybersecurity 101 and 201
· OneDrive 101
· Planner 101
· SharePoint 101
· Teams 101
· Teams 102
Any staff member can sign up for these courses by creating a free account with Tech Soup. These are class type courses, so they range from 30 minutes to 3 hours depending on which ones you decided to take.
Here is the link to the courses
.
· Need help with insurance and/or COBRA? Capital BlueCross will continue to be available to assist people with options. Those who lose their insurance can contact Capital BlueCross at 855-505-2683 or
rosann.humphrey@capblucross.com
.
· Several nonprofits are accepting "COVID-19" time as outside of any sick or vacation time.
RCN
is offering 60 days of free internet to students K-12. Call (866) 926-6704 to enroll in the LIfeline Internet Program.
Service Electric
is offering free wi-fi, modems, and breaks to customers for 60 days. Call (800) 232-9100 to speak to a representative.
Volunteer Resources
Translators are needed. You can sign up to volunteer
HERE
or visit the following links for more information:
Allentown Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps
Bethlehem Medical Reserve Corps
Northampton County Citizen Corps
Finger printing is now being done in additional places. A current list of open fingerprint sites is available
HERE.
Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley
is posting and sharing volunteer needs in the community. If you need assistance, especially tasks that can be done virtually, visit:
https://www.volunteerlv.org/partnership
and for updates on the Volunteer Center's COVID-19 action plan, visit:
https://www.volunteerlv.org/covid-19
.
ESSENTIAL VS. NON-ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES (PENNSYLVANIA)
For a list of COVID-19 business resources, click
HERE
.
Advocate
PANO (
Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofits
) sent an email last evening asking all members of the PA Congressional delegation to support the following stimulus package for nonprofit charitable organizations:
· $60 Billion in emergency stimulus aimed to help adversely affected charitable organizations.
· Universal charitable tax deductions.
· Extends payroll tax credits to all charities, regardless of size, that provide paid family leave, and sick time pay.
This is consistent with the National Council of Nonprofits advocacy letter
HERE
. If you have the opportunity to engage in advocacy, you may want to echo these points to present a consistent "ask".
Learn More About Nonprofit Resources
Lehigh Co. Nonprofit Relief Funds
COVID-19
Get Help
How To Help
COVID-19 Community Response Fund
Thank You Essential Workers
Show me how my $$ Makes A Difference
Please insert a dollar amount below
$
could help United Way provide:
Make a donation today