As the novel global coronavirus continues to spread, Metta Fund remains fervently committed to supporting – and protecting – the health and wellness of older San Franciscans.
We believe it is imperative that funding and policy response be centered on older adults, people with disabilities, and those with chronic health conditions. To that end, we are preparing and responding to the COVID-19 outbreak by rapidly moving funds into the most vulnerable communities.
Rapid Response Fund
Metta Fund has created a $200,000 rapid response fund to swiftly deploy resources to community-based grant partners serving San Francisco’s older adults. The first phase of rapid response grants seeks to address the immediate needs of the City’s older adult-serving organizations. One-time grants will go to existing grant partners who have deep roots in community and strong experience working directly with older San Franciscans, particularly those furthest from access, who have been historically marginalized, with limited access to healthcare or social services, and those with limited English language proficiency, among others.
This initial round of grants will be dispersed this week. The second phase of rapid response grants will focus on emergent needs as well as collaborative philanthropic responses addressing medium- to long-term impacts of the pandemic.
Call to Philanthropy
We must take aggressive action to contain spread, lower risks, and ensure access to services for older adults, people with disabilities, people who are homeless, and other populations who are at greatest risk from COVID-19.
Metta Fund calls on philanthropy to act swiftly and not to hesitate in decision-making. This unprecedented crisis highlights historical inequities that will unfortunately be exacerbated and lead to wide-ranging community impact. We therefore implore our colleagues in philanthropy to increase funding for older adults, particularly older adults living in poverty. Additionally, we call on funders to allocate unrestricted resources to support older adults by either funding organizations directly or by joining one of the regional collaborative response funds such as the COVID-19 Coronavirus Regional Response Fund.
What We Are Doing
We must all do our part to limit the risk to older adults and at-risk populations and follow up-to-date public health guidance. In this vein, Metta Fund has closed its offices and conference space, and cancelled all travel and in-person meetings. Metta Fund employees are working remotely and stand in support—and in gratitude—of our community and grant partners working on the frontlines.
While we must distance ourselves physically, we encourage you to stay connected: call, text, email or video chat older friends, family, neighbors, and community members. During this time of uncertainty, let’s continue to find ways to connect to maintain health and wellness for everyone.
Questions
- General questions and inquiries about Metta Fund’s Rapid Response Fund can be directed to info@mettafund.org
- For media inquiries, please contact Director of Communications, Anna Karrer Manley at akarrer@mettafund.org
FAQs
- At this time, funding will be directed to a subset of existing grant partners only.
- Older adults are the most rapidly growing demographic in the nation. By 2030, nearly 30% of San Franciscans will be over the age of 60.
- Less than 1% of philanthropic funding currently goes to older adult serving/advocating organizations.