Thirty non-profit agencies were thrown a financial lifeline by the Franklin County Commissioners this week to help them stay afloat after the social service agencies have been hit by unprecedented demand for services during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The COVID-19 Resilience Initiative Grants provided by the county total more than $5.3 million and will assist nonprofits in helping residents avoid eviction and stay in their homes, put food on their tables, access mental health services, and more.
The county’s funding is in addition to $15 million in Resilience Initiative Grants provided by the City of Columbus to 79 different agencies. The combined $20 million in grants were announced in a joint press conference on Monday, September 21, 2020 at the Godman Guild.
“The need is so great right now; requests for funding that came in totaled more than 4 times what was available. So the county and city went through a lengthy screening process to ensure the money would go to agencies in good standing, with a proven track record, which target some of our most needed services right now such as housing, combatting violence and addiction,” said John O’Grady, President of the Franklin County Commissioners. “The work that these agencies do has never been more critical than the demands they face right now.”
Providing and funding social services is one of the primary services provided by Franklin County, and these grants are in addition to more than $750 million in annual Franklin County expenditures for human and social service agencies each year.
The county and city utilized CARES Act dollars for these grants, which were provided by the federal government to help cities and counties weather the pandemic. A full list of county Resilience Initiative Grants recipients is below. Click
here for a list of county COVID-19 resources for residents and businesses, and
here for more information about Board of Commissioners grants.
FRANKLIN COUNTY RESILIENCE INITIATIVE GRANT RECIPIENTS
| 1Divineline2health |
$60,000 |
| At Home By High |
$17,500 |
| Boys & Girls Club |
$277,980 |
| Catholic Social Services Inc. |
$424,165 |
| Clintonville-Beechwold CRC |
$446,032 |
| Homeport |
$230,000 |
| Columbus Speech & Hearing Center |
$102,098 |
| Freedom a la Cart |
$147,000 |
| Dress For Success Columbus |
$222,545 |
| Franklinton Rising |
$50,000 |
| Furniture Bank of Central Ohio |
$248,173 |
| Greater Hilltop Area Shalom Zone |
$17,745 |
| Halt Violence |
$40,000 |
| Heart Food Pantry |
$162,000 |
| Hope Hollow |
$90,000 |
| I Know I Can |
$200,000 |
| Image Character Etiquette Inc. |
$10,000 |
| Iota Sweethearts Inc. |
$8,500 |
| Jewish Family Services |
$373,000 |
| Kaleidoscope Youth Center |
$135,829 |
| Lower Lights Ministries |
$55,000 |
| Muslim Family Services of Ohio |
$154,319 |
| Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio |
$310,058 |
| Modcon Living |
$80,300 |
| Restoring Our Own Through Transformation |
$20,000 |
| Ruling Our Experiences Inc. |
$180,000 |
| Somali Community Association of Ohio |
$34,000 |
| Stonewall Columbus Inc. |
$255,882 |
| The Homeless Families Foundation |
$320,287 |
| YWCA Columbus |
$651,282 |
| Total |
$5,325,695 |