Community Impact

The Relief Fund’s most recent activation in March 2020 was in response to the devastating financial challenges of the COVID-19 global pandemic caused by the cascading effects of lost jobs and wages. The financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic not only dramatically amplified existing challenges for people in need, but many families also found themselves struggling for the first time in their lives. This created unprecedented demands on area nonprofits who required additional support to effectively serve those in crisis.

Fortunately, the community rose to the challenge with foundations, corporations, individuals and the City of Jacksonville donating a total of $5.5 million to the Relief Fund between mid-March and mid-September. Thanks to the generosity of local foundations covering overhead costs, 100 percent of donations were utilized to provide flexible resources to 112 nonprofits in Duval, Clay, Baker, St. Johns, Nassau and Putnam counties that provided safety-net services to those who needed them most. Click here to download the full impact report. Here are a few important ways those dollars positively impacted the community:

• 408,477 individuals and 88,441 households received support
• The majority of dollars helped with mortgage and rent payments, food assistance and utility bills for individuals and families affected by COVID-19

As intended, the Relief Fund retained a balance of approximately $240,000 so it is poised to respond immediately during the next crisis.