Sturgeon Bay, Wis. (April 22, 2021) – If you’re an arts organization, environmental group, historical society, or other kind of nonprofit that is incurring expenses related to COVID-19, you are invited for the first time to join human service charities in seeking assistance from the Door County Emergency Response Fund.
The Door County Community Foundation and the United Way of Door County announced today that the Emergency Response Fund has begun addressing the third priority of its work. At the start of the COVID-19 crisis, three priorities were established for the Emergency Response Fund:
- Provide support for organizations offering immediate relief and assistance to people who are struggling during the stay-at-home order.
- Provide support for organizations helping people in the months ahead who continue to struggle as Door County’s dramatically shortened season and the national recession threaten their family’s economic security.
- Provide support for the non-profit organizations themselves, whose long-term viability is threatened by the economic crisis in Door County.
Families continue to struggle in Door County and thus the Emergency Response Fund will continue to address human service needs, but both the Community Foundation and United Way have concluded that the time has come to address the third priority of the Fund.
“Our first two priorities were focused on helping people who are struggling during this health and economic crisis,” says Amy Kohnle, Executive Director of the United Way of Door County. “While that work will continue, our third priority is to look at the health of the non-profit organizations themselves.”
“Arts organizations, environmental groups, historical societies, and other kinds of charities are major economic engines in Door County,” says Bret Bicoy, President & CEO of the Door County Community Foundation, Inc. “While our primary focus remains helping those families who are facing tough times, we also want to ensure that the charities essential to our quality of life survive this crisis.”
Here are some examples of activities that are newly eligible for assistance from the Emergency Response Fund:
- An arts organization that needs to upgrade an HVAC system to improve airflow in dressing rooms and thereby allow them to safely reopen for the season
- An environmental group that installed plexiglass around office workstations
- A non-profit gallery that needs to purchase a supply of masks and hand sanitizers for volunteer docents
- An historical society that purchased webcams to allow for remote programming
- All human service activities related to COVID-19 continue to be eligible for assistance and remain our primary focus
Decisions on immediate, unmet needs are typically available within a week. Requests for COVID-19 related projects or activities that have not yet occurred will be given the highest priority. Non-profit organizations may apply for reimbursement for COVID-19 related projects that have already been implemented, but consideration of those requests may be delayed until the immediate needs have been addressed.
Please note that faith-based non-profits do not qualify for direct support under the 3rd priority of the Fund but are welcome to apply under the 2nd priority of the Fund. Contact responsefund@givedoorcounty.org if you have questions.
To apply, or make a contribution to the Emergency Response Fund, visit
www.RespondDoorCounty.org.