Piper Trust Awards $4.8 Million More in Emergency Response & COVID-Related Grants

VIRGINIA G. PIPER CHARITABLE TRUST Press Release
October 7, 2020

PHOENIX, Ariz.—Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust continues its commitment to help mitigate the complex impacts of COVID-19 by awarding additional emergency response/COVID-related grants totaling more than $4.8 million. The majority of these funds support frontline organizations serving people in need as effects of the healthcare crisis ensue. Since March 2020, Piper Trust has awarded more than $14 million in COVID-related emergency grants, and since January 2020, the Trust has awarded more than $18.5 million in total grantmaking.

“This public health crisis demands that philanthropies thoroughly understand the national agenda so that we can make informed strategic investments locally to rebuild,” said Mary Jane Rynd, president and CEO of Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust. “Trustees and staff are focused on this while reaching out and listening to our community. It’s also critical that philanthropies coordinate grant support, develop new relationships, and explore new leads that will help us build lasting community resilience,” Rynd said.

Following outlines the composition of $4.8 million in grants awarded to support community response efforts due to COVID-19.

Trust-Initiated Grant Awards Due to COVID-19 Crisis—Total: $2,700,000

Adelante Healthcare ($225,000) • Arizona Undocumented Workers Relief Fund ($250,000) • Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley, Inc. ($350,000) • Circle the City ($125,000) • Dignity Health Foundation East Valley ($250,000) • Human Services Campus, Inc. ($80,000) • Mountain Park Health Center ($200,000) • Navajo Nation Government ($100,000) • Northwest Valley Connect ($20,000) • Society of St. Vincent de Paul ($250,000) • The Salvation Army ($250,000) • Terros Health ($225,000) • Valle del Sol ($175,000) • Valley of the Sun YMCA ($150,000) • Wesley Community & Health Centers ($50,000)

Shutdowns and closures due to COVID-19 have amplified the issue of housing and the looming potential of evictions for people throughout the community. The grants to St. Vincent de Paul and The Salvation Army support their respective emergency rent assistance programs that help individuals remain in their homes while managing job loss or illness, for example. Social services organizations face a growing demand for shelter services—particularly during high heat days or the coming colder months. New expenses to accommodate physical distancing and safety are emerging—the Human Services Campus grant supports its unplanned and increasing expenses related to staffing, security, and cleaning for emergency overnight shelter.

“Families, especially those among frontline workers who don’t have the ability to work from home, face increasingly complex challenges right now as they try to navigate lost jobs, reduced work hours, a lack of child care, and in-person schooling for their children,” said Shannon Clancy, associate CEO of St. Vincent de Paul. “While the extension of the eviction moratorium through the end of the year helps allow families to stay in their homes, it also worries us, as we see a tidal wave of need that continues to build with each passing month. Private funds are critical at this time as it allows organizations like St. Vincent de Paul to meet the needs of people in emergency situations who can’t access government resources,” Clancy said.

Grant awards to the Arizona Undocumented Workers Relief Fund and the Navajo Nation COVID-19 Relief Fund are important to note as the COVID-19 virus has no boundaries, and the pandemic often highlights inequities in services and support. For example, undocumented workers and mixed-status families are specifically excluded from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Households with even one adult who does not have legal residency status are ineligible for any CARES-funded assistance. This disproportionately affects immigrant families. Families living on the Navajo Nation are also disproportionately affected by COVID-19. For example, hand washing—a basic measure to curb the spread of the virus—is hampered as many families on the Navajo Nation have limited access to running water.

Piper Trust 2020 Initiative Grant Awards—Total: $3,125,250

The Trust’s 2020 Initiative honors Piper Trust’s 20th anniversary and Virginia Piper’s legacy, to invest an additional $20 million in grantees’ organizational capacity through programs such as ATLAS and other cohort-type efforts. Two organizations received Post-ATLAS Awards before the onset of COVID-19. They are Foundation for Senior Living ($500,000) and Southwest Autism Research & Resource Center ($500,000).

After the onset of COVID-19, many organizations had to adjust and adapt their operations and activities due to the pandemic. As such, the Trust awarded Post-ATLAS grants to the following organizations; these grantees may repurpose their grant funds if they choose to accommodate their new COVID-related work.

Adelante Healthcare ($500,000) • Alliance of Arizona Nonprofits ($50,000) • Aster Aging, Inc. ($135,000) • Be A Leader Foundation ($52,500) • Beatitudes Campus ($500,000) • Benevilla ($303,500) • Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Arizona ($120,500) • Duet: Partners In Health & Aging ($86,000) • ICAN ($93,000) • New Pathways for Youth ($86,000) • Raising Special Kids ($85,250) • Stardust Nonprofit Building Supplies, Inc. ($113,500)

Pre-COVID-19 and Immediate/Disaster Support Grants—Total: $3,449,500

Earlier this year, prior to the need for COVID-related support, Piper Trust had its ongoing and regular grantmaking in the pipeline, among other Trust-initiated grants. The Trust congratulates the following organizations for the well-deserved grant awards they received.

Responsive Grantmaking: grants that support nonprofit programs, capital campaigns, or capital projects that fit Trust core funding areas.

Arizona Centers for Comprehensive Education and Life Skills ($100,000) • Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley, Inc. ($250,000) • Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona ($450,000) • St. Joseph’s Foundation ($132,000) • Foundation for Senior Living ($430,000) • Future for KIDS ($87,500) • Jewish Family and Children’s Services ($200,000) • The Neighborhood Christian Clinic ($220,000) • Raising Special Kids ($180,000)

Trust-Initiated Grantmaking: grants that are unique, often long-term investments, and designed for broad impact. Examples are Piper Trust capacity-building grants related to the Good Governance Fund, the Piper Fellows program, and AGILE.

Area Agency on Aging, Region One, Inc. ($50,000) • Arizona Recreation Center for the Handicapped ($15,000) • Ballet Arizona ($391,000) • Barrow Neurological Foundation ($50,000) • Boys Hope Girls Hope of Arizona ($15,000) • Esperança, Inc. ($15,000) • Free Arts for Abused Children of Arizona ($15,000) • Fresh Start Women’s Foundation ($50,000) • Herberger Theater Center ($342,000) • McDowell Sonoran Conservancy ($15,000) • Phoenix Chorale ($15,000) • Technical Assistance Partnership of Arizona ($75,000) • Valley of the Sun YMCA ($15,000)

Immediate Community-Need Grantmaking: grants that respond to a time-sensitive challenge (unrelated to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Arizona Collective Impact Initiative for Child Safety and Well-Being ($62,000) • Census 2020 Project Fund ($100,000) • American Red Cross, Greater Phoenix Chapter ($125,000 for Hurricane Laura relief efforts) • Catholic Relief Services ($50,000 for Beirut explosion relief efforts).

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About Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust: 
Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust supports organizations that enrich health, well-being, and opportunity for the people of Maricopa County, Arizona. Since it began awarding grants in 2000, Piper Trust has invested more than $484 million in local nonprofits and programs. Piper Trust grantmaking areas are healthcare and medical research, children, older adults, arts and culture, education, and religious organizations. For more information, visit pipertrust.org | @PiperTrust | Facebook. For Piper Trust’s Annual Financial Report: Fiscal Year Ending March 2019, visit FY 2019.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Karen Leland, 480-556-7125 / kleland@pipertrust.org
Chief Communications Officer
Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust