The COVID-19 pandemic accentuated disparities and created new challenges in health and opportunity in our region and across the country.
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, we knew we had to advocate for the most vulnerable in our area, and we immediately established the Capital Region Community COVID-19 Response Fund in partnership with the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region to deploy emergency resources to 501(c)3 agencies that were addressing the emergency needs of our neighbors.
Thanks to the contributions of 40 corporate and philanthropic partners, and hundreds of community donors, the Fund has deployed $1.1 million to over 100 organizations throughout 11 counties, which has helped meet the needs of over 500,000 local neighbors in need.
About the Fund
Co-led by United Way of the Greater Capital Region and the Community Foundation for the Greater Capital Region, The Capital Region Community COVID-19 Response Fund is a coalition of philanthropy, government, and business partners who joined together to provide flexible resources to community-based organizations on the frontlines of the coronavirus outbreak in the Greater Capital Region of New York.
One-time operating grants were rapidly deployed to frontline human services organizations working with local communities who were most disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and the economic consequences of the outbreak. Funding was provided to organizations serving residents in Albany, Columbia, Fulton, Greene, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schoharie, Schenectady, Warren and Washington Counties.
October 8, 2020: Capital Region Community COVID-19 Response Fund Deployed Grants to over 100 Nonprofit Organizations, Helping More Than 500,000 People
June 24, 2020: Capital Region Community Covid-19 Response Fund Raises Over $1 Million and Awards Grants with New Grant Priorities
April 28, 2020: Capital Region Community COVID-19 Response Fund Deploys Additional $200K to Nonprofits Supporting Under-Resourced Communities
April 9, 2020: $97K Deployed to Frontline Organizations in Second Round of Grants from the Capital Region Community COVID-19 Response Fund
April 1, 2020: Capital Region Community COVID-19 Response Fund Raises over $450K and Deploys $200K in First Round of Grants
March 31, 2020: COVID-19 Update from United Way of the Greater Capital Region
March 13, 2020: Capital Region Community COVID-19 Response Fund Created to Provide Support for Affected Communities
- General questions & inquiries about the COVID-19 Response Fund can be directed to questions@unitedwaygcr.org.
- For interested corporate donors and partners, please contact Peter Gannon at peter@unitedwaygcr.org.
- For media inquiries and interview requests, please contact Cassandra Madsen at cmadsen@unitedwaygcr.org.
- If you are a current fund advisor and would like to recommend a grant from your fund, please contact Shelly Connolly at sconnolly@cfgcr.org
We deployed funds to 103 Capital Region organizations
Albany Community Action Partnership
Albany Damien Center
Alliance for Positive Health
American Red Cross of NENY
ARC of NY AVillage, Inc
Battenkill Community Services
Berkshire Farm Center & Services for Youth
CAPTAIN Community Services
Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Albany
Catskill Center for Independence
Center for Disability Services
Center for Employment Opportunities
Colonie Senior Service Centers, Inc.
Community Caregivers
Grateful Villages
Hudson Valley Community College
In Our Own Voices
Jewish Family Services on NENY
Lifepath
Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County
Mechanicville Area Community Center
Mission Accomplished
RISSE
Saratoga County Economic Opportunity Council, Inc.
Schenectady County Community Action Program
Schenectady County Community College
Schoharie County Community Action Program, Inc
Social Enterprise and Training (SEAT) Center
St. Anne Institute
St. Catherine's Center for Children
Stillwater Community Center
The Center for Community Justice
Transitional Services Association
Trinity Alliance of the Capital Region
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), Albany Field Office
Unity House of Troy
Vanderheyden Hall
Wellspring
YWCA of the Greater Capital Region
Boys and Girls Club of Schenectady
Boys and Girls Club of the Capital Area
Capital Roots
Catskill Food Pantry at St Luke’s
Chabad Lubavitch of Saratoga County
Clifton Park Chabad
Comfort Food of Washington County
Commission on Economic Opportunity (CEO)
Free Food Fridge
Food Pantries of the Capital District
Franklin Community Center
Montgomery County office of the Aging
Oakwood Community Center
Redemption Church of Christ
Regional Food Bank for Montgomery County
Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York
Schenectady Inner City Ministries
Schenectady Community Ministries
Shalom Food Pantry
South End Children’s Café
The Fiqh & Dawah Center
The Joshua Project
The Salvation Army - Albany Corps
The Salvation Army - Glens Falls Corps
The Salvation Army - Hudson Outpost
The Salvation Army – Saratoga
The Salvation Army - Schenectady Citadel
The Salvation Army - Troy Corps
Troy Area United Ministries
Tru Heart
Welcome Chapel Missionary Baptist Church
Bethesda House
Better Community Neighborhoods
City Mission
Homeless and Travelers Aid Society (HATAS)
Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition
Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless
Joseph's House
Rebuilding Together Saratoga County
Shelters of Saratoga, Inc.
St. Paul's Center
TRIP
United Tenants of Albany, Inc (UTA)
City Mission
Equinox
Northern Rivers Family of Services
Rensselaer County Heroin Coalition
Saratoga Center for the Family
Senior Hope Counseling, Inc.
The Living Room, Ellis Medicine
Whitney M. Young, Jr. Health Center
Community Partners
Albany County
City of Albany
Rensselaer County
Stephen Adams
Ashraf Afonja
Precious Agbo
Megan Allen
Raymond Andrews
Thaddeus Andrus
Janet Angelis
Cynthia Artis
Venkata Atmakuri
Arpita Ayers
Michael Ayers
Sheelagh Baily
Sheila Baker
Judith Barlow
David Barnes
Howard & Susan Barnes
Ira Baumgarten
Kathryn Beauvais
Mary Beilby
Thomas Begley
Michele Bell
Patricia Benac
Kaitlyn Berkery
Anthony Bevilacqua
Michael Bigos
Chad Binney
Elizabeth Bishop
Ketti Blackwell
Brian Boardman
Erika Borman
Natalie Bova
Mark Braaten
Thomas Brown
Regina Brownell
Harry Bucciferro
Engels Bueno
Chantel Burnash
Mike Cacioppo
Mary Cage
Elizabeth Callahan
Marietta Carr
Katherine Caruso
Katharine Chapman
Mona Cichello
David Cifarelli
Liz Cifarelli
Steven Cifarelli
Linda Cioffi
Thomas Civil
Lisa Clark
Victoria Cline
Steven Cohen
Jean Colaneri
Rachel Cole
Edward & Susan Connolly
Cook Family Fund/Craig & Molly Cook
Rob Coolidge*
Steve Cordell
Joanne Cornell
Tim Cortes
Michael Crispino
Crossfit for the People
Christine Crouch
Jennifer Cullen
Tamara Curl
Robert & Douglas Curry-Jasinske
Matt & Sharon Cutler
Patricia Dallmann-Weaver
Jordan Daniels
Kathrynn Dannemann
Rebecca Daniels
Jacob Day
Nicholas DeCicco
Kito Delgado
Barbara Diamond
Rickie Diaz
David DiMezza
Ann DiSarro
Foster Donnell
Diane Donovan
Tom & Gail Donovan
David Dorsey
Susan DuBois Ian Duckor
Kathryn Dudding
Shannon Duerr
Mary Dugas
Paul Hauschen
Jill Dugas Hughes
Timothy Dumas
Newell Eaton
John Eberle
Sacheverel Eldrid
Debbie Eller
Michael Esposito
Hannah Ettenberg
Patricia Fahy
Fidelity Charitable
Gabrielle Fisher
Rowena Fitri
Francine Frank
Renato Friello
Christopher Gabriels
Maureen Gannon
GE Precision Heating
Worth Gretter
Gary Grill
Joseph Guag
Steven Gueci
Ronald Guglielmo
Ryan Hanley
Logan Hardy
Martha Harvey
Paul Hauschen
Katie Hebert
Matthew & Jennifer Heerwagen
Leah Henderson
Ralph Heumann
Patricia Higgins
Dean Hill
Ellen Hillander
Douglas & Margaret Hinkle
John & Patti Hinkle
David Hoffman
Amy Hogan-Moulton
Stephen Humphreys
James Hundt
Nguyen Huynh
James Jackson
Harriet Jaffe
Valerie Jefferson
Kathleen Jensen
Amy Jesaitis
Gloristein Johnson
Christopher Kaminski
Ahmad Karim
Kristine Karl
Madeline Kauffman
Angela Kaufman
Dan Keefe
Hayley Kellam
Siobhan Kent
Matthew Kerwin
Angelo Keyes
Tammy Kimble
Shiro & Susanne Kimura
Frank Koncewicz
Kenneth Krouner
Kiran Kumar Chedella
Katherine Lavelle
Alexandra Leland
Zhenyu Liu
Doug Loeser
Jessica Logozzo
Daniel Loman
Todd Lorenc
Barbara M. Louthan
Collen Lynch
Margaret Lynch-Brennan
Katharine MacGregor
Alexander MacKellar
John Mackowiak
Sajid Mahmood
Rosemary Malette
Stephen Mann
Dhanushkodi Mariappan
Abbey Marr
Andrew Marsh
Cathy Martin
Joan Martin
Jeff Marzinsky
Anne Masters
Donna Maxwell
Bonnie McCaig
Kathleen McCann
Patricia McCdutchan
Jason McCreary
Cameron McPherson
William & Lorraine McPherson
Gail Meehan
Gregory Migirditch
Amanda Monthie
Kari Moretti
Sarah Mountz
Joseph Murphy
Meaghan Murphy
Francis Musso
Thomas Nardacci
Nicolas Nealon
Nina O'Connor
Brian O’Grady
Kathleen O'Hare
Patrick O'Keefe
Caelinn Oliva
Emily Olsen
Kate Otis
Hilary A. Papineau
Diane Cameron Pascone
William Patterson
Ulysse Pedreira Segade
Ellen Peterson
Jody Petitti
Katharine Petronis
Astrid Pettersen
Bob Phibbs
Stephen Pinckney
Carole Pink
Michael-Aaron & Amber Poindexter
Astrid & Neil Pettersen & Rice
Nancy Preston
Sabrina Pry
Katie Pryslak
DePaul Housing Management
Blair Raymond
Marna Redding
Cheryl Reeves & Martha Schultz
Nathaniel Reul
Beth Riccardi
Jonathan Richardson
John Rinaldo
Catherine Roberts
George Robinson
Rohinton & Priti Irani Charitable Foundation
Paul Rosenberg
Jeb Rowledge
John Rozett
Scott Russell
Sheila Ryan
George Santore
Melissa Sathavipat
Bella Satra
Adela Scharff
Bella Satra
Frank & Wilma Schmeler
James Schultz
John Schumacher
Kaitlyn Sciarrino
Teresa Scilipote
Audrey Seidman
Pamela Selover
Heather Senecal
Margaret Sherman
Mary Shierly
Basil Shuga
Kathleen Skeals
Pamela Skripak
Sandra Slingerland
Monica Soare
Scott Solomon
Valerie Solomon
Da Song
Glenna Spitze
Panduranga Vijayakumar
Sripati Venkata
Jean Stern
Emily Stewart
Barry Stone
Mary Francis Stoute
Richard Straut
Thomas Straut
Scott & Jill Strock
Christopher Stump
Christopher Suriano
Alyssa Talanker
Laura Tarlo
Megan Tatro
Cory Taylor
Laura Tedford
Samantha Torrey
Ida Traschen
Patrick Underhill
Amy Underwood
Charmaine Ushkow
Kevin Vaughn
Teal Vivacqua
Daniela Weiss
Meredith Weiss
Jennifer Wenzel
Colleen Whalen
Hannah White
Michele Woodard
Barbara Youngberg
Yusrina Za'ba
Willow Zielenski
*In Honor of
United Way GCR's COVID-19 Response
$88,750 in six-month emergency grants to 16 United Way funded agencies.
$75,000 invested for essential PPE and expansion of COVID-19 testing resources and mobile-testing, providing the testing capacity needed to the region’s most underserved communities, helping reopen the Capital Region in June 2020.
$10,000 grant to the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Capital Area for its Lyricism 101 Music Mobile program, helping the program to meet social distancing restrictions.
$7,500 grant to Mechanicville Area Community Services Center to support the purchase of a new food delivery van to expand its capacity to meet the increased food needs.
1,300 hours of volunteer service completed during the April to May pause.
Collaborated with local creative organizations to host the Creative Impact Fund, which deployed $10,000 to local creatives who were out of work as a result of the pandemic.
Accommodated a 100% increase in call volume on 211 from people looking for referrals for basic needs and COVID-19 related concerns.
Featured 70 live guest readers on Facebook for children and families to engage in reading while stuck at home.
Make a Donation to United Way's COVID-19 Response
Coordinated by Albany Med, the Capital Region COVID-19 Vaccine Network is developing and implementing plans to ensure the safe, equitable and efficient distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine across Albany, Columbia, Greene, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, Warren and Washington counties.
Get important updates, learn how to volunteer, and check your eligibility to receive the vaccine at www.CapitalRegionVAX.org or call 211 for help with vaccine-related questions.
If you need assistance finding food, paying housing bills, accessing free childcare, or other essential services, use the search bar at 211neny.org or call 211 to speak to someone who can help.