OBCF Awards $65,000 in COVID Grants for Childcare and Educational Needs
In its fifth round of COVID-19 Rapid Response Grants, the Outer Banks Community Foundation has awarded more than $65,000 in emergency funding to local nonprofits. The grants will help families in Dare County afford childcare and tutoring during the COVID-19 school closures.
“Our schools are starting in 10 days with remote learning, which will safeguard our students and teachers through the COVID crisis, but will also present a tremendous challenge for working families who cannot stay home with their kids,” said Lorelei Costa, the Community Foundation’s executive director.
“The Community Foundation is working to address this urgent need by helping nonprofits offer new childcare and tutoring programs in our community, and by offering scholarships to help families afford these and other educational programs.”
The Outer Banks Family YMCA received a grant to launch its E-Learning Academy, a full-day program designed for kids, Pre-K through 8th Grade, learning virtually this school year. Through this program, the Y is transforming its Nags Head facility into “classrooms” that will support students’ online education and remote learning. Academic coaches at the Y will support students through the Dare County Schools’ curriculum and provide additional daily enrichment for kids. The grant from the Community Foundation will allow the Y to offer E-Learning Academy “scholarships” to families who cannot otherwise afford the program. For more details, and to enroll your child, please call the YMCA at 252-449-8897.
The Mustang Outreach Program also received a grant from the Community Foundation, for a Remote Learning and Tutoring Center Project in Kill Devil Hills. Following CDC guidelines, the Center will serve as a safe, centrally located, and sanitized environment for tutoring, with an emphasis on serving children with special learning needs. The grant from the Community Foundation will allow the Program to offer scholarships to families who cannot otherwise afford tutoring. For more details, and to enroll your child, please call Mustang Outreach at 252-441-4612.
In addition to these two new programs, the Community Foundation is also supporting families through a grant to Interfaith Community Outreach. Through Community Foundation funding, Interfaith will offer monetary assistance to families with financial need to help pay for any type of childcare and/or tutoring the family may need. “Whether it’s a babysitter, a childcare facility, a special needs educator, or an afterschool tutor helping a child learn English, this grant to Interfaith will help families give their children with the support and care they need to be safe and succeed in remote learning,” said Ms. Costa. Families can apply for assistance at www.interfaithoutreach.com/assistance, or by calling 252-480-0070.
The grants announced today are funded by a special gift the Community Foundation received from an anonymous donor at the end of last year. The Community Foundation announced the Vision 2020 Fund for the Outer Banks in February, with the intent of using the gift to address an urgent and pressing community need, to be identified.
“Today, as the COVID crisis continues to affect local families, businesses, and nonprofits across our community, the Board of the Community Foundation decided that the best use of the Vision 2020 Fund was to address these on-going, urgent, COVID-related needs,” said Ms. Costa.
You can help more families in our community afford child care, get access to educational support, and otherwise thrive through remote learning and the COVID-19 crisis. To contribute to the Community Foundation’s COVID-19 Grants Fund, visit www.obcf.org/donate, or call 252-261-8839 for more information.
