Sahuarita Food Bank during COVID

COVID-19 Response Strategy

Our nonprofit community faces a long and difficult rebuilding process.

With our generous donors, partners, and supporters, Community Foundation for Southern Arizona has awarded over $3.8 million in COVID-19 relief funding since March 2020.

This includes $233,000 in Nonprofit Event Relief Grants, $300,000 to help MWBE and nonprofit organizations access PPP loans, $25,000 to provide pivot grants for local artists and arts organizations, and $1,187,500 in We Are One | Somos Uno CARES Act Nonprofit Continuity Grants .

Funding has provided essential food assistance to youth and seniors, PPE supplies to healthcare workers, laptops to students so they can continue to learn, and safe childcare options so that first responders and teachers can continue to work. Hundreds of families have received housing and rental assistance, and local nonprofits have been able to innovate and adapt and continue providing critical services to our community.

Our nonprofit community faces a long and difficult rebuilding process, and the Community Foundation for Southern Arizona is committed to connecting nonprofits with the resources they need throughout that process – from operating grants to technical assistance, PPP loans to PPE.


Phase One: Respond

CFSA’s COVID-19 Response Grants have directly supported those most affected by the crisis by providing access to basic necessities like food for youth, families, and seniors, childcare for medical workers, legal services and rent assistance for low-income community members, diapers for infants, incontinence supplies for seniors, and protective equipment for first responders.

During Phase One, CFSA’s Center for Healthy Nonprofits also launched a “Coping With COVID” webinar series to support nonprofits as they quickly pivoted to working remotely and dealt with all the technical and operational challenges involved in that process.  The Center hosted six Coping with COVID workshops in Phase One with 147 participants.

In May 2020, we reached out to our nonprofit partners to better understand their anticipated short- and long-term needs in response to COVID-19.  Nonprofits shared with us that continued grant funding along with technical assistance were top priorities.

Phase Two: Recover + Renew

During the Recover + Renew phasewhich began August 1st, 2021, CFSA provided ongoing Community Support Grants and strategic capacity-building workshops and training through the Center for Healthy Nonprofits.

In addition, we have expanded our Catchafire Grant program to provide 350 nonprofits with unlimited, expert support with everything from HR guidance to building new a website or even pivoting their fundraising program to use new online tools.

CFSA has also established strategic partnerships with the Eller College of Management and the College of Architecture, Planning, and Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona to provide additional support to nonprofit organizations in Southern Arizona.


COVID Phase 2 Graphic


Many thanks to the generous donors, fundholders, local foundations and corporations, and community partners who helped make these efforts possible!

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