A new fund is providing aid to Jews of color struggling due to coronavirus

Image by Getty Images

By Josefin Dolsten May 27, 2020

(JTA) — A new relief fund is providing financial aid to Jews of color who are struggling economically due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Jews of Color Field Building Initiative announced the launch of an emergency relief fund on Tuesday. The San Francisco-based group will be providing aid of between $250 and $2,5000 on a rolling basis to individuals struggling with basic necessities, such as rent, groceries and medical bills.

The organization has received two application since launching yesterday, said Angel Alvarez-Mapp, who serves as the initiative’s director of programs and opperations.

“What happens in the general U.S. community happens to the Jews as well. We don’t live in an isolated little bubble,” he said. “So we’ve been able to see that the impacts of COVID-19 not only are affecting people of color in the United States, but they’re also also affecting Jews of color in ways that are similar to the people of color community.”

African-Americans have been affected by the coronavirus and face economic struggles due to the pandemic at disproportionately high rates.

Jews of color as well as people of color working for or affiliated with Jewish organizations are eligible to apply.

“We were thinking about synagogues and JCCs and these massive buildings that run usually because there’s a staff of people behind the scenes that nobody really sees, who generally are not Jews, and those people are suffering right now,” said Alvarez-Mapp.

The post A new relief fund is providing aid to Jews of color who are struggling due to coronavirus appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Josefin Dolsten is a New York-based writer who has reported for the Forward, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, The Times of Israel and other Jewish publications. She currently works as an account director at Fenton Communications, supporting organizations that work to advance racial justice, LGBTQ+ equality, reproductive rights and more. Dolsten earned her B.A. in government from Cornell University and her M.A. in comparative religion and Jewish studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO