Wave Wire Services
LOS ANGELES — The Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles, a philanthropic organization that is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, has raised more than $56 million to help about 105,000 Angelenos with direct financial assistance, it was announced Aug. 12.
The funds also provide home meal delivery for seniors, child care for hospital workers and shelter and services for domestic violence survivors, Mayor Eric Garcetti said.
“When COVID-19 emerged, Los Angeles stepped up to the plate with innovative and courageous solutions to save lives and livelihoods, and we strengthened our government’s actions by tapping into the generosity of our neighbors, our philanthropic partners, and our public and private sector,” he said.
The mayor said more than 10,000 Angelenos have made contributions to the Mayor’s Fund since the pandemic hit Los Angeles.
“The Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles is here to make sure that innovative ideas and private resources can help government better serve the people,” said Deidre Lind, who is the fund’s founding president and returned to lead it through the pandemic. “This response is a testament of the giving spirit of Los Angeles, which is what has made us a model for the nation.”
Garcetti said the Mayor’s Fund’s COVID-19 response supports programs that were created with the nonprofit Accelerator for America.
Those programs include Project Safe Haven, which to date has served 1,103 adults and children experiencing domestic violence, according to the mayor’s office. Last week, the Mayor’s Fund announced an additional $250,000 in funding for Project Safe Haven, extending the program for a second time.
Transportation to Project Safe Haven locations is being provided by the Mayor’s Fund in partnership with Lyft.
Additionally, the Mayor’s Fund finances the Angeleno Card initiative, which has distributed more than $36 million to help 104,156 Los Angeles residents with direct financial assistance — via no-fee debit cards from Mastercard’s City Positive network to people whose livelihoods were hardest hit by the pandemic.
The Angeleno Card initiative particularly supports low-wage hourly workers who had jobs in homes and restaurants, seasonal workers, day laborers, street vendors and self-employed individuals.
The cards are distributed to residents regardless of immigration status, according to the mayor’s office, which said immigrant communities have been some of the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic but have been often excluded from federal assistance.
The Angeleno Card program is now paused as the city implements its Emergency Renters Assistance Program, Garcetti said.
The Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles also received support from notable donors and organizations, including Katie McGrath and J.J. Abrams; the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation; Kelsey Bateman and Bobby Murphy; Bob Iger and Willow Bay; Connie and Steve Ballmer; Eli and Edythe Broad; the California Endowment; HBO; Marylin and Jeffrey Katzenberg; the W.M. Keck Foundation; Mellody Hobson and George Lucas; the Skoll Foundation; Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg; Russell Westbrook; and Rihanna and Jay-Z.
More information can be found at www.mayorsfundla.org.
