The Jamaica Plain/Roxbury Mutual Aid organization that has focused on helping residents during the COVID-19 pandemic received additional grant money from the Boston Resiliency Fund this week.
Mayor Marty Walsh announced the fund’s Steering Committee distributed $500,000 in funding to the Jamaica Plain organization as well as 17 others across Boston during the 11th round of the Boston Resiliency Fund.
The three Eastie organizations have been providing food, basic necessities, and additional support for Boston’s most vulnerable residents.
“Through the generosity of so many individuals and organizations, the Boston Resiliency Fund has allowed us to support over 225,000 Boston families in every neighborhood of our city,” said Mayor Walsh. “We will continue to use this incredible generosity to partner with our most impactful community based organizations to support our residents and families in need.”
The Jamaica Plain/Roxbury Mutual Aid will use the funding to support their current work of providing food and financial assistance to families in need.
“Mutual aid is a powerful way to build strong connections – we all have something to offer and we all have something we need,” said the organization in a statement.
The Jamaica Plain/Roxbury Mutual Aid group allows residents looking to help those in need connect with people who need some help during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With the economic downturn due to the virus, the Jamaica Plain/Roxbury Mutual Aid group set up a ‘needs list’ for those with food and financial insecurities.
The Jamaica Plain/Roxbury Mutual Aid group then connects people in need of help with a community member that can help.
However, Jamaica Plain/Roxbury Mutual Aid announced they were no longer accepting requests for financial support from the group’s Venmo fund.
“We will re-evaluate and possibly re-open the fund in the future, as fundraising and capacity allows,” the group said in the statement. “As challenging and painful as it is to say no to future requests, we feel accountable to those who have already requested, and we need to be transparent about our ability to actually fulfill requests.”
Since the first round of fund distribution, the Fund has raised over $32 million from over 6,400 donors. The Fund serves every neighborhood in Boston, but has focused on the neighborhoods hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Resiliency Fund has allowed the City of Boston to provide critical services and supports.
“Every child and adult in Boston should be able to go to bed nourished and secure in the knowledge that tomorrow and every day after, their essential food needs will be met,” said Aziza Musa, Director of Philanthropic Partnerships at Health Leads. “We are incredibly grateful for this philanthropic investment from the Boston Resiliency Fund. This donation enables Health Leads to uncover and address the structural barriers and inequities preventing families from accessing critical food and other essential health resources. Together, we can ensure that those hardest hit by the pandemic and its secondary socioeconomic impact are able to receive the essential health resources they need, when they need them the most.”