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9 min read

Funding recommendations: COVID-19

Let our actions be guided by generosity, solidarity and community, not fear and isolation.

Our funding recommendations (so far), and suggestions as to other ways you can make a difference during the pandemic are below. As we all know, the situation is changing rapidly and we will be updating the Granting Opportunities platform with new proposals as they emerge, please check back regularly. 

We suggest funding to support:

  • vulnerable groups
  • the sectors you love, and
  • treatment and the search for a vaccine.

We also outline some ways you can act beyond making a financial contribution.

We hope you all stay safe and healthy. As always, don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any suggestions, questions or need support.

FIRST NATIONS COMMUNITIES

Supporting the development of action plans in remote areas, including education, health, hygiene and nutrition, as well as connection and support for those living outside major towns and cleaning equipment and supplies. See Director MK Turner OAM spreading the message in language on Instagram.

Transporting people back to remote communities from regional centres to limit crowding in town camps, supporting people to stay home and providing food parcels and power bill subsidies. 

COVID-19 e-learning for Aboriginal Australians | Keogh Bay

Keogh Bay has developed a preliminary COVID-19 storyboard and e-learning demo to inform First Nations communities about key messages and precautions related to COVID-19. The full suite of online resources will be delivered in plain English, without overusing technical or medical jargon, to explain the WHY behind measures such as social distancing and rigorous hand washing. See the proposal here.

UPDATE: Keogh Bay’s project has been fully funded. 

OLDER PEOPLE

Providing support and advice online and via their hotline to older people, their family members and carers. 

Providing deliveries to the elderly community, having introduced several protocols to ensure the safety of their clients. 

PEOPLE EXPERIENCING HOMELESSNESS

Launch Housing is on the front line as first responders during the coronavirus outbreak. They are directing people to screening clinics as needed, without having to call ahead, and providing them taxi fares, allowing them to avoid public transport. All while prioritising frontline support and ensuring people experiencing homelessness and rough sleeping in Melbourne are not exposed unnecessarily to the virus.

National Homelessness Collective’s fundraising activities are typically sausage sizzles and events, which are now not an option. This emergency relief fund is supporting the immediate and ongoing supply, assembly, distribution of critical resources for Victorians experiencing homelessness.

Foodbank Victoria is looking for important operational costs due to the increased demand for services, especially as supplies are already stretched from the fires. Foodbank is working in partnership with Red Cross and the Victorian Government to make and supply essential food and water packages, however, unlike during the fires, they are not accepting donations of food and therefore are relying on fundraising to meet the demand.

With cancellations of all large events and closures of many venues for the unforeseeable future, it is important to support the arts and ensure the industry and those that work in it can survive. MoNA’s David Walsh sums up the sector’s dilemma well in his statement about the museum’s closure.

Make a donation to your favourite museum, gallery, theatre or festival, or purchase merchandise or products from your favourite artists.

There are many institutions working hard in this space. Here are just a few across patient care, research and mental health.

An urgent request from a global group of specialists at the frontline of the crisis are collecting data from Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients from 100 hospitals in 26 countries. The group is the only one of its kind analysing the data from ICU patients infected with the virus in order to identify early warning signs for those critically affected, to inform treatment of patients and save lives.

The Coronavirus Action Fund is raising funds for clinical trials of new drugs, which show promising signs for the treatment of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). Professor David Paterson, a Consultant Infectious Diseases Physician at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital (RBWH) and Director at The University of Queensland Centre for Clinical Research will lead the trials. 

These organisations are all working to support people with the mental health challenges brought on by the crisis and would welcome support for these activities.

  • Keep giving! Even if investment performance is currently unpredictable. The community needs support now more than ever.
  • Relax the conditions you have applied (KPIs, reporting deadlines etc.) to any current funding. Our civil society partners need our understanding and support right now.
  • Find ways to connect to and support your local community. Many online initiatives have been generated to this end. See ‘adopt a healthcare worker’, Nextdoor and your local Good Karma Network.
  • Stay up to date with the response to COVID-19, here’s a recording of an online panel discussion on COVID-19 recently hosted at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity – the Doherty Institute is at the forefront of the global response to COVID-19. Its researchers were the first outside of China to grow and share the COVID-19 virus, and there are a team of clinicians, scientists and epidemiologists working day and night to treat, diagnose and advise on this pandemic.
  • Share and utilise resources, such as these created by Australian Progress on advocacy, messaging and framing, risk management and remote working during the pandemic.
  • Be mindful of the social consequences of shutting schools, see this update from VCOSS for more information.
  • Support small businesses by remaining a customer. Look for alternative ways to keep their revenue coming in like shopping with them online or buying a voucher for another time.