Black Lives Matter Organization Expands Survival Fund As Government Drags Feet On Coronavirus Relief

The Black Lives Matter (BLM) Global Network Foundation is expanding a $3 million financial relief fund it launched earlier this month as the government continues to debate another relief package.

The foundation said this week it will make up 3,000 microgrants of $1,000 each for those they believe need it the most. The BLM foundation is already taking applications for the Survival Fund grants as it builds out its philanthropic plans.

The funds will either be directly deposited into the recipients bank accounts or they’ll be given prepaid debit cards with the funds on it.

“This came from a collective conversation with BLM leadership that Black folks are being hurt the most financially during the pandemic,” BLM co-founder Patrisse Cullors told the Associated Press. “I believe that when you have resources, to hoard them is a disservice to the people who deserve them.”

According to NBC News Cullers said the BLM Survival Fund’s first recipients have included families of a person who was killed by a cop, families of someone who died in prison, single parents, grassroots community organizers, and others.

At least 300 individuals have already been approved for the funds, which will be administered by UpTogether, which uses direct investment to help disrupt the cycle of poverty.

The microgrants are part of the foundation’s focus on economic justice, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. The BLM Foundation announced it raised more than $90 million last year. Much of it after the death of George Floyd. The pandemic has affected every aspect of life for Black Americans due to decades of institutional racism.

The pandemic has affected the health, employment, entrepreneurship, and even the mental health of Black Americans across the country.

Many Americans are in need of another boost from the government as unemployment numbers are still high and no one is sure what the end of the pandemic holds. President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus bill is still working its way through the government but has been moving faster than previous relief bills which took months of negotiations to get to the floor.