The Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation will invest an additional $5 million of COVID-19 relief funds into community organizations that serve vulnerable populations in parts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
The second round of funding, announced by the EBCF this week, increases the Boston-based bank’s philanthropic investment for its COVID-19 response to $8 million.
An undetermined portion of the funding will go toward programs and organizations on the North Shore, which includes Lynn and Salem, two cities that the foundation considers to be a large part of its hometown effort, according to Nancy Huntington Stager, president and CEO of the Eastern Bank Charitable Foundation.
The foundation, which serves as the philanthropic arm of Eastern Bank, already has a history of responding to community needs and supporting efforts to solve some of “society’s most vexing challenges.” Those needs have become even more apparent during the coronavirus outbreak, according to Huntington Stager.
“The issues created by this pandemic are really exacerbating the underlying social issues and demonstrating the incredible need that our neighbors have and this is why we’ve chosen to focus on them,” said Huntington Stager.
“We’re on the ground in our communities, we talk to customers, we see the pain that COVID-19 is creating all over our market area with our neighbors and small businesses. What we’re doing is really a response to that pain and trying to do what we can.”
The new $5 million investment will be split between supporting child care organizations and professionals and vulnerable populations within eligible communities, such as homeless people, victims of domestic violence, immigrants and refugees, the elderly and people with mental and cognitive health challenges.
A substantial portion of the funding, or $2 million, will go toward helping to sustain the childcare system in the region, which Huntington Stager said is “just as important as transportation” to employers and the workforce.
Most childcare centers are fragile businesses, often charging as little as possible to provide the necessary early childhood development services for parents, which makes the system particularly vulnerable during the downturn in the economy, Huntington Stager said.
“If those businesses go out of business, when larger employers want employees to return, there aren’t going to be enough childcare providers to (meet that need),” said Huntington Stager. “That’s why we’re putting so much money toward it. (We want to) make sure that the fragile ecosystem of early childhood development will be able to continue and strengthen as we move forward.”
The remaining $3 million will go toward vulnerable populations: $1 million will go toward organizations aiding immigrants, refugees and asylum-seekers, and $500,000 each will go toward organizations that help the homeless, ones that assist victims of domestic violence, organizations that help the elderly, and programs for people with mental health needs.
With its initial $3 million investment, Huntington Stager said the foundation was focused on addressing critical needs around food insecurity and access to healthcare.
Donations were made to more than 85 food banks across the foundation’s market area, which is from southern and coastal New Hampshire all the way down to the Cape and Rhode Island, and to 45 community health centers, Huntington Stager said.
In addition, $1 million was provided to organizations that are helping small and micro businesses in order to help keep them afloat throughout the pandemic, Huntington Stager said.
“We see the need and if not us, then who?” said Huntington Stager. “We can’t solve all of it and we certainly understand we’re not big enough to solve all of this but we’re willing to put in our money and our elbow grease to do everything we can to help.”
The additional COVID-19 investment is expected to increase overall community support from EBCF to $14 million, an all-time high, by the end of 2020, according to the foundation.
“As we all go through this COVID-19 crisis together, Eastern is providing relief to where it’s needed most locally and ensuring the people most impacted are not left behind,” said Bob Rivers, chair and CEO of Eastern Bank, in a statement. “It takes a community of public and private partners working together to stave off the devastating and long-lasting impacts of this disease, and this philanthropic investment is intended to make a meaningful contribution to this effort.”
