COVID-19 Response

COVID-19 has laid bare the inequities in our modern world. Everyone is being impacted by the virus and its implications. Yet, we acknowledge that some communities are suffering far more than others and that reality has guided Barr’s immediate response to the pandemic.

Our immediate COVID-19-related grantmaking has focused on urgent needs in communities in Massachusetts as well as support for immigrant communities that have been disproportionately impacted. In deciding where to grant funds, we have invested in organizations closest to those communities and most in touch with their needs.

On April 2, we announced $2.6 million in grants to community foundations and pooled funds that had been established in response to the pandemic. This blog post describes those grants in more detail. On April 16, we announced a second round of grants: $2 million to immigrant-serving organizations. This blog post outlines those grants. On July 14, we announced the third round of grants: $1.36 million to organizations serving Black communities. This blog post outlines those grants.

As we have undertaken this emergency response grantmaking, we also remain committed to our existing partners and our core programs of Arts & Creativity, Climate, and Education. The bulk of our resources will focus on the needs of those partners, building on the flexibility we are already offering to them, as outlined here. Those grants can be found in our grants database.

Below we include links to relevant posts from our blog as well as links to joint statements where Barr has added its name in solidarity with others.

Boston Emergency Response Funds

We contributed to pooled funds created by Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and The Boston Foundation that provide aid to Boston residents and organizations serving frontline communities in Boston.

Massachusetts Community Foundations

We partnered with a set of community foundations in an effort to get resources to work as quickly as possible across the Commonwealth. We believe the leaders working in greatest proximity to communities deserve our trust, support, and investment.

Organizations Serving Immigrant Communities in Massachusetts

So many of those on the front lines of COVID-19 are immigrants. And they are bearing the risks of COVID-19 in disproportionate numbers. We awarded unrestricted resources to help these critical organizations remain stable at a time when they are needed most.

[[grant 2188]]

Organizations Serving Black Communities in Massachusetts

Our COVID-19 response grantmaking has focused on supporting populations in Massachusetts disproportionally impacted by the pandemic, including Black residents who have experienced more than three times the rate of positive cases compared to white residents. The following 19 organizations play a critical role helping Black communities grapple with the pandemic.

[[grant 2182]]

[[grant 2187]] [[grant 2189]] [[grant 2191]]

[[grant 2195]] [[grant 2196]] [[grant 2197]] [[grant 2198]] [[grant 2199]]