“When black people are dying, black people should be in charge of the healing process for what is killing them,” Rev. Starsky Wilson, president and CEO of Deaconess Foundation, told The St. Louis American. “I thought, ‘I’ve got to say something.’”
Knowing that money talks, and speaking as the leader of a grant-making foundation, he is speaking with money: $2.2 million to be awarded to black-led organizations working in COVID-19 relief and recovery in the St. Louis region.
Of that investment in local black leadership, $1.2 million comes from the coffers of Deaconess Foundation; the other $1 million is a contribution from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
“It is important to affirm in this moment that the largest health philanthropy in the country announced $50 million in COVID-19 relief on April 7 and reached out to Deaconess wanting some of that money to come to St. Louis and told us, ‘We want to follow your lead and move at your discretion,’” Wilson said.
“They could have partnered with anyone, and they chose to partner with us. I am deeply honored by that.”
Following the lead of Deaconess Foundation, as led by Wilson, means following local black leaders.
“We are funding only black-led organizations working on the COVID-19 crisis, both in response and recovery,” Wilson said. “We will choose a cohort that understands the critical importance of holding the community accountable for equitable results.”
The emphasis on recovery, as well as immediate relief, is telling.
“We are willing to offer general operational support and technical assistance to maintain longer-term financial stability,” he said. “It’s clear that some organizations are not going to make it through this crisis. Some, we think, really need to make it.”
Wilson has been puzzled that so many black-led organizations that were natural conveners and leaders in this crisis were not tapped to convene and lead. Two came readily to mind: the United Way of Greater St. Louis and the Regional Health Commission, both led by black woman.
“In creating all of these new tables to coordinate social services, why was that not entrusted to the United Way?” Wilson said. “It’s led by a black woman. Why was the United Way not the default response?”
Michelle D. Tucker is the president and CEO of the United Way of Greater St. Louis.
The United Way of Greater St. Louis will receive $250,000 for its COVID-19 Crisis Response Services and Fund providing coordinated social services. This includes the 2-1-1 Information and Referral Center for people seeking assistance to meet basic needs and mobilization with Community Organizations Active in Disasters.
“And why develop a new task force (the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force) that includes just the health systems,” Wilson said, “when we already had the Regional Health Commission and that commission is led by a black woman?”
Angela Fleming Brown is CEO of the St. Louis Regional Health Commission.
Another $250,000 for public health response will be granted to the St. Louis Regional Health Commission. There the funding into their RHC COVID-19 Emergency Fund will support continued access to care for uninsured patients. Funds will be used for urgent medical supplies and equipment, costs of testing for uninsured patients, transitional staffing, treatment services and basic equipment to expand capacity and navigation services to meet the needs of the increased demand for community healthcare organizations, primarily federally-qualified health centers.
Further relief funding of $25,000 will be provided to Solidarity Economy St. Louis for STL COVID-19 Monetary Mutual Aid. This is a grassroots mobilization to provide funding solidarity for those whose livelihood is being directly impacted by the coronavirus crisis in the St. Louis area.
“From the beginning, when there was a reasonable suspicion that black people would be disproportionately impacted by this health crisis, why were the first testing sites not in black St. Louis?” Wilson said.
“Why were they not talking to the FQHCs that serve the black community? If they had asked the people they serve – black people – they would have had COVID testing sites there first.”
Just as public health officials warn that the pandemic is only beginning, Wilson knows that relief and recovery efforts are only beginning – and it’s not too late to do better.
“We need to center institutions led by black leaders and listen to them,” Wilson said. “This will be even more critical in the deployment of hundreds of millions in federal dollars pouring into the region to address this crisis. All of these tables and task forces first need to be accountable to the black community in our region. And I don’t see that rising right now.”
An open application process for additional grants from $5,000 to $50,000 will be available beginning Tuesday, April 28. Eligible organizations will be black-led, provide direct aid (i.e. food, shelter, financial supports) to people most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and/or lead efforts to mobilize these communities to meet social needs. Organizations are classified as black-led if either the chief executive officer or chief volunteer officer identifies as black. The geographic footprint for funding includes St. Louis city; St. Louis, Jefferson, Franklin and St. Charles counties in Missouri; and Madison, Monroe and St. Clair Counties in Illinois.
Replies will be provided weekly on a rolling basis. The application can be found at www.deaconess.org.
