BBCF, Hope Credit Union (HOPE) and Foundation Partners Announce Program Giving Black Belt Communities Immediate Access to COVID Response Funds

The Black Belt Community Foundation (BBCF), Hope Credit Union (HOPE) and several partners have announced the creation of a program that will give numerous Alabama cities and counties immediate access to capital for COVID-19 response needs.

State law requires cities and counties in Alabama to seek reimbursement for COVID-related expenses to access their share of a $250 million allocation provided through the federal CARES Act. This presents a challenge for many cities and counties that do not have the liquidity to make the needed purchases up front. The Black Belt Community Foundation COVID-19 Access Program was created to address the need of access to capital for cities and counties within Alabama’s Black Belt.

Under the program, HOPE will provide BBCF with a line of credit, allowing the nonprofit to make recoverable grants to cities and counties in amounts of $50,000 or less at a time for the purchase of reimbursable COVID-related items. BBCF will require confirmation from the State that the expenditures are reimbursable before the grant is made and will only allow one recoverable grant to be outstanding at a time.

The program targets 16 low-wealth counties (Bullock, Butler, Choctaw, Clarke, Conecuh, Dallas, Greene, Hale, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Monroe, Perry, Pickens, Sumter and Wilcox) and small towns, which may not have the cash on hand to make COVID-19 response related purchases and, as a result, may delay the procurement of essential goods or services to protect local residents.

“We know that not every community has the capacity to access CARES funds made available by reimbursement. In order to qualify for help, a community must spend its funds to be reimbursed. If those funds don’t exist, then residents are at a disadvantage in the fight against COVID,” said Felecia Lucky, president of BBCF.

Kendra Key, senior vice president of Community and Economic Development for HOPE, said the program is another way for HOPE to reach underserved people and places.

“The Black Belt Community Foundation COVID-19 Access Fund represents exactly how corporations, philanthropy and the nonprofit sector should be working together to create economic opportunity and advance racial justice,” Key said. “Through this innovative partnership, small, communities of color will have access to much needed funds to quickly purchase the necessary equipment and services to navigate the pandemic and to keep their residents healthy and safe.”

Uniontown Mayor Jamaal Hunter said the program has assured his town access to CARES funding.
“Without this, the money available to help us would just sit on the table. We don’t have enough money in our coffers to begin the work needed now and be reimbursed later. Now, we can put together our plans to be able to get the needed PPEs and begin the vital work in the community.”

In addition to HOPE, other partners providing program resources are Alabama Power Foundation, Regions Foundation, The Educational Foundation of America, Altec/Styslinger Foundation, Medical Properties Trust, Protective Life Foundation, Mike and Gillian Goodrich Foundation.

ABOUT HOPE: HOPE (Hope Enterprise Corporation, Hope Credit Union and Hope Policy Institute) provides financial services; aggregates resources; and engages in advocacy to mitigate the extent to which factors such as race, gender, birthplace and wealth limit one’s ability to prosper. Since 1994, HOPE has generated more than $2.5 billion in financing that has benefitted more than 1.5 million people in Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Tennessee.

ABOUT BBCF: For sixteen years, BBCF has worked tirelessly to help Alabama’s most challenged region realize its potential. BBCF has awarded more than 5 million dollars in grants to support more than 450 community-led initiatives across BBCF’s 12-county service area in the Black Belt. BBCF was established in 2004 to support local efforts that contribute to the strength, innovation, and success of all of the region’s people and communities.