COVID-19 Resources

We are updating our resource guide daily so we are providing a link to it below so a new .pdf can be loaded with all of the resources that have been brought to our attention.

$500 Emergency Relief Check Program

SALEM, Ore. – Starting today, Oregonians facing financial hardship due to the COVID-19 pandemic will be able to apply for a one-time payment of $500.

This first-of-its-kind project is a collaboration between the Oregon Legislature, Oregon Department of Administrative Services, Central Willamette Credit Union, Clackamas Federal Credit Union, InRoads Community Credit Union, Old West Federal Credit Union, OnPoint Community Credit Union, Oregon Community Credit Union, Rogue Credit Union, SELCO Community Credit Union, Umpqua Bank, and Columbia Bank.

There are more than 150 locations in all regions of the state where eligible Oregonians will be able to receive relief checks.

To be eligible, a person must:

  • Be a current resident of Oregon and 18 years or older.
  • Be able to prove their identity and that they are an in-state resident.
  • Attest that they are experiencing severe financial hardship directly or indirectly due to the Governor’s Stay Home, Save Lives executive orders.
  • Have earned $4,000/month or less pre-tax prior to their income loss due to COVID-19.
  • Not have received all unemployment payments they are owed.

Oregonians who think they may qualify should go to https://emergencychecks.oregon.gov starting today. It will direct them to the nearest participating credit union or bank’s website. There they can follow the instructions on how to apply at that location and complete their application. Each applicant must adhere to public health protocols when applying in-person.

Here is a list of Resources

Helpful COVID-19 Resources 

Senator Merkley’s comprehensive Coronavirus page has a variety of updates and resources.

Other resources compiled by Team Merkley (new additions highlighted each day):

Education

Hunger

Housing

Immigrants and Refugees

For Employers and Employees

For Farmers and Other Agriculture Stakeholders

For Elected Officials and Community Leaders

FAQs about COVID-19 Equipment Shortages and How to Help

Offers to produce and sell PPE

  • Enter information for State registry here
  • Email federal team here

Please include as many details as possible about the request (e.g., manufacturer name, address, product, and model number) and contact information

Offers to import from other countries:

  • Enter information for State registry here
  • Email federal team here

Please include as many details as possible about the request (e.g., manufacturer name, address, product, and model number) and contact information

Offers to donate PPE:

  • Enter information for State registry here
  • Email federal team here

Please include as many details as possible about the request (e.g., manufacturer name, address, product, and model number) and contact information

And here are our previous COVID-19 Response Resources

  • Community Challenge – AARP: The AARP Community Challenge grant program is part of the nationwide AARP Livable Communities initiative that helps communities become great places to live for residents of all ages. The AARP Community Challenge provides small grants to fund “quick-action” projects that can help communities become more livable for people of all ages. The grant program will provide funds for community-based projects related to housing, transportation, public space, technology (“smart cities”), civic engagement, and more. AARP has expanded the scope of the Community Challenge grant to include COVID-19 related projects. Grants can range from several hundred dollars for smaller, short-term activities to several thousand or tens of thousands of dollars for larger projects. EXTENDED Deadline: May 15, 2020.
  • The Oregon Office of Economic Analysis looks at the importance of cash flow and federal relief lending on small businesses during the stay-at-home order. Read the blog post
  • The Small Business Development Center has distributed a one-page diagram showing how Economic Injury Disaster Loan funding can be used for various small business needs.
  • The National Restaurant Association has new guidance for restaurants on how they can safely and successfully reopen when stay-at-home orders are lifted. The association partnered with the Food and Drug Administration, public health officials and others to develop the guidelines.
  •  The U.S. Chamber of Commerce released a new guide (Spanish) to help independent contractors and self-employed individuals secure funding under the CARES Act. The guide provides step-by-step assistance to help individuals understand eligibility requirements, borrowing limits, and appropriate use of funds under the Paycheck Protection Program and Economic Injury Disaster Loans.
  • $10 Million Safe Worker Program SAIF created a $10million worker safety fund that will cover expenses to improve safety, health, and welfare of employees that employers incur due to the Coronavirus; must be a policy holder.
  •  OCF Arts and Culture Recovery ProgramThe Oregon Community Foundation has opened applications for the Arts & Culture Recovery Grant program. The Oregon Arts and Culture Recovery Program will provide flexible resources from a cohort of participating funders to support the arts and culture community who have been adversely impacted by the outbreak of COVID-19. Heritage is part of culture and OCF looks forward to applications from Oregon’s heritage organizations. If you already submitted an application for an OCF emergency grant earlier on during the COVID-19 crisis, please call and check in with them on how this factors in with your previous application.
  • Community Ties Giving Program – Union Pacific Foundation: Building upon Union Pacific’s heritage, the mission of the Union Pacific Community Ties Giving Program is to build safe, prosperous, and vibrant communities by investing in high-quality nonprofits and programs in the cities and towns in which Union Pacific operates and their employees live and work. These grants are focused in the areas of safety, workforce development, and community spaces. Union Pacific is committed to supporting the local economy by building and enhancing community spaces that contribute to the distinct identity of a city or town, creating destinations where families, businesses, and visitors want to be. Additional funds will be allocated to organizations seeking funding to address critical community needs associated with COVID-19 in addition to the other priority cause areas already determined by Union Pacific. Typical grant awards range from $2,500 to $25,000 for a one year grant. Deadline: May 31, 2020.
  • The Oregon Employment Department has released FAQs about the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program, designed to provide unemployment benefits to workers not typically covered by regular unemployment insurance benefits. This includes the self-employed, contract workers, gig workers and others. Read more.
  • Paycheck Protection Program – U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA): ADDITIONAL FUNDS AVAILABLE! The Paycheck Protection Program is a loan designed to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on the payroll. SBA will forgive loans if all employees are kept on the payroll for eight weeks and the money is used for payroll, rent, mortgage interest, or utilities. This program is for any small business with less than 500 employees (including sole proprietorships, independent contractors and self-employed persons), private non-profit organization or 501(c)(19) veterans organizations affected by coronavirus/COVID-19. Businesses in certain industries may have more than 500 employees if they meet the SBA’s size standards for those industries. Small businesses in the hospitality and food industry with more than one location could also be eligible at the store and location level if the store employs less than 500 workers. This means each store location could be eligible. Deadline: June 30, 2020.
  • Economic Injury Disaster Loan – U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA): ADDITIONAL FUNDS AVAILABLE! Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on small businesses, Missouri has been granted a disaster declaration by the SBA. This makes low interest disaster loans available to small businesses and private non-profits severely impacted by the Coronavirus (COVID-19). SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans offer up to $2 million in assistance for each affected small business or non-profit. These loans can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing. Deadline: December 21, 2020.
  • The Main Street Initiative – Mainvest:If you have an existing brick & mortar business that has been negatively affected by the COVID-19 outbreak and you launch a capital raise on Mainvest, you may be eligible to receive a $2,000 zero-interest loan immediately*. Then through your capital raise, you can receive over $100,000 of investment from your community.
  • Small Business Relief Initiative – GoFundMe: GoFundMe has partnered with Yelp and Intuit QuickBooks to create a Small Business Relief Fund to help small businesses negatively affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Each of these three companies has contributed $500,000 to the Fund, and it’s receiving additional donations from the public. The fund will provide $500 grants to any small business that raises $500 on GoFundMe.
  • National COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Match Fund – ioby: The ioby National COVID-19 Community Response and Recovery Match Fund provides matching dollars to ioby crowdfunding campaigns for projects that help your community respond to and recover from the impacts of COVID-19. Dollars are available now, on a first-come, first-served rolling basis. You can access up to a total of $8,000 for donations to projects crowdfunding on ioby for projects that respond directly to COVID-19 or its impacts in your community.
  • RetireGuide.com, a free web resource dedicated to providing the most up-to-date and accurate information about financial decisions that affect retirement, has recently published a guide that covers the recent COVID-19 outbreak and what currently retired, or soon-to-be retired professionals should know. You can find a link to that guide: www.retireguide.com/guides/covid-19-retirement/

Current Grant Opportunities – Not Covid-19 Related         

  • NEW! Farmers Market Promotion Program – USDA:The purpose of the Farmers Market Promotion Program (FMPP) is to increase domestic consumption of, and access to, locally and regionally produced agricultural products, and to develop new market opportunities for farm and ranch operations serving local markets by developing, improving, expanding, and providing outreach, training, and technical assistance to, or assisting in the development, improvement, and expansion of, domestic farmers markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, agritourism activities, and other direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities. Deadline: May 26, 2020.
  • NEW! Local Food Promotion Program – USDA: The Local Food Promotion Program (LFPP) offers grant funds with a 25% match to support the development and expansion of local and regional food business enterprises to increase domestic consumption of, and access to, locally and regionally produced agricultural products, and to develop new market opportunities for farm and ranch operations serving local markets. There are two types of project applications are accepted under LFPP—planning grants and implementation grants. Applicants can apply for either but will receive only one type of grant in the same grant cycle. Eligible entities may apply if they support local and regional food business enterprises that process, distribute, aggregate, or store locally or regionally produced food products. Deadline: May 26, 2020.
  • NEW! Let’s Play Community Construction Grants – Keurig Dr. Pepper & KABOOM!: Keurig Dr Pepper & KABOOM! have teamed up to offer $15,000 grants to be used toward the purchase of playground equipment. Grantees will lead their community through a self-guided planning process, using the $15,000 grant towards the total cost of playground equipment and assembling the playground using the KABOOM! community-build model. Grantees have up to one year to build the playground and will have the support of a remote KABOOM! Grants Manager and an onsite Certified Playground Installer. Deadline: June 19, 2020.
  • NEW! Small Grants – Clif Bar Family Foundation: Priority is given to applications that address the foundation’s funding priorities from a holistic perspective. These include: protecting Earth’s beauty and bounty, creating a robust, healthy food system, increasing opportunities for outdoor activity, reducing environmental health hazards, and building stronger communities. It is important that applications operate with clearly defined objectives and viable plans to achieve them. Applications must demonstrate strong community ties and operate at the community level. It is important to promote positive change through both the projects and their implementation process. These grants are awarded for general organizational support as well as funding for specific projects. Deadline June 1, 2020.
  • NEW! Preservation Funds – National Trust for Historic Preservation: National Trust Preservation Funds (NTPF) are intended to encourage preservation at the local level by providing seed money for preservation projects. These grants help stimulate public discussion, enable local groups to gain the technical expertise needed for particular projects, introduce the public to preservation concepts and techniques, and encourage financial participation by the private sector. Grants generally start at $2,500 and range up to $5,000. The selection process is very competitive. Deadline: June 1, 2020.
  • Hart Family Fund for Small Towns – National Trust for Historic Preservation: Grants from the Hart Family Fund for Small Towns are intended to encourage preservation at the local level by providing seed money for preservation projects in small towns. These grants help stimulate public discussion, enable local groups to gain the technical expertise needed for particular projects, introduce the public to preservation concepts and techniques, and encourage financial participation by the private sector. Grants from the Hart Family Fund for Small Towns generally range from $2,500 to $15,000. Public agencies and nonprofit organizations in towns with a population of 10,000 or less are eligible. Deadline: May 1, 2020.
  • Building Vibrant Communities – Bank of America Charitable Foundation: Vibrant communities are places where individuals can thrive and succeed and have the opportunity to live and work with safe, decent housing, transportation to jobs, strong business corridors and thriving arts and culture districts. All of these are essential to an individual’s overall economic mobility. Bank of America supports local and regional revitalization efforts taking a holistic approach to building thriving communities, create economic opportunity and livable neighborhoods. This includes support of economic drivers such as arts and cultural institutions that contribute to the overall vitality of the community. Available to communities in the Kansas City and St. Louis metro areas. Deadline: Applications accepted beginning June 1, 2020 through June 26, 2020.
  • National Fund for Sacred Places – Partners for Sacred Places in collaboration with the National Trust for Historic Preservation: This program offers participating congregations with two critical resources to support the stewardship of their historic facilities. This includes capacity-building technical support services and capital grants for the restoration of the building. Each participating congregation is required to send representatives to capacity-building training. Planning grants that average $5,000 are administered to participants on a rolling basis upon request and can cover a variety of professional services needed beyond the expertise of the congregation. Participating congregations will also receive a package of individualized technical assistance. After finalizing a comprehensive fundraising plan and scope of work—and once participating congregations have completed the National Fund training and received other capacity-building services—participants are ready to request a capital grant of $50,000-250,000. Deadline: July 13, 2020.
  • Emergency/Intervention Funding – National Trust for Historic Preservation: Intervention funding from the National Trust is awarded in emergency situations when immediate and unanticipated work is needed to save a historic structure, such as when a fire or other natural disaster strikes. Funding is restricted to nonprofit organizations and public agencies. Emergency grants typically range from $1,000 to $5,000, but unlike the majority of our grant funding, a cash match is not required for intervention projects. Deadline: ongoing.

Resource Guide (4)

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Frequently Asked Questions
The federal CARES Act was signed into law on March 27, 2020. The Act provides enhanced Unemployment
Insurance (UI) benefits and Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) for Oregonians. Here’s what you
need to know.

1) What is Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA)?

PUA is a program that provides unemployment benefits to workers not typically covered by regular
unemployment insurance benefits. This includes the:
• Self-employed, 1099 contract workers, and gig workers who weren’t already eligible
• Employees whose wages are not reported for unemployment insurance
• Employees who have not earned enough wages or worked enough hours for regular unemployment
benefits, and
• People who were going to start work but could not.

2) Who is eligible for PUA?

Those who are out of work due to COVID-19 and not eligible for any other unemployment insurance
benefits will be eligible for PUA. Eligible workers include the:
• Self-employed, 1099 contract workers, and gig workers
• Employees whose wages are not reported for unemployment insurance
• Employees who have not earned enough wages or worked enough hours for regular unemployment
benefits, and
• People who were going to start work but could not.

3) When and how do I apply for PUA?

We are working on the process and application form for this program. Please sign up for updates on
our main COVID-19 page, and you will automatically receive a notification when we post program and
application updates.

4) How much can I get from PUA?

The minimum PUA benefit is $205 per week. You could be eligible for an increased benefit amount
between
$205 and $648 per week. The weekly benefit is determined based on a percentage of earnings during
the prior year. If you provide us additional information that increases your weekly benefit amount
we will review it and pay you the difference for all the weeks you were already paid. This process
can take several weeks from when we receive the information.

If you are eligible for PUA, you will also receive an additional $600 in Federal Pandemic
Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) benefits per eligible week from the week starting March 29 through
the week through
July 25, 2020.

April 23, 2020 | 2
5) How long will PUA last?

PUA benefits may last for up to 39 weeks you are eligible and out of work due to the COVID-19
pandemic. Possible eligible weeks begin on the week starting February 2, 2020, through the week
ending December 26, 2020.

6) Will PUA be paid retroactively?

Yes. PUA will be paid retroactively for up to 39 eligible weeks you are out of work due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Possible eligible weeks begin on the week starting February 2, 2020, through the
week ending December 26, 2020.

7) How long will it take before I can get my payments?

After the application process opens, we anticipate that tens of thousands or even hundreds of
thousands of applications to be submitted, likely all at once. We will have staff trained and ready
to start processing applications when the program opens. Still, each claim requires review for each
week of eligibility, and that processing will take time. We will post more information on payment
timeframes as it becomes available. Sign up for COVID-19 page notifications to receive automatic
updates.

8) I already filed for unemployment, now what do I do?

Even if you previously filed an unemployment claim, please complete the PUA application and
certification forms when they become available. Sign up for updates on our main COVID-19 page, and
you will
automatically receive a notification when we post program and application updates.

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