Immigrant Family Emergency Response Fund Created to Fill the Gap

The Immigrant Service Provider’s Network (ISPN) would like to announce the creation of the Immigrant Family Emergency Response Fund. The fund has been created due to the financial repercussions of the COVID19 pandemic and the lack of funding available for immigrants and mixed status families.
“ISPN worked with member agencies to survey the needs of providers and their clients. The survey found that clients were most concerned with being able to pay rent and provide for their families,” said Meredith Rataj, Chair of ISPN. “We also determined there is a vulnerable part of the immigrant population unable to access the necessary social supports that many of us rely on during the crisis.”

The fund is now live and accepting applications online. The application is currently available in English and in Spanish, though support for additional languages may be available. To apply, please visit http://bit.ly/iferfundstl (in English) or http://bit.ly/fondoiferstl (in Spanish). Paper applications are also available.

Working with local funding partners and the St. Louis Inter-Faith Committee on Latin America (IFCLA), ISPN created the Immigrant Family Emergency Response Fund to channel philanthropic giving to immigrant families who are financially distressed during this national emergency. Applications for the fund will be available on the ISPN website ( ispnstl.org ) and from area providers by May 8, 2020. Contributing funders include the Marillac Mission Fund and the Lutheran Foundation of St. Louis. The fund is also supported by a grant awarded to the ISPN from the Covid-19 Regional Response Fund of the St. Louis Community Foundation. Those interested in donating to the fund should contact YouthBridge Community Foundation ( https://youthbridge.org/emergency-response/ ).