St. Joseph Community Partnership Fund

Orange County Community Resilience Fund Evaluation Report 20 coverage about the topic. However, after 4 or 5 weeks, giving slowed greatly. If the food need remains elevated as economists and the social sector expect it to, the food distribution system is concerned about how to sustain funding at the same level as in the initial relief response period. Health Care Another critical basic need is health care, and organizations that provide navigation services, such as The Community Health Initiative of Orange County (CHIOC), have also faced a huge shock. They have seen a surge in need and applications for unemployment, health insurance, and basic needs programs such as Cal-Fresh. Although the nonprofits have been able to adjust and adapt to providing enrollment services over the phone and via zoom and other platforms, according to CHIOC's Executive Director Georgina Maldonado, there are challenges such as misinformation and lack of understanding about how to navigate the healthcare and other systems, zoom fatigue or lack of technology access. SSA's change that allows enrollment to occur over the phone without the need for in-person signature has mitigated some of this impact. Health care providers such as emergency clinics faced a huge adjustment period as they scrambled to find PPE, deal with new procedures and the rapidly changing treatment protocols for COVID-19, faced staffing and volunteer losses as at-risk medical staff self-isolated, and saw patient numbers drop as residents delayed care due to fear or cost. According to Maldonado, the philanthropic community responded well and quickly to emergency relief for this ecosystem, and although there is an awareness that the funding could be constrained more difficult to come by for sustaining recovery and resilience needs, her bigger concern is around racial inequity. For Maldonado, the issue of racial inequity is the biggest issue related to the impact of COVID-19 and moving forward from this impact. In her words, "The policy and systems ecosystem needs to change. COVID has pulled the curtain in the Latino community, the Asian Pacific Islander community, the Black community, health and socioeconomic disparities have been magnified. So how can we build a more equitable system? The health plans are pivotal, the hospital are an essential component to this… This is an opportunity to do things better, but we can't do it alone. We need all of the key players to have a conversation… and help us fix this." Immigrant Serving Organizations 58% of organizations in the survey sample reported serving immigrants and refugees; there were no significant differences in how they have been affected by the pandemic. However, a closer look at the 18 organizations that provided their names and focus primarily on immigrant and refugee services shows some differences. 11 of the 18 (61%) reported increasing their services, with 10 of them "dramatically" increasing. 39% were forced to make staffing cuts – slightly fewer than overall. As noted before, immigrants and people of color faced unique challenges including language and technology barriers, fear surrounding the safety of accessing benefits and services due to misinformation about public charge, and scams targeting immigrants. In the face of these challenges, agency leaders expressed that the nonprofit, philanthropic, and the public sector communities have responded largely positively, in particular regarding immediate community needs. In an interview with Vattana Peong, Executive Director, and Sophia Cheong, Program Director, of the Cambodian Family, they identified several positive changes including: • The aforementioned direct relief funding, which allows for nonprofits respond to immediate community needs. • Nonprofits have maintained and increased their collaborative efforts. In the Asian and Pacific Islander community, nonprofits have worked to collectively discuss and respond to anti-API racism related to the pandemic.

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