NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Emergency Cash Assistance Program for New York City (“ECAP NYC”), a city-wide philanthropic program founded by a group of NYC-based business leaders in response to the COVID-19 crisis, today announced that it has successfully raised and distributed nearly $17 million in financial relief to more than 30,000 low wage New Yorkers and their families.
The program was established to address urgent and unmet needs of New Yorkers in the hardest hit and hardest to reach communities by providing immediate $500 cash grants to individuals who lost their jobs and were unlikely to qualify for or benefit fully from government aid.
To launch the initiative, ECAP NYC partnered with philanthropic and civic leaders at trusted New York institutions, including the Ford Foundation, the New York Community Trust and the Partnership for New York City.
ECAP NYC also partnered with six nonprofit organizations with deep community and social service expertise, including: Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, GiveDirectly, National Domestic Workers Alliance, New York Immigration Coalition, One Fair Wage and the UJA Federation of New York. These groups helped identify recipients who were most in need and distribute the funds in a timely manner.
ECAP NYC was led by a Steering Committee, which oversaw the group’s fundraising efforts and helped facilitate key partnerships.
The Steering Committee commented: “New York City has become the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis, and as a result, there are hundreds of thousands of vulnerable and recently unemployed families in dire need of immediate financial support. It has been inspirational to see so many New Yorkers come together in this critical and unprecedented time, and we are deeply grateful for the generosity of our partners and donors, whose collective efforts have provided meaningful relief to thousands of families across the city.”
About Emergency Cash Assistance Program for New York City
ECAP NYC was established to support thousands of low wage NYC residents recently out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including restaurant workers, hospitality workers and domestic workers, among others, who have been severely impacted by this crisis. The fund raised nearly $17 million on a 501(c)(3) basis from individual New Yorkers, and partnered with a small group of non-profit organizations to distribute those funds.