United Way is committed to supporting Keys residents already affected by COVID-19 which impact their livelihood.
United Way of Collier and the Keys (UWCK) is leading efforts to respond to this need in Monroe County. We are carefully planning for a long-term response to the pandemic’s effects in the Keys, with up to $100,000 earmarked accordingly, in addition to the donations made for COVID-19 relief.
42% of Monroe County individuals and families are not able to make ends meet, despite holding multiple jobs. As business closures lengthened, these Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed (or ALICE) residents, already living paycheck to paycheck, sink further into financial instability.
Our community's response during the pandemic has been nothing short of inspiring. Local businesses, nonprofits, and citizens have stepped up to provide food and other resources on a daily basis. Now that the Keys are reopening, we want to thank everyone who has helped so far and reiterate our commitment to continuing to help our residents as they recover during the months to come. These are just a few of them.
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Feeding South Florida, in partnership with Monroe County BOCC, UWCK and Ocean Reef Community Foundation held five food distribution events across the Keys in April and May, resulting in 1500 households having food to feed their families.
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UWCK and Monroe County worked with Farm Share and Fishbusterz to arrange special delivery truckloads of food, primarily fresh produce, 3 times a week to 10 Keys hot meal or pantry locations. At one point, there were 7-10 meal or food pantry options for hungry Keys residents each day of the week throughout our 120 mile chain of islands. This is only the tip of the iceberg with many pitching in, going above and beyond to feed the Keys during the pandemic.
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In addition to assisting with the significant demand for food assistance, UWCK was proud to support two of our nonprofit partners, FKOC and KAIR, in providing limited emergency financial assistance of up to $250 per household. Given the high level of need, Florida Keys Outreach Coalition is disbursing approximately $2,500 daily for food, medical, prescriptions, communication and transportation assistance throughout the county. Prior to COVID-19, they had 3 or 4 requests per day. This increased rapidly and is now up to as many as 50 calls daily. KAIR reports that they have been able to meet similar emergency needs in Marathon.
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Unfortunately, rental assistance is not widely available in the community at this time. In light of this, UWCK is assisting with these other critical needs listed above to help our struggling families. Additional state funding will likely become available as direct rental assistance this summer, but the need will continue to be substantial.
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UWCK has the most comprehensive listing of Monroe County resources, including food resources, changes to services and local information, plus state and federal programs and assistance on our Community Resource Guide page. Residents who need assistance should start there. -
$20,0000 in immediate response funds were allocated on March 20 to FKOC, KAIR, SOS, and Burton to expand the capacity at their food pantries or provide limited emergency financial assistance (up to $250/family) for critical needs of food, medical care, prescriptions and childcare.
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April 10 allocations of $30,000 were made to Burton, KAIR and FBC Islamorada to increase their ability to meet demand through food distribution events and to FKOC and KAIR to continue limited emergency financial assistance efforts, as previous funds were exhausted.
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UWCK has been advocating for residents to enrolling in state and federal programs. The needs in our community far exceed our ability to respond locally, and enrollment in state or federal programs will allow our local resources to go further. Our efforts began with Florida Reemployment and we have compiled a “Links and Tips to File for Florida Unemployment” page in the online Community Resource Guide. In addition, we developed a system for case managers to refer clients needing help to complete the paper application for unemployment or SNAP food benefits.
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We are developing the UWCK Remote Crisis Case Management System to assist residents in need and for social service providers to better manage assistance safely.
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UWCK is facilitating a weekly COVID-19 call with 30-50 local human services providers, the county health department and emergency management focused on collaboration and communication, identifying unmet needs in the community, and coordinating responses accordingly.
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We have focused on increasing access to food throughout the counties and have compiled a list of food pantries and meal sites. We have established a collaboration to support United Way partner agencies with expanding their food pantry capacity in the Key West area. We have led calls with food distribution sources to advocate for better quality and more food for the Keys, and the pantries have reported seeing positive results. Finally, we are bringing more produce into Monroe County to be distributed to food pantries and meal sites county-wide.
Partner Agencies and Community Outreach
Current Community Investment partners were encouraged to re-direct their April, May and June funding allocations to COVID-19 response efforts. Many of their programs were no longer operational due to stay at home orders or their funds could be better utilized elsewhere, so this will help these agencies to respond to their clients within the focus areas of Education, Food and Safety Net Services.
VITA Tax Preparation
To help prevent the spread of COVID-19 to vulnerable citizens, we have cancelled our in-person VITA tax preparation dates indefinitely.
In light of these closures, we are offering a Virtual VITA option for residents with simple returns. We are also referring clients to the free, online tax preparation site, MyFreeTaxes.com. Through United Way’s partnership with H&R Block, every household with a simple return can securely file their federal and state taxes for free.
We hope to begin offering VITA tax preparation sites again this season, in light of the IRS extension of the tax filing deadline. Please watch our Facebook page and KeysUnitedWay.org/vita2020 for updates.
Where to Get Help
Any Monroe County resident needing assistance should consult our online Community Resource Guide at KeysUnitedWay.org/CommunityResourceGuide. There, you can find information about local, state, and federal services and programs related to COVID-19. We are working hard to keep the information as up to date and complete as possible, to support our community.
What Can You Do?
UWCK and our partner agencies are receiving many offers from people wanting volunteer during this crisis, and we are so grateful. Due to the health risk, volunteer opportunities may be limited. "Like" some of your local nonprofits' pages on Facebook and watch your Newsfeed for their volunteer opportunities, or contact MonroeCounty-FL.gov/VolunteerMonroe.
Another way to help the community is to continue to follow the CDC's recommendation of staying home and limiting interactions with others as much as possible. This is critical to stop the spread of COVID-19. This united effort will enable our community to get back to normal as quickly as possible.
While everyone is affected by this pandemic, if you are better able to weather its financial effects, our friends and neighbors need support now more than ever.
Many in the Keys and across the country are feeling a financial strain, facing food instability, and are in crisis. If you are able to give, any designated gift will help us keep local programs open and responding as residents’ needs in our community grow. Contributions designated for COVID-19 relief will help Monroe County individuals and families through this difficult time.
Thank you to everyone who has donated for COVID-19 relief, including these corporate partners:
- Breakthru Beverage Florida
- Florida Blue Foundation
- Ocean Sotheby's International Realty
- Wells Fargo Foundation
These times are uncertain, but over and over again we see that our donors, partners and the people we serve are filled with generosity, compassion, and courage. While UWCK recognizes that our community will need to rely on state and federal assistance, we are also committed to helping provide sorely needed stability directly to our ALICE residents during this chaotic time. As United Way, we will be there for our community. Whatever is needed, however long it is needed.
Together, we #LiveUnited.
