Giving Compass' Take:

• The National Domestic Workers Alliance launched the Coronavirus Care Fund that will provide emergency aid to domestic workers in need during COVID-19. 

• In what other ways can donors help domestic workers during this time? What are the primary needs?   

• Learn more about the National Domestic Workers Alliance. 

Every night here in Chicago, the city gives thanks to the health care workers by applauding them from our windows at 8 p.m.—an anthem of gratitude for those who take care of us.

Domestic workers have not received such applause, despite being on the front lines of the fight against coronavirus. They are the nannies caring for children so that their parents can go to work in medical centers, they are home-care workers keeping loved ones who are elderly comfortable and safe in their homes so they are not exposed to the virus, and they are helping to clean homes—and hospitals—to keep them sanitized and safe for everyone.

Their work, by definition, takes place in someone else’s home; working from home is not an option. Without paid sick days, or job security, staying home means no income, and potentially no job, for many. Home-care workers who take the bus to get to work wonder if they risk exposing themselves and their clients to the virus by doing so.

In response, the National Domestic Workers Alliance launched the Coronavirus Care Fund to provide emergency assistance to domestic workers in need. Thanks to the generosity of 85,000 people and organizations, we have raised nearly $4 million to support thousands of domestic workers. But it will not be enough. We need our federal, state and local legislators to enact policy change that protects and supports this group of workers, rather than excluding them from relief, care and protections that other workers receive. We need our legislators to protect all workers from the economic impacts of this public-health crisis.

Domestic workers are more than 90% women. They have families who rely on them. They are disproportionately women of color, many are immigrants, and they have always shown up when our society is under threat.

Read the full article about domestic workers by Ai-Jen Poo at Time.