Communities most impacted by systemic inequities in ordinary times are more significantly impacted by times of crisis. As the pandemic spreads, communities of color and low-income communities continue to be disproportionately impacted by the primary and secondary effects of COVID-19 in terms of health, loss of income, homelessness, and more. But, when there is existing infrastructure in place that can be leveraged on behalf of crisis response, that response is more efficient and impactful.

At the Alliance for Education, an organization committed to racial equity and educational justice for Seattle Public School students, our work is always focused on creating and investing in supports for students who face inequities in society and in our educational system. In the context of the pandemic, we are leveraging those existing supports and designing new ones, to address the challenges local students and families are facing in today’s crisis. When we come out on the other side of this challenge, we will all have learned new lessons about the struggles, strengths, and resiliencies of our community.

Investing In Infrastructure Before A Crisis Hits

Last year, Seattle Public Schools (SPS) made a commitment to establish a Department of African American Male Achievement (AAMA) to better serve Seattle’s Black male students and invest in their inherent excellence. The Department of AAMA will analyze and deconstruct harmful systemic practices in Seattle Public Schools — with the goal of ensuring African American male students have access to an equitable educational experience.

Over the course of the last year, the Alliance raised a fund to support the creation of this new department, and recently announced that more than $1.8 million in funding has been raised to date from multiple philanthropic leaders across the region, toward a $3M goal. Investing in this targeted infrastructure prior to the pandemic has made a significant difference to crisis response on behalf of those most impacted.

While the new Department of AAMA is still in its infancy, a Black Student Leadership Council had been formed last school year, staff had been hired, and initial work had been done to begin community conversations about the Black male experience in SPS when the pandemic hit. As a result, AAMA staff were able to support Black students and families who were particularly impacted by COVID-19, and ensure other SPS leaders were doing the same. As an example, Department staff were able to connect with all Black male SPS seniors to ensure they either had the resources they needed to be on track to graduate despite school closures, or that they received them.

George Floyd’s murder and the subsequent racial reckoning in our country has layered additional trauma on top of the challenges of COVID-19. The Department of AAMA has rallied around SPS’ Black male students during this time, by addressing the social and emotional impacts of the national conversation and activism around race and racism. In the year ahead, the Department will have family support workers in place to specifically address the needs of Black male students and their families, among other resources.

Rapid Response in a Crisis

Eighteen months ago, the Alliance for Education, in partnership with Amazon, created the Right Now Needs Fund. This fund provides monetary resources to every school in the SPS system to address the basic needs of students, including hunger, homelessness, medical challenges, school supplies, and more. Funds are allocated to schools in proportion to the number of students in each school receiving free or reduced price lunch, an indicator of levels of poverty. Over the last year, Petaki Cobell, Right Now Needs Fund Director, spent countless hours engaging directly with school communities, identifying staff who work most closely with families experiencing challenges with basic needs, and ensuring the fund was known and utilized broadly.

The Right Now Needs Fund provides critical supports in ordinary times, but has proven essential in these extraordinary ones. When the pandemic hit, requests for support from the Right Now Needs Fund increased by 100%. With this targeted infrastructure already in place, the fund was able to respond quickly.

Collaboration with Community

The Alliance played a hands-on liaison role during the early days of the pandemic, working with district leaders to understand what challenges students and staff were facing, and engaging with philanthropists to understand how they could help. Great outcomes resulted from this in-depth engagement. The Alliance created the Education Equity Fund, a fund to address remote learning challenges caused by school closures. Cash and in-kind contributions were made that directly supported student ability to continue their education from home, including funds for food, hotspots for students, and other crucial supports, and in-kind contributions of computers for kids and expert consulting to strengthen remote teaching capacity. By building a deep understanding of district need and philanthropic focus, the Alliance was able to drive supports that moved quickly and effectively to meaningfully address pandemic challenges.

As another academic year begins with most school buildings still closed, students, families and educators across the country face unprecedented challenges. Donors are faced with unlimited and often overwhelming opportunities to engage and support. By investing in well-designed, targeted infrastructure, pre-existing or newly formed, that supports our most impacted community members, and by working with partners who demonstrate community understanding and expertise, donors will more effectively mitigate the harms of this unprecedented pandemic.

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Original contribution by Lisa Chick, President and CEO of Alliance for Education.