A Rapid Response: A Year Like No Other
"Even though COVID happened the racism didn’t stop. The Rapid Response funding from Liberty Hill helped us to continue to have peace rallies and press conferences—to let the community know we’re still here. This support literally enabled us to rapidly respond to the issues on the ground.” – Pharoah Mitchell, Community Action League
Since its founding in 1976, Liberty Hill has sought to build deep relationships with grassroots organizations and leaders in marginalized communities who form the backbone of progressive change in Los Angeles.
These are the everyday people who have been leading protests and driving essential conversations about the effects of structural racism in our society for years.
But the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying public health restrictions only exacerbated existing inequities, bringing them into sharp relief and hitting our partners and their communities particularly hard.
As the nation grappled with how to effectively respond to both the ravages of the global pandemic and the cries for racial justice from the streets of America, the groups we work with continued the fight.
And Liberty Hill stepped up to support them, moving quickly to create multiple Rapid Response funds providing $625,000 in grants for COVID-19 and racial justice. These funds were designed to provide maximum flexibility, allowing our partners to adjust their operations, provide aid to their communities, and adopt new organizing techniques in the face of COVID-19. Most of all, it allowed their critical work to continue.
“You cannot organize people who cannot eat. The money from the Rapid Response Grant helped us get vital supplies, buy groceries, and get personal protective equipment and medical supplies out to people. But we’re investing just as much in a cultural shift—how do you live in a way where you are a resource to your neighbors and your neighbors are a resource to you?” – Bill Przylucki, Executive Director, POWER
