SC’s philanthropic groups and nonprofits have worked to help others during COVID-19

Foundations, United Ways and nonprofit organizations across the state are an important way that community helps community: while government is often rigid and fixed, philanthropic and charitable organizations can move quickly in times of emergency.

South Carolinians are used to hurricane season: the storm hits, neighbors help neighbors and we work together to rebuild.

But hurricane season isn’t until September, so during this past February we were building visions of third-grade readers, a better foster care system, improved nutrition, health innovations and a host of other investments.

Then COVID-19 hit our shores, and as schools and businesses closed for safety, philanthropy mobilized to help those in need.

With our partners at Together SC, the SC Grantmakers Network and United Way Association of South Carolina adopted a three-tiered approach to COVID-19 response that includes funding, communication and advocacy. Within a matter of days funding for food and basic needs was flowing to all corners of South Carolina.

With support from Gov. Henry McMaster, Central Carolinas Community Foundation reactivated the One SC Fund — the state’s emergency charity fund — to give corporate and individual donors an avenue to help with critical needs.

To date $2.94 million has been contributed to One SC Fund’s COVID-19 response, and more than 20 local and regional funds have emerged to support the fight against coronavirus with combined resources of $7.5 million.

That’s more than $10 million in private, corporate and philanthropic funds that are being used to target the impact of COVID-19 throughout South Carolina, and these dollars are actively being deployed to address basic human needs.

While $10 million seems small compared to the nearly $200 billion that is expected to flow into South Carolina through the CARES Act, the wheels of public funding move slowly. But philanthropy and our nonprofit partners are equipped to respond quickly and responsibly.

And we did.

Across South Carolina emergency service providers experienced marked increase in requests for food and assistance along with other basic needs. For many people standing in line for a bag of groceries, it was their first time asking for help. The One SC Fund and regional/local funds continue to play critical roles in meeting this unprecedented increase in need.

And philanthropy and our nonprofit partners are not finished: we will continue to address the changing landscape created by COVID-19 with our social, moral, intellectual, reputational and financial capital.

But now that we are more than two months into addressing the pandemic in South Carolina, we have these observations — or perhaps calls to action — that we feel compelled to share with elected officials, residents and community and corporate leaders of our beloved state:

▪ Testing, particularly for asymptomatic people returning to work, is critical.

Currently COVID-19 testing is disproportionately unavailable to people of color and those living in rural communities, and strategies to provide adequate testing access to traditionally underserved populations must be central to a statewide plan to reopen.

▪ Rural communities that lack sufficient broadband access are not sustainable.

With statewide e-learning and an increased emphasis on telehealth, lack of internet connectivity puts children and families at an unconscionable disadvantage. Expanding broadband statewide should be a high priority.

▪ We must address access to health care, particularly for the working poor.

This is not a new issue, but our collective experience with COVID-19 has cast a bright light on the vulnerability of people who cannot access care. Perhaps this pandemic will heighten the public’s willingness to expand access to health care for all.

None of us will forget this experience.

History books will chronicle our shared COVID-19 experiences the way they look back upon world wars. And when history does look back on this time, it will look at how all of us — elected officials, residents and corporate and community leaders — responded.

Let’s make sure that future generations learn that in response to COVID-19, South Carolina and her people rose to the occasion.

Chris Steed is chair of the SC Grantmakers Network. Naomi Lett is CEO of the United Way Association of SC.

This story was originally published May 22, 2020 at 1:12 PM.