Left Behind Workers Fund | Distributing Grants to Unemployed Coloradans Who Lack U.S. Documentation During COVID-19

As the novel coronavirus spread across the country early this spring, local, state, and federal governments scrambled to respond to the economic disruption and fallout. The federal CARES Act helped bolster some federal programs, like unemployment insurance benefits, and established business loan programs. But, as many social safety nets were enhanced, it became clear that they would not benefit everybody, particularly the tens of thousands of Coloradans who lack U.S. documentation.

In response to this inequity, Impact Charitable established the Left Behind Workers Fund (LBWF) to provide direct cash grants of $1,000 to those who have lost employment due to COVID-19 but remain ineligible for state and federal aid. The LBWF designed a model to partner with local nonprofits across the state to disperse payments directly to undocumented Colorado families in need.

The Fund began as a pilot program and as the initial grants were successfully distributed and more funds were raised, the fallout from the coronavirus escalated and the need continued to grow. The challenge became one of scale.

How could the Left Behind Workers Fund distribute funds quickly and efficiently to thousands of workers across Colorado?

Our work with the LBWF focuses on helping local partner nonprofit organizations develop the in-house skills and expertise to navigate the complexities of data collection, to field questions and adapt to the needs and complexities facing the communities and stakeholders, and continually improve and streamline processes. 

Most often called training and technical assistance (T/TA), we frequently provide this type of support to nonprofits designing, collecting, making sense of, and using evaluation data. We build the internal skills of nonprofits and government entities and help them to use data to drive strategic planning and decision-making processes. In our experience, providing excellent T/TA requires an approach that is rooted in a connection to and understanding of the challenges a community faces, as well as the ability to be responsive to the changing needs of the client based on community experiences and data.

We helped the LBWF develop a robust system to distribute funds smoothly and adaptively, building a system that can be used across nonprofit partners. Since early May, we have trained 71 staff from 17 nonprofits across the state to become registered Screeners who help applicants navigate eligibility requirements and apply for the grant.

The LBWF addresses a critical need in our communities today and offers a model for future crisis response funding. The LBWF shows how the private and nonprofit sectors can meet to rapidly adapt delivery models to address communities in need during times of crisis.

The ability of Impact Charitable and their nonprofit partners to scale the program quickly has led to significant investments in underserved Colorado communities during this pandemic.