The Immediate Benefit of Rapid Cash Disbursements for Oakland Families
By Raffy Maristela, Analyst, NewSchools Venture Fund
As the global pandemic shut down schools in March 2020, families faced one of the most daunting times of their lives. While education innovation was still a priority for us at NewSchools Venture Fund, it was clear that there were more immediate needs that families were struggling to satisfy. We needed to find a way to help.
So in April, we repurposed our Hometown Fund, originally established to fund longer-term Oakland-based education innovations, to invest in The Oakland REACH and Oakland Public Education Fund (the Ed Fund). The two nonprofit organizations provided emergency relief funding to the families of Oakland public school students, a proven lever to protect families and provide stability.
Six months later, the positive impact of these organizations on the local community is evident. Through their disbursement of direct cash to families, these two organizations have changed the lives of students and families who faced immediate challenges brought upon by the onset of Covid-19.
As of mid-August, the Ed Fund, under the leadership of Alexandria Medina and Jonathan Osler, raised $2.5M for its Covid-19 Relief campaign from over 2,000 donations that have come in from around the country. Of that, they distributed $1M to roughly 2,500 families for cash assistance, $700K to support distance learning, and $800K for grocery distribution in partnership with OUSD.
The Oakland REACH, led by executive director Lakisha Young, has been a consistent innovator in serving families. Her organization quickly developed its new relief fund, raising about $400K, 100% of which they disbursed to just over 1,000 families in need. For many families, the funds made the difference in putting food on the table and covering the costs of rent, food, electricity, and phones.
The depth of need was profound, as families told the Oakland REACH in text messages, emails, and photos. “This is the only program that I found that has helped me during this crisis,” one family wrote. Another reported that along with a gravely ill family member, “we are not working, and we hardly have any food.” Yet another said simply, “The Oakland REACH has answered my prayers.”
Neither the Ed Fund nor The Oakland REACH was initially set up to provide direct cash disbursement to families, and reorienting around a new goal wasn’t always easy. Both organizations experienced initial challenges making the shift, but both also highlighted their adaptability as crucial to meet the moment. Young said, “We’re nimble. We’ll try something, and if it doesn’t work, we pivot.” Early in their distribution process, Young herself distributed donated money directly through CashApp, PayPal, Venmo, and physical checks to get cash in the pockets of families as quickly as possible while building up her organization’s capacity. Medina, Executive Director at the Ed Fund, also mentioned, “We had never been an agency that had done rapid [cash] disbursements.” Yet, when faced with families’ needs, the Ed Fund built a whole system for cash disbursements of rapid relief and converted program teams to cash assistance contacts to mobilize the effort.
To make it work, both organizations doubled-down on their commitment to listening to their community to ensure their support was equity-centered. The Oakland REACH leveraged their deep relationship with their families to identify the need for immediate cash assistance vs. another approach like grocery gift cards, while the Ed Fund partnered with school principals to prioritize disbursement. Additionally, the Ed Fund distributed dollars by priority through OUSD schools based on an Equity Index score (informed by factors like student demographics, rates of free and reduced lunch, homelessness rates, teacher retention rates, etc.).
We are proud to support these two organizations that have made a tremendous impact on the Oakland community, but the work is far from done. Consider sharing their stories on social media to amplify their work (below) or support Oakland REACH’s Virtual Hub or the Oakland Public Education Fund’s continued fundraising efforts around Covid-19.
Oakland REACH: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
Oakland Public Education Fund: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram
