Mutual Aid in Action: The Role of Latinx- and Indigenous-Serving Organizations in Pandemic Recovery

Abstract

Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) launched The Essential Fund in mid-2020 to support Latinx-, Indigenous, and community of color-led and -serving organizations across the United States. Over the course of a year, the Fund provided over $2.2M in relief and resources to impacted Latinx and communities of color, and engaged with more than 100 grantee partners to amplify their capacity to meet the basic needs of essential workers and their families, particularly undocumented workers and multi-generational and mixed-status families.Insights from this experience, as shared by organizations directly working with Latinx and Indigenous communities, are documented in this report to continue shining a spotlight on the impact that flexible and timely philanthropic dollars can make for smaller Latinx- and Indigenous-led and -serving organizations, and to offer ideas for how philanthropy and policymakers can best support communities that are still working to address the ongoing racialized economic and health impacts of the pandemic, as well as enduring systemic inequalities