Apr 13The Walmart Foundation — Our Partner In Hope
Nothing is easy right now, especially for seniors with low incomes. Getting healthy, affordable food that’s easy to access without having to go out and brave the pandemic is getting harder by the day.
The Walmart Foundation has partnered with us to make life a little easier for some of the seniors that call Mercy Housing home. Partnerships are what will get us through these challenging times, and we were overjoyed when we heard the news — The Walmart Foundation has given Mercy Housing a $200,000 grant to address food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic!
The Walmart Foundation’s grant directly supports Mercy Housing residents — families and especially seniors. The funding is expected to serve a total of 17,000 residents, 6,500 of which are seniors that are severely in need of this critical support.
This grant will increase food availability at current pantries while creating pop-up pantries where there previously weren’t any options for donated food to be picked up. Together with this funding, The Walmart Foundation and Mercy Housing are poised to address:
- Limited ability for seniors to shop for food as they are asked to shelter in place and practice social distancing
- Reduced services from vital food delivery such as Meals on Wheels
- Reduced income for residents who are employed in industries affected by mass layoffs
- Reduced access to free and reduced lunches due to school closure
This $200,000 grant was a portion of Walmart and the Walmart Foundation’s $25 million commitment that they announced on March 17 to support organizations on the frontlines of COVID-19 responses. These series of grants will further organizations’ ability to help communities affected by the pandemic. On March 26, the Walmart Foundation announced that $10 million would be allocated to nine organizations — including Mercy Housing — that support food banks, schools and senior meal programs. The organizations share an overarching goal: providing access to food for underserved populations – a mission taking on even greater urgency in response to the novel coronavirus.
Mercy Housing Resident Services Coordinators have always been an essential part of what makes Mercy Housing more than four walls and a roof. They’re essential to our efforts to ensure that residents have access to healthy, safe food options at this critical time. We thank The Walmart Foundation, residents, and all Resident Services Coordinators that are teaming up to put their best feet forward at this difficult time. With mercy and hope we’ll get through this stronger than ever.
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