The Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) and Twitter/Square CEO Jack Dorsey today announced a joint grant to the Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles to address the current crisis for domestic violence victims in Los Angeles as a result of the COVID-19 “stay at home” order.
CLF and Dorsey will co-fund this effort, each committing $2.1 million for a total of $4.2 million.
Specifically, these funds will provide 10 weeks of support including shelter, meals and counseling for individuals and their children suffering from domestic violence at a time when shelters are full and incidents are on the rise. The Los Angeles Housing Authority has determined that approximately 90 people per week (in addition to their children, in many cases) have been turned away from domestic violence shelters in Los Angeles since the Safer at Home Order was issued. At approximately $125 per day, the grant will cover housing and food for 90 domestic violence victims per week, with an additional 90 victims every week thereafter for 10 weeks.
It is estimated that more than 10 million people experience domestic violence in the U.S. each year, and the number of homicides related to domestic violence has been on the rise since 2010. In L.A. County, as overall homicides have declined, the number of women slain has steadily risen. Having partnered previously on projects, CLF and Dorsey knew that swift action was required and decided to address the issue together. Although they are starting in Los Angeles, victims of domestic violence exist all across the world, so this is just the beginning.
Earlier this week, Dorsey announced that he was dedicating $1 billion of his equity in Square to help fund COVID-19 relief efforts, girls health and education, and Universal Basic Income pilot programs.
Last week, CLF and JAY-Z’s Shawn Carter Foundation (SCF) announced $2 million in grants to COVID-19 response efforts to support undocumented workers, the children of frontline health workers and first responders, and incarcerated, elderly and homeless populations in New York City and Los Angeles. Prior to that, CLF announced $5 million in grants to on-the-ground partners working on the frontlines of the coronavirus response to protect and prepare vulnerable and marginalized communities in the United States, Caribbean and in Africa for whom the full impact of the pandemic is still to come. The Mayor’s Fund for Los Angeles was one of the designated organizations to receive emergency funding along with the Fund for Public Schools, American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the New York Immigration Coalition.
Over the past five years, CLF has been one of the first organizations to respond to some of the world’s most devastating natural disasters, and the organization has seen firsthand the profound and unintended consequences of not being prepared. As a result, the foundation is committed to quickly getting ahead of the outbreak in order to protect as many frontline health workers and marginalized communities as possible.
Founded in 2012 by Rihanna, the Clara Lionel Foundation works with community-based leaders and organizations around the world innovating high-impact approaches to education and emergency response and preparedness.
