COVID-19 Relief Fund for Undocumented Individuals in Washington State

Our undocumented community is one of the most vulnerable populations during the COVID-19 pandemic in Washington State. We seek to provide direct economic support to our undocumented community during the “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” order. Join us today, to ensure we are able to collectively reach our goal of $10,000,000 to support over 10,000 families. Donations will go directly to families in need. Please donate, share this fundraiser on social media, and direct friends, co-workers, and big funders you may know.

Want to send a check? Get it matched! If you want to send a check please send it to P.O. Box 45406, Seattle WA 98145 and please include a letter letting us know that you've been inspired by our partner at All in WA and would like your donation to be considered for matching. You can also send this statement via email.

If you want to make a donation via a donor advised, or a Trust our EIN is 81-3153433 Scholar Fund (DBA: Scholarship Junkies). If you want to donate stock please get in touch david@scholarshipjunkies.org

Applications Closed

With a heavy heart, the leadership of the Washington Dream Coalition has made the difficult decision of no longer accepting new applications for our grassroots led COVID-19 Relief Fund for Undocumented Individuals in Washington State starting tonight Thursday, August 20th, by 11:00 PM.

Currently, we have a $11M gap to ensure we can support all current applicants and we believe cannot raise beyond this amount. Thanks to our community's support, we have been able to support over 4,200 families across the state totaling over $3.4M. We are in the process of distributing $2.2M in the next month.

Never did we imagine that our fund would grow to be the largest grassroots led fund for undocumented immigrants in the nation. We started this fund with initially an idea of only raising $200,000. As time has passed, we have surpassed that goal. This fund supported us in better understanding our community and their current needs, because of that our team has been an essential part of advocating with our local government for a $40M Washington COVID-19 Immigrant Relief Fund for people who have experienced hardship due to the pandemic and are ineligible to receive unemployment insurance compensation or federal stimulus dollars due to immigration status. The application for this fund will open in mid/late October and we encourage our existing applicants who have yet to be funded by us to apply. Applicants who have previously been funded and are experiencing additional need are also eligible to apply. We are going to continue to invest time into making this state wide fund accessible and equitable for our community alongside our partners.

Thank you all for trusting us through this process and investing both financially and through our volunteer efforts in this work.

Best,
Washington Dream Coalition
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Anunciamos con un gran pesar que el liderazgo de Washington Dream Coalition ha tomado la decisión difícil de ya no aceptar más solicitudes para nuestro Fondo de Ayuda COVID-19 para personas indocumentadas en el estado de Washington a partir del jueves 20 de agosto, a las 11:00 PM.

Actualmente, nos hacen falta más  de $11 millones para poder apoyar a todos los solicitantes actuales y no creemos poder recaudar más de esta cantidad. Gracias al apoyo de nuestra comunidad, hemos podido apoyar a más de 4,200 familias indocumentadas en todo el estado con un total de más de $3.4 millones. Estamos en el proceso de distribuir $2.2 millones el próximo mes.

Nunca imaginamos que nuestro fondo se convertiría en el fondo comunitario más grande para inmigrantes indocumentados en toda la nación. Comenzamos este fondo con la idea inicial de recaudar solamente $200,000. Con el paso del tiempo, hemos superado esa meta inicial. Este fondo nos ayudó a comprender mejor a nuestra comunidad y sus necesidades actuales, y debido a esto, nuestro equipo ha sido una parte esencial de la abogacía de nuestro gobierno local por un Fondo de Ayuda COVID-19 para Inmigrantes de Washington de $40 millones para personas que han experimentado dificultades debido a la pandemia y que no son elegibles para recibir compensación del seguro de desempleo o dólares de estímulo federal debido a su estado migratorio. La solicitud para el fondo estatal se abrirá a mediados o fines de octubre y alentamos a nuestros solicitantes existentes que aún no han sido financiados por nosotros que presenten su solicitud. Los solicitantes que hayan sido financiados anteriormente por nosotros y tengan necesidades adicionales también son elegibles para presentar una solicitud. Continuaremos invirtiendo tiempo para hacer que este fondo estatal sea accesible y equitativo para nuestra comunidad junto con nuestros colegas.

Gracias a todos por confiar en nosotros durante  este proceso e invertir tanto financieramente y a través de nuestros esfuerzos voluntarios en este trabajo.

Atentamente,
Washington Dream Coalition


Applications open now open, and we are estimating to distribute aid between $500 - $1,000 per individual to help where you need most. Due to demand and in an attempt to support more families we’ve decided to cap the max aid at $1,000. Fill out the form below to apply and we'll be in touch as soon as possible.

We know we may not be able to help everyone and want to be clear that applying does not guarantee that you will receive aid.

Funding Overview

The COVID-19 Relief Fund for Undocumented Individuals in Washington State has raised over $1.8M to provide direct financial relief to families. We've received more than 16,600 applications requesting more than $14 million in relief, and want to give you some insight into our funding process.

Week by week we’ve evaluated applications with our funding partners and distributed a mixture of regionally restricted and unrestricted funds. All decisions are made in accordance with priority areas that have been publicized and were agreed on by all fund partners. Some of the funds have regional or organizational restrictions dictating how the money is spent and which applicants can be approved. Therefore, we have been distributing money in phases. The first phase comprises approximately $560,000 that has been distributed across the state. The second phase is approximately $640,000 and in the process of review with decisions and disbursements being made this week and next. Between the two phases we've sent funding to more than 1,300 families with more to come as we conclude our Phase 2 awarding and distributions.

We will continue to update the funding report as further decisions and distributions are made.

Phase 1 Overview:

We have currently approved and begun distributing about $560,000. This is a mixture of both restricted regional funding and unrestricted funding but breaks down as follows: 

Restricted Funding: $394,000

  • Snohomish County: $220,000
  • Southwest Washington: $102,000
  • Whatcom County: $30,000
  • Funding for pregnant individuals/households with children under three: $42,000

Unrestricted Funding: $166,000

  • King County: $83,000
  • Rest of the state: $83,000

Phase 2 Overview:

We are currently making decisions on an additional round of applicants from the following regions/partners with a collective budget of $640,000.

Restricted Funding: $380,000

  • Entre Hermanos: $54,000
  • OneAmerica affiliated leaders: $20,000
  • Somos Seattle: $42,000
  • Southwest Washington: $111,000
  • Thurston, Mason, Lewis County: $25,000
  • Whatcom County: $70,000
  • Funding for pregnant individuals/households with children under three: $58,000

Unrestricted Funding: $260,000

  • King County: $93,000
  • Rest of the state: $167,000

Frequently asked questions

How are you prioritizing applicants?

Due to limited funds we can't serve everyone. To support those with the most need, we are prioritizing applicants that fall into the following criterion:

  • This fund is primarily meant to serve individuals who are completely undocumented (not DACA, TPS, etc. recipients) and unable to access any government benefits. To protect individuals our application will not ask immigration status. To help us meet this need, please only request assistance if you are undocumented or filling out this application for someone who is.
  • Individuals who have lost their jobs/hours/wages as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak.
  • People who have contracted COVID-19 and high risk individuals will be prioritized. This includes those who are over the age of 50, people with severe asthma or chronic lung disease, people who are immunocompromised, people with severe obesity, serious heart conditions, diabetes, chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis, people with liver disease, and people who identify as Black.
  • Individuals experiencing homelessness and renters.
  • Individuals who are single parents or the primary source of income for their households.
  • LGBTQ+ identifying.
  • We are committed to serving parts of the State with less philanthropic and governmental support than King County. To that end, a max of 1/3rd of our funding will go towards applicants in King County with the rest being spread around the state.
I've applied, what is my application status?

We evaluate applications on week by week rolling basis. Each week we send approved, waitlisted, and rejected emails to evaluated applicants. This may vary region by region as we work with our coalition of partners for additional review. Please make sure to check your spam to see if you've gotten an application decision.

Can I apply more than once?

Due to limited funds, we are only able to fund one family one time. In our verification process, we screen for previously funded households to ensure we aren't funding groups multiple times.

Do I have to pay taxes on my aid if I'm awarded?

No. Payments that individuals receive under a charitable organization’s program as a result of a disaster or emergency hardship are considered to be gifts and are excluded from gross income of recipients under section 102 of the Code.

Did we miss your question? Drop us a line (david@scholarshipjunkies.org) and we will
get back to you as soon as we can.