COVID-19 Relief: Support Our Students and Families
Donation protected
The teachers and staff of New Heights Charter School are urgently trying to raise money to support our students and families who have been financially impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. New Heights is an independent charter school in South Los Angeles that serves 420 students from TK-8th grade and is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District. LAUSD schools have been shut down since March 16th to keep our communities safe. New Heights is one of many LAUSD campuses that provides Grab and Go breakfast and lunch for students and families. We have been distributing meals twice a day to our families since the school closure began.
While measures have been taken worldwide to save lives from the rapid spread of COVID-19, many of our families are struggling to survive after losing all, or a great deal, of their income. Most families are experiencing food insecurity, as they don’t have sufficient funds for groceries and are not able to go to our campus for food distribution without transportation.
Even in the best of times before shelter-in-place, all of our students qualify for free lunch. With these drastic changes, families are facing even more uncertainty about whether they can buy basic necessities like diapers, let alone pay their rent and bills. In March, Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a rent freeze, which means that Los Angeles tenants may forgo paying rent in the months of this crisis, but that they will have to pay back the months of rent incrementally in the future. For families who already experience housing insecurity, fears of this looming debt, with no signs of future jobs or income, weigh heavy. Some of our families also did not qualify to receive the federal government’s stimulus check.
New Heights has been able to distribute school Chromebooks and iPads for students to learn from home, but there are still families who do not have internet and who are struggling to pay their cell phone bills. Access to the internet and technology is more critical than ever, now that all student learning and connection with classmates and teachers can only happen virtually.
New Heights will use all of the funds that we raise to provide families with materials for distance learning (extra chromebooks for families with multiple children, noise cancelling headphones for families living in close quarters, and hot spots for families without internet) and money for basic necessities.
We will distribute the funds using an equity formula so that we can provide some relief to our most vulnerable families. All donations will be tracked and documented by our school’s leadership team. We will continue to follow all government orders and recommendations for safety as we distribute these donations to the families.
We know that this is an incredibly hard time for everyone, but we hope that you will contribute to this fund to support the most disenfranchised members of our community. The school closure will continue throughout the summer, which means that our students and families will continue to need support in the coming months. We hope that you will consider making a recurring monthly donation for the next 4 months if you have the means.
Thank you so much from the bottoms of our hearts! We are sending you love and wishes for good health from South LA!
While measures have been taken worldwide to save lives from the rapid spread of COVID-19, many of our families are struggling to survive after losing all, or a great deal, of their income. Most families are experiencing food insecurity, as they don’t have sufficient funds for groceries and are not able to go to our campus for food distribution without transportation.
Even in the best of times before shelter-in-place, all of our students qualify for free lunch. With these drastic changes, families are facing even more uncertainty about whether they can buy basic necessities like diapers, let alone pay their rent and bills. In March, Mayor Eric Garcetti issued a rent freeze, which means that Los Angeles tenants may forgo paying rent in the months of this crisis, but that they will have to pay back the months of rent incrementally in the future. For families who already experience housing insecurity, fears of this looming debt, with no signs of future jobs or income, weigh heavy. Some of our families also did not qualify to receive the federal government’s stimulus check.
New Heights has been able to distribute school Chromebooks and iPads for students to learn from home, but there are still families who do not have internet and who are struggling to pay their cell phone bills. Access to the internet and technology is more critical than ever, now that all student learning and connection with classmates and teachers can only happen virtually.
New Heights will use all of the funds that we raise to provide families with materials for distance learning (extra chromebooks for families with multiple children, noise cancelling headphones for families living in close quarters, and hot spots for families without internet) and money for basic necessities.
We will distribute the funds using an equity formula so that we can provide some relief to our most vulnerable families. All donations will be tracked and documented by our school’s leadership team. We will continue to follow all government orders and recommendations for safety as we distribute these donations to the families.
We know that this is an incredibly hard time for everyone, but we hope that you will contribute to this fund to support the most disenfranchised members of our community. The school closure will continue throughout the summer, which means that our students and families will continue to need support in the coming months. We hope that you will consider making a recurring monthly donation for the next 4 months if you have the means.
Thank you so much from the bottoms of our hearts! We are sending you love and wishes for good health from South LA!
Organizer and beneficiary
Claire Stringer
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA
Jamie Parada
Beneficiary