The COVID-19 outbreak is affecting all of us as we struggle to adapt to uncertainties changing hourly. In the Bay Area, East Palo Alto families are being hit hardest with acute childcare, food, and housing needs due to school and workplace closures. The San Francisco 49ers Academy works in direct partnership with the Ravenswood City School District and Sequoia Union High School District in supporting East Palo Alto middle and high school students and their families with full wraparound services. Both school districts have announced that schools will be closed through at least the beginning of April. For 49ers Academy families, school closure is more than an inconvenience; it is an emergency! The vast majority of 49ers Academy students rely on free and reduced-price meals in their schools. Families do not have alternative childcare available when schools close. Furthermore, as workplaces shut down, family incomes cease. A great many parents and guardians are service workers with hourly wages that are not paid when they are told to stay home. With little or no savings, 49ers Academy families are further at risk of not being able to pay next month’s rent due in just two weeks.
In response to this pandemic crisis, the San Francisco 49ers Academy is setting up the “San Francisco 49ers Academy COVID-19 Emergency Fund†to provide students and families with the immediate additional support they need to meet their basic needs. Academy staff members are personally speaking with individual families to determine what specific needs are of utmost concern. With your help, the Academy is ready and able to provide these highly at-risk families with the financial support they need to make it through this public health crisis.
Now, more than ever, all of us need to come together as a community and support our families who need it the most! In supporting the San Francisco 49ers Academy here and now, you are making an immediate direct and personal impact.
This is a time where we can come together and unite as a community. It’s often during the hard and uncertain times where compassion shines the brightest. We are so grateful to be a part of such a strong, caring and supportive community.
