Here in New York City, 7pm is a special moment every day. New Yorkers take to their windows, to their fire escapes, to whatever little outdoor space we have available, and we clap. We bang pots. We give thanks, as loudly as we can, to those on the front line of this pandemic. We know this public gratitude is not enough. We know our front line also needs protective gear, with many essential workers in the food industry unable to count on even a living wage. We have work to do to honor and protect those who are protecting and feeding us. But the gratitude matters.
In that spirit, we bang our pots for the finance, management, and all staffers who’ve been working round the clock to access the Payroll Protection Program in the CARES Act. Overtaxed submission portals, difficult-to-reach bank staff, uncertain and shifting answers, and resubmitted applications are just some of the challenges these theatre workers have faced in their efforts to keep their colleagues working. If you haven’t already found a way to give communal thanks to your finance staffers, please do.
The CARES Act is just one opportunity to care for our people, and we hope you’ve seen the recently released NEA guidelines for accessing funds which can be used for staff salary support, fees for artists or contractual personnel, and facilities costs. Direct grants will not require a cost share or match and will be for a fixed amount of $50,000. The deadline to apply is April 22, 2020. Please see the Arts Endowment’s website for program description, eligibility requirements, application review, and FAQs.
Caring for our people will be a major theme of our upcoming webinar, CARES and Community Care: A What Now Webinar. If you feel like you’ve got some stories to share on how to care for our people during these dark days, please let me know and we may ask you to share on this webinar. The What Now webinar is just one of many speaking to this uncertain moment, and we encourage you to check out the Boot Camp for the Arts Livestream from our friends at Capacity Interactive to the Wallace Foundation’s Navigating COVID-19 for Nonprofits: From Financial Triage to Scenario Planning.
And in that spirit of care, I want to acknowledge that for a growing number of us, we do this work as we mourn the loss of friends and loved ones. Sometimes,mourning is the only thing we can do. So while these Briefings may take a hopeful note, and try to provide useful actions we can take together, we honor as well the waves of grief battering our country, and the need to not just pause, but stop. It’s OK to stop, to grieve, to rage. Please do so knowing that wherever you are when this Briefing finds you, you are not alone.