UW Credit Union has announced on Tuesday a $20,000 grant to the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness that will go to the Foundation’s COVID-19 Relief Fund for Black Women and Families.

“The disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on Black women and families has compounded existing inequities in our community, resulting not only in alarming health consequences, but in widespread economic destabilization,” says Lisa Peyton-Caire, founder and CEO for the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness, in a statement. “As Black women and their families absorb the shock of layoffs, furloughs and of frontline work as essential employees with inadequate childcare, these funds are critical to help them fill immediate needs as they work to survive and weather this crisis.”

The Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness opened the first-ever Black Women’s Wellness Center on Madison’s west side earlier this year. The grant will go to the Center’s COVID-19 Relief Fund for Black Women and Families which distributes one-time, immediate mini-grants for eviction prevention and emergency assistance for basic family needs including food, medication, housing and utility costs, transportation and childcare assistance, according to a press release. The Foundation also provides coordinated case management and resource referrals in addition to healthcare and mental health navigation.

“We are excited about this opportunity to join the Foundation for Black Women’s Wellness in providing relief to the most impacted families in Dane County,” says Sheila Milton, Director of Cultural Competency and Inclusion at UW Credit Union, in a press release.