Emergent Needs Fund
In 2018, Sheng-Yen Lu Foundation established the Emergent Needs Fund to help community-based organizations address their most immediate needs in serving immigrant and refugee communities. SYL Foundation remains fully committed to its primary mission of ensuring access to health care and education but also recognizes there are multiple factors that can affect immigrants’ and refugees’ safety and well-being.
Each year, we listen and learn from our community partners before the Foundation Board of Directors establishes the annual Emergent Needs Fund priorities. Our grants reflect our commitment to centering solutions created by and for the community, and our priorities include both immediate needs and efforts toward longer-term systemic change. It is our goal to serve communities that disproportionately experience the negative impacts of systemic racism and bias, and to support organizations that have significant leadership from Black, indigenous, people of color (BIPOC), and immigrant communities. While Emergent Needs grantees are selected for their effectiveness in addressing specific community needs, all grants are for general operating support. Applications are reviewed by invitation only.
In 2022, Sheng-Yen Lu Foundation's Emergent Needs Fund support organizations that are working in the following priority focus areas:
Emergent Needs Fund Grantee Partners
- Afghan Health Initiative
- Eastside Legal Assistance Program (ELAP)
- Neighborhood House
- Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
- OneAmerica
- Pacific Islander Community Association of WA (PICA-WA)
- Project Feast
- Refugee Women’s Alliance (ReWA)
- Somali Health Board
- Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
- Colectiva Legal del Pueblo
- Community Health Board Coalition
- Community Health Workers Coalition for Migrants and Refugees (CHWCMR)
- Entre Hermanos
- India Association of Western Washington/Indian American Community Services
- Living Well Kent Collaborative
- United We Dream
- World Relief Seattle
- Medical Teams International
- Columbia Legal Services
- UTOPIA (United Territories of Pacific Islanders’ Alliance) WA
- Eastside For All
- Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN)
- White Center Community Development Association
- Global to Local Health Initiative
- Latino Community Fund of Washington State
- APACEvotes
- Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS)
- OneAmerica
- Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
- Northwest Health Law Advocates
- API Chaya
- Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAAJ)
- Casa Latina
- Center for MultiCultural Health
- Child Care Resources
- Chinese Information & Service Center (CISC)
- Colectiva Legal del Pueblo
- Columbia Legal Services
- Community Health Board Coalition
- Community Health Worker Coalition for Migrants & Refugees (CHWCMR)
- Comprehensive Healthcare
- Crisis Connections
- Denise Louie Education Center (DLEC)
- El Comité (COVID-19 Community Response Alliance)
- Entre Hermanos
- El Centro de la Raza
- Living Well Kent Collaborative
- Mother Africa
- OCA – Asian Pacific American Advocates
- Pacific Islander Community Association of WA (PICA-WA)
- Scholarship Junkies (COVID-19 Relief Fund for WA Undocumented Folks)
- SCIDpda (Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation Development Authority)
- Somali Health Board
- United We Dream
- WAPI Community Services
- Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network (WAISN)
- West African Community Council (WACC)
- Colectiva Legal del Pueblo
- Country Doctor Community Health Centers
- Eastside Legal Assistance Program
- International Community Health Services
- Luteran Community Services Northwest
- Neighborcare Health
- Northwest Law Advocates
- Northwest Immigrant Rights Project
- West African Community Council
- The Young Center (Rapid Response Fund)
Washington Immigrant & Refugee Funder Collaborative
Sheng-Yen Lu Foundation was a founding member of, and remains an active participant in, the Washington (originally Seattle) Immigrant and Refugee Funder Collaborative, which was initially established as part of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees’ (GCIR) Delivering on the Dream Network. The Collaborative convenes local grant-makers in a participatory effort to learn about issues of concern to immigrants and refugees, engages in advocacy on behalf of immigrant communities, and takes action through collective grantmaking to local organizations serving immigrants and refugees.