COVINGTON, Ky. — More people and organizations are facing challenging times during the coronavirus outbreak.

As the crisis and needs of people increase daily, a public charity in Northern Kentucky hopes to find a solution. 

“We’re hearing a lot about people who have food insecurity or who don’t have shelter or perhaps have healthcare needs that aren’t being covered right now,” said Nancy Grayson, president of the Horizon Community Funds.

The public charity quickly launched a new fund to support Northern Kentuckians needing help during the COVID-19 pandemic. Their goal is to raise $4 million with nearly half of that already committed.

“As we started to hear more, we thought, in the spirit of Northern Kentucky, which is something we do so well, we wanted to come together and allow people to give any level possible so that they could help one another and make sure that we can have a better outcome at the other end of this pandemic,” Grayson said.

The relief fund will provide flexible financial assistance to nonprofits serving in Boone, Campbell, and Kenton counties. 

Initially, the funds will support populations of those who are economically vulnerable facing the loss of work or reduced wages, school or even business closures.

“Because of this particular crisis, there’s even more need and so we’re relying on those trusted nonprofits to help connect us to those individuals and families who are really struggling,” Grayson said.

These nonprofits could be experiencing increased demand for resources in response to the COVID-19 virus in communities.

“So for us, we’re really looking at who are those trusted organizations and where can we deploy funds most quickly so that those who are suffering are able to help get the support and resources that they need,” Grayson said.

In addition, Horizon Community Funds has also set up another relief fund to help support healthcare employees