Community Care Fund (CCF)

In April 2020, Leeway established a COVID-19 Relief Fund with the goal of distributing unrestricted grants to Leeway grant and award recipients experiencing financial hardship as a direct result of the COVID-19 crisis. Since then, the fund has evolved to focus on immediate and essential emergency need funding. As of January 2026, $732,050 has been re-distributed in 495 grants.

Over the last six years, we’ve learned a lot about the importance of emergency funding, particularly for many artists who have been historically under-resourced, many of whom Leeway serves (e.g. – People of the Global Majority*; immigrants; queer people; trans* and/or gender nonconforming folks; poor and working-class people; people with disabilities; etc.). If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that many individual artists don’t have safety-nets of resources to fall back on in hard times.

The Community Care Fund (CCF) provides financial assistance of up to $1,250 to Leeway grantees experiencing immediate and essential emergency needs. Recipients will be selected by panel review and a weighted lottery system that prioritizes first-time applicants, those with the greatest need, and historically under-resourced communities including members of the Global Majority*, disabled artists, formerly incarcerated people, and/or applicants with additional compounding factors. 

We would like to credit local + national initiatives and organizations in the field for providing relief and other fund models we used as resources that helped Leeway create and launch the Community Care Fund, including Alternate ROOTS Solidarity Fund, The Craft Emergency Relief Fund (CERF+), IndieSpace Emergency Fund, The National Coalition of Arts Preparedness and Emergency Response (NCAPER), and The Rauschenberg Foundation Emergency Medical Grants. In past years, Leeway has been able to support this stream of funding thanks to generous support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Independence Public Media Foundation, the Samuel S. Fels Fund, Sundance Institute, Surdna Foundation, and William Penn Foundation.

* Global majority is a collective term for people of African, Asian, Indigenous, Latin American, or mixed-heritage backgrounds, who constitute approximately 85 percent of the global population. Leeway is a trans-affirming organization committed to gender self-determination, and we use the term “trans” in its most inclusive sense, as an umbrella term encompassing transsexual, transgender, genderqueer, Two-Spirit people, and anyone whose gender identity or gender expression is nonconforming and/or different from their gender assigned at birth.

Leeway has implemented several changes to CCF effective June 1, 2026. We’ve heard your feedback, consulted with our peer emergency arts funders, and have made changes to be specific to Leeway’s grantee communities.

First, we are moving away from a first-come, first-served process, which can favor applicants with more time and resources to monitor application openings. We have also streamlined the application, which is now made up of a series of checkboxes, yes / no questions, and one optional short response question. We know very few people apply for emergency funding unless they need it, and we want to avoid applicants having to explain potentially traumatic circumstances. 

Recipients will be selected by panel review and a weighted lottery system that prioritizes first-time applicants, those with the greatest need, and historically under-resourced communities including members of the Global Majority*, disabled artists, formerly incarcerated people, and/or applicants with additional compounding factors. 

The need in our community vastly exceeds the available funds through CCF and the changes we are implementing aim to better distribute limited funding amidst great need. While these changes reflect a different approach to administering CCF, Leeway remains committed to supporting our grantee communities as much as possible. 

Leeway defines “emergency and essential need” as the imminent endangerment of essentials such as housing, utilities, medicine, food, caregiving, and/or other essential needs. 

Applicants will need to demonstrate a pressing and critical need for emergency support in order to receive funding. Due to an unprecedented amount of need in the communities Leeway serves and limited funds, Leeway unfortunately will not be able to fund every request.

Applications to CCF will be accepted on a rolling basis throughout the remaining grant season, starting June 1 through October 15. Applications will be reviewed in three cycles:

• June 1-June 15: Applications received between this period will be notified by July 6. This cycle is intentionally short to prioritize those who were not able to apply in the previous cycles. Applicants who are not funded in this cycle will be automatically entered into the next cycle.
• June 16-August 15: Applications received between this period will be notified by August 27. Unfunded applicants will be automatically entered into the final cycle.
• August 16-October 15: Final cycle of the year; applications must be received by October 15. All applicants, funded and unfunded, will be notified by November 6. 

Notification periods are longer than previously necessary to account for this new grant process. Unfunded applicants will be given the opportunity to edit their applications to reflect their current situation between cycles.

Applications are accepted at the online application below. If this presents difficulty for you or you have access needs, please contact [email protected] or call 267.831.4886 to set up a quick phone application.

You are eligible to apply if you are: 

• A Leeway Foundation grantee
• A current resident of Bucks, Camden, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, or Philadelphia County
• An artist who is experiencing financial hardship and has immediate, emergency need around housing, utilities, medical, food, caregiving, and/or other essential needs. 

You are not eligible to apply if you: 

• Have received a Transformation Award in 2025
• Have received Community Care Fund grants totaling $1,250 in the current calendar year (2026)

Read more about eligibility for applicants in the CCF Guidelines in English and Spanish.

Click here to visit the Frequently Asked Questions for the Community Care Fund (CCF) .