SAG-AFTRA Foundation Passes $1 Million Mark In COVID-19 Aid To Members In Need

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The SAG-AFTRA Foundation’s COVID-19 Relief Fund has distributed $1 million in emergency assistance to members in need, foundation president Courtney B. Vance said Monday night in his second “fireside chat.” The fund has another 3,000 applications for assistance that it’s processing.

“We appreciate your patience as we’re working very hard to help even more people as quickly as we can,” Vance said on the video, urging “members who can get by for two months to wait to apply so we can prioritize those who need help right now.”

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Here’s Vance announcing the milestone:

The foundation’s website states that “Due to this unprecedented pandemic, we are experiencing an overwhelming number of applications for emergency financial assistance from SAG-AFTRA members in urgent need. We are working around the clock to process applications, and we ask for your patience. Your application could take over two weeks to process. Please know that you are our primary concern, and we will respond to applications as quickly as we can. Thank you for your understanding and please be safe.

“Emergency financial assistance is available for people who are unable to pay their basic living expenses (food/housing/health care) over the next two months. We ask that if you have the resources to cover that period, please wait to apply. These are unprecedented times and we all must steward our resources very carefully.”

“I know this is a very trying time for all of us,” Vance said in the video. “This is a moment in our country’s recent history that is unprecedented. Some of our members’ lives have been forever altered by this pandemic.”

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