In the wake of COVID-19, Jonathan Allen and Derrick Young Jr. were anxious to lend a helping hand.
Both Allen and Young — two graduates of Grambling State University, a historically Black university in Louisiana — launched an online fund to provide small emergency grants to Boston-area college students displaced by coronavirus.
“When crises arise, we see how the many issues and inequities worsen and disproportionately affect historically marginalized groups,” said Allen, an ordained minister and lawyer. “We learned in early March 2020 that students were being told to vacate campus due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This unforeseen circumstance prevents hardship for many diverse and first-generation students who do not have the privilege to make immediate accommodations for housing, travel, food, storage and other critical necessities.”
Allen and Young — both former scholars of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund — used their organization, The Leadership Brainery, to launch an emergency relief fund, providing $100 mini-grants to help diverse, low-income, first generation and LGBTQ+ students attending college in the Greater Boston area.
The donations have been pouring in via social media and their website, allowing Allen and Young to assist more than 100 students. But the need, they say, remains great. So far, the two have given away close to $14,000 in funds.
“Our goal, as always, is to ensure diverse and first-generation students have the resources and opportunities to thrive,” said Young, who has a master’s of public health degree from Tufts University Medical School. “While a $100 mini-grant may not be much to some, many of our grant recipients simply need money for travel home, food for the week, storage fees, Wi-Fi for classes or checked bags. Many of the obstacles that privileged students do not have to worry about, affect diverse students’ ability to live, learn, graduate and succeed.”
Indeed, COVID-19 — like so many other natural disasters — illustrates the deep and widening class divide, particularly as it relates to young people of color. And students at minority serving institutions have been hit particularly hard.
