Dear Friends,
We hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy during this outbreak.
At Urban Alliance, we are on week six of taking our mission remote, and the world has already changed so much for our interns in such a short while.
The Impact of COVID-19
99% of the young people we serve are students of color, and the vast majority come from low-income neighborhoods. These are the communities being hit hardest by the spread of COVID-19:
- An effect of longstanding structural racism, early analysis by the CDC found that Black Americans made up 33% of hospitalizations from COVID-19, despite making up about 13% of the national population, and another report shows them to be 30% more likely to have health conditions that exacerbate the virus, leading to a higher share of overall deaths.
- More than half of low-income Americans report that they or someone in their household has lost a job or taken a pay cut due to the outbreak – with Hispanic Americans hit especially hard at 61% – compared to 32% of higher-income workers.
Young people are now not only contributing more to help cover lost family wages – 80% of our students already helped to cover household expenses before this crisis – but are taking on caregiver and childcare roles as well while balancing school, work, and planning for an increasingly uncertain future. Like their communities, young people are being hit hard by this crisis:
- A new poll found that half of young people reported some kind of income loss from layoffs or reductions due to the outbreak, and young people make up a quarter of workers in industries at highest risk of job losses.
- Teens’ confidence in their ability to afford a college education in light of this crisis is also declining, as many high school students are now rethinking their post-high school plans.
The UA Commitment
That’s why we are committed to ensuring that all of our students continue to earn a paycheck and have robust support to draw upon as they navigate this incredibly difficult time. Our program is not just about internships – it’s about more equitable access to the skills, networks, and experience correlated with economic success. It’s about money in students’ pockets that goes directly toward supporting their families and funding their future plans.
Urban Alliance is a support system, which is even more critical during times like these to ensure that low-income and minority youth do not get left behind when faced with barriers along their journey to self-sufficiency.
Save the Date: Giving Tuesday is May 5
To maintain our commitment to students, we need the help of the entire Urban Alliance community. On May 5, we will be participating in Giving Tuesday Now, a global day of giving to help those hardest-hit by the spread of COVID-19 – like our students. We ask you to mark your calendars for May 5, consider donating what you can to help our students weather this crisis, and spread the word to friends and family. Together we can keep them on the path toward economic stability.
Thank you for standing with our students.
With gratitude,
Eshauna Smith
CEO, Urban Alliance