Craft Emergency Relief Fund Inc

Emergency response - cerf+ provides critical emergency financial assistance to craft artists who have experienced a recent, practice-threatening emergency such as climate- related disasters, illness, injuries, studio or home fires, and theft. Once applications are completed, grant determinations are made within two weeks. This year, 141 artists affected by practice -threatening emergencies received direct emergency relief grants. These artists received a total of 421,734 9 in emergency aid (403,000 in grants) and 18,734 of gifts-in- kind (donations of equipment, materials, booth waiver fees, etc.), for a grand total of 421,734. The largest category of emergencies for artists was climate-related disasters, representing 31% of total grants. Major responses included the hawaii wildfires, california floods, and hurricane beryl. The second-largest category was illness, accounting for 26% of all grants, followed by accidents and injuries, which made up 23% of the grants. Cerf+ administered the etsy program to support makers who have experienced a federally declared disaster within the past year. In fy24, etsy and cerf+ awarded 60 grants totaling 124,000.

Outreach, marketing & advocacy: cerf+ maintains an active list of over 31,648 individuals, organizations, and arts businesses that receive email alerts before, during, and after a disaster. Cerf+ also sends e-newsletters on a regular basis to ensure that artists receive up-to-date information, including grant opportunities, educational resources, and federal and state assistance packages. Our increased social media engagement resulted in 12,700+ instagram followers (+3,858), 8,200+ facebook followers (+400), and 561 linkedin followers. Cerf+ continues to play an active role as a steering committee member of the national coalition for arts' preparedness and emergency response (ncaper). Over the past year, ncaper has shifted focus back to response supporting groups during disaster events like the maui wildfire, northeast flooding and similar. We serve on the steering committee of the vermont arts & culture disaster and resilience network, an initiative led by arts and culture organizations from across the state committed to deepening emergency preparedness and resilience within the arts and culture sector. Cerf+ participates in many nationwide cohorts of arts service organizations such as the living traditions network, a nationwide network of organizations and culture bearers focused on sharing and developing resources to support folk & traditional artists. And the heritage emergency national task force (hentf), sponsored by the smithsonian institution and fema, continues to increase recognition for our specialized expertise in artists disaster preparedness and recovery. We also participate in the national volunteer organizations active in disaster, appalachian funders network, world craft council, the cultural advocacy group and other national network/cohorts. These relationships are vital to inform and be informed around leading trends and evolving practices related to supporting individual artists. Cerf+ website and online content: we launched our new website and continue to update it with new content on a regular basis. After each major disaster in an area that affected a significant number of craft artists, cerf+ created a website banner that links to an updated disaster relief page with disaster response & recovery resources. Our website has been the go-to destination for artists seeking emergency resources. Cerf+ completed a comprehensive update of both content and graphics for all studio protector materials and developed a detailed guide to emergency preparedness for artists. Cerf+ greatly expanded its other resources page to include information about grants and trainings that other organizations offer to artists as well. We also maintain a "disaster resource hub," which provides alerts, information, and resources on specific disaster events. Other additions to the site include new craft artist interviews and stories as well as new content related to our get ready grant program created by recipients of those grants. We also updated the emergency relief information pages to include spanish translation. Our website is now included on many state, regional, and national arts agencies- and organizations' websites and blogs with disaster-specific information. Finally, we continued writing blog articles, which feature craft artists, organizations, and other topics relevant to our audience.