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`According to U.S. Census Bureau’s 2017 American Community Survey, only 2.9% of Oregon’s population is African American. Since the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, Black residents have struggled to get access to the state’s COVID-19 aid programs to help their struggling businesses. In response to seeing Black business owners struggle in their community, these individuals got together and created the Oregon Cares Fund to help.
The Oregon Cares Fund for Black Relief + Resiliency was established by four individuals Akasha Lawrence- Spence, Nkenge Harmon Johnson, Joy Alise Davis, and Jesse Beason with support from local community to direct 4.5% of the state’s CARES Act funding, which equates to $62 million, toward the Black community. “We could see the effects of the pandemic. We were afraid that if we didn’t act, more Black Oregonians would fall ill and suffer lasting health issues,” said Johnson to