The Office of Arts, Culture and the Creative Economy, the Arts and Culture Task Force, and City Council launched the $1.5 million 2022 Illuminate the Arts Grant to aid in the recovery of Philadelphia’s arts and culture community from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The funding will be distributed to Philadelphia’s individual artists, small and mid-size nonprofit arts organizations, and small creative enterprises. The grant seeks to financially uplift Philadelphia’s creative sector and support disadvantaged communities, particularly Philadelphia’s Black and Brown communities, that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The City’s Department of Commerce, in partnership with Community First Fund and VestedIn, launched the second round of Boost Your Business, a fund that helps to build the capacity of minority-owned businesses with forgivable loans so they can scale their business to obtain new contracts and support employee growth.

The City’s Office of Innovation and Technology announced the extension of PHLConnectED — which provides eligible pre-K–12 student households with access to free, reliable internet service — into a third year and shared information about the organizations funded to provide digital literacy courses to caregivers. Digital literacy courses for caregivers will be available in spring 2022. Learn more about this work.