Editor’s Note: The following article is the second of a four-part series, “The COVID Money Map”. The series seeks to explore and document how billions of dollars in government money – earmarked for COVID relief – was actually spent in Seattle. 

By Hazel Trice Edney and Barrington Salmon, The Seattle Medium

Beginning in March 2020, emergency rooms and morgues overflowed in the United States and other countries around the world. Ultimately, by the end of 2023, the deadly coronavirus known as COVID-19 had killed more than 1.1 million people in the U.S. alone.

There could have been even more deaths, but leaders in the White House, state houses, local governments, and community organizations resolved that the only way to save as many lives as possible was to reach as many people as possible from every walk of life. According to the National Institutes of Health, the pandemic was “the worst public health crisis in the U.S. since the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918,” which killed 650,000 people in the U.S. and 50 million around the world.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, trillions of dollars in US government funds were poured out to save lives and livelihoods, helping cities engage in what appeared to be a David and Goliath fight. The Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle (ULMS) was among the Davids around the nation, positioning itself as a resolute warrior leading the charge, receiving and disbursing a war chest of funds to protect people against the once-in-a-generation, unpredictable virus.

In February 2021, Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee announced that his state approved and implemented a $2.2 Billion COVID-19 Relief Bill using federal funding awarded to the state. The money went toward statewide programs, including childcare, food security, small businesses, housing/homeless assistance, rental assistance, income programs, early learning and public education, and public health, particularly vaccine distribution and testing.

In a ‘By the Numbers’ segment of their website, the depth and scope of ULMS’s work are made clear, indicating the kinds of help sought by people and families during the pandemic:

        Overall, ULMS spent $10.8 million in total support service.

• 3,500 families were fed.

• $6.5 million was spent on rental assistance and eviction prevention.

• $4.2 million was spent on general support services (not including rent).

• $350,000 was spent on support of small businesses with grants and contracts.

• $25,000 was spent on personal protective equipment such as masks and sanitizers.

• $18,000 was spent on direct cash assistance.

• $13,900 was spent on the disbursement of rideshare credits.

• $3,000 was spent to feed protestors at local marches and rallies.

ULMS also created a COVID-19 resource guide on its website, enabling visitors to order free at-home COVID-19 tests, producing 50 FAQ videos about the COVID-19 vaccines by African-American health professionals, initiating a vaccine conversation, and focusing on COVID education and outreach.

“The way that we all came together to support the community is something I will never forget, both within the unlikely partnerships we were able to make and within the [Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle] ULMS staff. I’m wildly impressed, inspired, and encouraged by the ULMS team,” said ULMS President/CEO Michelle Merriweather in an interview with Isabel Lay of Public Health – Seattle & King County, reflecting on King County’s Pandemic Response in the Public Health Insider. “While contracting the virus remained a constant risk, our team made every effort to respond to the growing emergent needs of those we serve and still does to this day. Everyone wanted to be a part of the solution. Their passion for this work is what keeps me going.”

During the Christmas and New Year’s holidays 2023, eight months after President Joseph Biden declared an end to the pandemic on April 10, leaders of the ULMS – like millions of other Americans – took a break to unwind, vacation, regroup, and spend time with their families. But after the indescribable trauma and round-the-clock battle for lives that they had endured, it appears that their rest could be preparation for yet another round of battle given a new COVID strand.

Dr. Eric Chow, chief of Communicable Disease Epidemiology and Immunizations at Public Health Seattle King County, says a new JN.1 strand of the virus that has become the dominant COVID infection is now circulating in the U.S. It should cause people to remain on guard against the disease and to continue to remain updated on vaccines as JN.1 takes its course.

But officials say vaccinations have diminished greatly even as the danger of death and severe symptoms remains present.

“To date, 23 percent of residents in King County are up to date with their vaccinations but actually only 11 percent of Black residents are up to date in comparison to 26 percent of white residents. That’s a huge disparity and one of the things we’re working really hard to close the gap of,” Chow said. “What this highlights is that COVID continues to circulate in our communities and continues to cause severe disease, particularly in communities most vulnerable… We know that communities that have been disproportionately impacted by COVID throughout the pandemic continue to experience disparities up until this point, altogether highlighting why it’s so important to stay up to date with the recommended vaccinations and take the layered approach such as masking and improving indoor ventilations to help protect loved ones and family members.”

Seattle Public Health Spokeswoman Kate Cole says a Black Community Equity Team of which the Urban League is a part holds monthly resource fairs at the Skyway Resource Center to help educate the public on all aspects of COVID, including vaccines.

“There is a new updated COVID vaccine that everyone six months or older should get, even if they got the original vaccination, even if they’ve gotten multiple boosters, even if they’ve already had COVID and feel like they’re good to go now, this new vaccine is better updated to fight off a newer variant, so we’re trying to encourage everybody to get it,” Cole said.

The immediate future of COVID-19 remains a mystery in Seattle and beyond as the JN.1 variant continues to circulate. As much money that’s already been spent, much more may be needed before it’s all over.

“We got quite a bit of money from COVID response from the federal government to be able to uncover those areas where there are disparities that we didn’t previously understand,” Chow said. “It’s really important here that we get the funding that we need, and this is where the federal partners can really help us close that gap locally.”

He concludes, “It’s so easy for people to want to move beyond COVID-19. A lot of people think that COVID is in the past… CDC still reports about a thousand deaths from COVID-19 a week.”