Housing Executive staff Paula Maguire, Karly King and Linda Watson distribute essential supplies to tenants in Derry. PIC By BBC
The £260,000 Covid-19 Response Fund was launched on Wednesday “to assist community groups working to respond to the emergency on the ground across Northern Ireland”.
Organisations and enterprises “carrying out activities to support local vulnerable people” are eligible to apply.
Already, 147 applications have been received.
Colm McQuillan of the Housing Executive said staff are “regularly checking up on vulnerable tenants in isolation by telephone”.
He said many community groups are delivering food or medical supplies and “giving residents a link to the outside world and a listening ear if they need it”.
Mr McQuillan said the fund “aims to provide immediate financial support to enable these activities to continue and to help groups to operate in what is the most challenging environment any of us have ever witnessed”.
