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Cover The Caregiver
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Caregiver Relief Grants

Applying for financial assistance, respite funding, and hourly caregiver support.

Start an applicationHow applications are ranked

Free to apply, always. We will never ask you for a fee, a donation, or a repayment.

When we award

Quarterly distribution cycle

We pool donations and award them four times a year. Applications stay in consideration for the round they are submitted in; if a round is oversubscribed, you can ask us to roll your application into the next one.

  • Q1January 1 - March 15Awarded by March 31
  • Q2April 1 - June 15Awarded by June 30
  • Q3July 1 - September 15Awarded by September 30
  • Q4October 1 - December 15Awarded by December 31

Urgent situations: if a caregiver is in crisis and cannot wait for the next round, emailgrants@coverthecaregiver.org with “URGENT” in the subject line. We review those within 72 hours and fund what our balance allows.

Where we award

Geographic scope

We start where our volunteers live, because we can show up in person as well as send funds. As donations grow, so does the map.

Priority 1

Tri-Valley, California

Dublin, Pleasanton, Livermore, San Ramon, and Danville.

Priority 2

Greater Bay Area & California

Reviewed in every round once Priority 1 applications are funded.

Priority 3

Nationwide (United States)

Funded in rounds where quarterly donations exceed regional demand.

No black boxes

Transparent prioritization matrix

Families deserve to know exactly how a decision gets made before they spend an evening filling out paperwork. Here is the entire rubric our review board uses.

1

Required to qualify

Medical attestation

A simple one-page form signed by the treating physician or neurologist confirming an active ALS diagnosis. We do not need charts, imaging, or a full medical history, and we never ask for them.

  • One page, signed and dated by the treating clinician
  • Confirms active ALS status only, no clinical detail
  • Reviewed by the grant board, then stored encrypted
2

Weighted heaviest

Family situation & hardship

We prioritize the households where the caregiving load has no slack left in it at all.

  • Student caregivers balancing school with daily care
  • Sole breadwinners working extra hours to stay afloat
  • Families with high out-of-pocket hourly caregiver costs
  • Single-caregiver homes with no other adult support
3

Tiered, not means-tested to the dollar

Financial need

We use broad household income tiers rather than a forensic audit of your finances. The goal is fairness, not intrusion.

  • Page 1 of your prior-year tax return, SSNs redacted, or
  • A short self-attestation statement if filing documents are unavailable
  • No credit checks, no bank statements, no asset disclosure

What we do not consider

Immigration status, insurance status, employment history, marital status, race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, veteran status, or whether anyone in the family has ever donated to us. None of it is collected, and none of it affects an award.

Grant application

Fifteen minutes, plain language, no jargon. If any question is hard to answer, leave it and email us instead — an incomplete application is never disqualified.

About you

Optional. We only call if email bounces or a question is time-sensitive.

What you need

$1,000 is the maximum award in any single quarterly round.

A few sentences is plenty. Write it however is easiest for you.

Is a student a caregiver here?

Broad tiers only. We never ask for exact figures.

Supporting documents

You can submit these later. An application without documents still enters the review queue — we will email you a secure upload link if your request advances.

Signed by the treating physician or neurologist, confirming active ALS status. PDF, JPG, or PNG.

Open the printable attestation form

Page 1 of your prior-year tax return with SSNs redacted, or a written self-attestation. PDF, JPG, or PNG.

Redact your Social Security number before uploading. We do not need it, and we will delete any document that contains one.

Consent

Security & privacy notice

Your privacy is paramount. All medical and financial records are encrypted, kept strictly confidential within the review board, and never shared publicly.

  • Documents are transmitted over TLS and stored encrypted at rest.
  • Access is limited to the named grant review board members.
  • Published ledgers use anonymized family IDs, never names.
  • Records are deleted on request, and purged on a fixed retention schedule.

Read the fullPrivacy & Confidentiality Commitment, or send documents directly togrants@coverthecaregiver.org.