There's a silver lining for one nonprofit with the frenzy around the Robinhood stock trading app that's now facing dozens of lawsuits after the company restricted trading on GameStop.
Robin Hood, an organization that has been fighting poverty in New York City for 32 years, is welcoming the new attention.
The organization initially got confused for the stock trading app on social media, which led to some angry comments directed at the nonprofit. But it has also led to an increase in donations when people realized the nonprofit's mission.
Their CEO, Wes Moore, says they've received hundreds of donations in the last few days from across 29 states.
“It’s also provided an opportunity for people just to learn more about the work, to learn more about why an organization like ours exists and why this issue of poverty, this issue of entrenched poverty in many ways is something that everyone should be spending and focusing their time,” said Moore.
The CEO says the last year has really shown the extent of the challenges we were already facing with poverty.
Robin Hood launched a relief fund during the pandemic that has been supporting social services in New York City and offering cash assistance.
“A core focus of our work is not just addressing the very human need right now, but it's also understanding the fact that the reason that we have such a significant human need oftentimes is because of holes in policies,” said Moore.
One policy they're advocating to change right now is the child tax credit. Some families are missing out on this, because their earnings are too low to qualify.
President Joe Biden’s stimulus proposal would fix this by expanding the credit for one year and making it fully refundable.
Robin Hood is also pushing for the credit to be permanent.