Supportive Services From The Actors Fund for SAG-AFTRA Members

A life in the arts brings uncertainty even in the best of times. Since its founding in 1882, The Actors Fund has provided a safety net for entertainment professionals throughout all stages of their lives.

Over the course of the pandemic, the Fund has worked with the entertainment community to do what they do best: rally together, take action and continue to be there for SAG-AFTRA members and all those who work in our industry.

Since March of 2020, The Actors Fund has distributed more than $25 million in emergency grants to more than 17,500 people around the country, through its own funds and those of almost 20 partner organizations, including the SAG-AFTRA Foundation and the SAG-AFTRA Motion Picture Players Welfare Fund.

Actors Fund grants continue to help people with essentials such as rent, food, medicine and health insurance premiums. They have also provided relief for those impacted by natural disasters such as hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes.

In 2020 alone, The Actors Fund helped more than 40,000 people via its health and wellness, career and life, and housing services. Its increasingly popular selection of online groups and educational seminars can also provide timely information on mental health, navigating career and health insurance options, finding affordable housing, managing finances and more.

Get support

Recent times have posed significant challenges to the mental health of people in our industry. The extended period of financial instability, sociopolitical upheaval, natural disasters and social isolation have taken an emotional toll on so many.

The Fund provides online groups to help people address issues such as stress, anxiety and depression. 
These groups provide support for people in handling uncertainty, finding ways to cope, managing relationships and loneliness, providing ongoing care for loved ones, dealing with loss, and navigating hope and resilience.

The Fund offers more than a dozen national groups and forums to SAG-AFTRA members everywhere and they are designed to recognize the unique and differing needs of our community, including:

* Thriving with The Actors Fund Group for Black-Identified People. 
* Mind Body Spirit Group for Black Women in Entertainment.
* Asian American and Pacific Islander Entertainment Professionals Gathering.
* Gendertainers: From Safety to Celebration.

For California residents, additional groups include:

* Are You on the Fence With Life in the Industry?
* Encore, for people 65 and older. Participants explore the challenges of growing older in the performing arts and entertainment industry. 
* Mindshift: Cognitive Behavioral Skills for Anxiety and Depression.
* Mindshift: Cognitive Behavioral Skills for Anxiety and Depression - Graduates Check-in.
* Psychology of Money.
* Support Group for Women with Disabilities.

The Fund also continues to offer daily mindfulness meditations to help people manage and reduce stress.

Learn more at actorsfund.org/SupportGroups.

Enrich your career

The need for The Fund’s career services is greater than ever. In 2020, The Fund’s skilled counselors, employment specialists and instructors provided services to more than 5,800 people. 

The Fund offers career counseling, employment training and job development to help people find work that can be done while continuing in the industry or while developing a new professional direction. And Career Transition For Dancers helps dancers to thrive during all phases of their careers.

They offer workshops on topics such as resume writing and LinkedIn networking, and new offerings such as:

* How to Job-Search During a Pandemic.
* Innovation & Entrepreneurship During COVID-19.

In addition, their Wednesday Forums series explores topics such as recruitment trends, identifying creative work alternatives and the future of work in a COVID-19 economy.

Their Creativity Doesn’t Age speaker series provides forums to explore the importance of work and community engagement in combating isolation and loneliness, career identity and reinvention, intergenerational collaboration, and more.

Learn more at actorsfund.org/CareerCenter.

Stay healthy and insured

The Actors Fund is singularly focused on keeping members of our community healthy and capable of pursuing their chosen careers.

The Fund helped more than 4,800 people in 2020 through health insurance services. 

For California residents, The Fund offers Entertainment Health Insurance Solutions, a joint program of The Actors Fund and MPTF, to assist the entertainment and performing arts community with personalized counseling and enrollment support.

Learn more at actorsfund.org/HealthServices.

Find housing

Housing is a critical concern for people who work in performing arts and entertainment.

The Fund’s Housing Resource Center provides one-on-one consultations and online information via their Housing Bulletin Board. And The Fund welcomes more than 1,000 people a year to their online affordable housing seminars.

Despite the challenges of the pandemic, The Fund safely and successfully completed a beautiful renovation of the Palm View in West Hollywood last year. This affordable housing residence provides homes to low-income people with special needs.

Especially exciting news is the 2021 groundbreaking of the Hollywood Arts Collective, a brand-new affordable housing residence and neighborhood arts complex, developed in partnership with Thomas Safran & Associates, now under construction in the heart of Hollywood and slated for opening in 2024.

This $124 million project will include 151 units of affordable housing for artists, the 86-seat Glorya Kaufman Theater, art galleries, rehearsal studios, nonprofit arts office space and a new home for The Actors Fund Western Region Headquarters.

Learn more at actorsfund.org/Housing.

Manage your finances

For anyone interested in managing their finances, The Fund offers free seminars to increase your financial knowledge, and to learn the tools and skills to support lifelong financial health and stability. 

Learn more at actorsfund.org/Finances.

Support for seniors

Over the course of the pandemic, The Actors Fund has provided continuous care while prioritizing the safety of the senior members of our community. Its Senior Services program can help SAG-AFTRA members age 65 and older, their families and caregivers to address the myriad issues they may face on a daily basis.

Whether it means helping you investigate housing alternatives or working with a family member to organize homecare, the Fund’s experienced social workers can help you develop a plan to meet your individual needs.
Learn more at actorsfund.org/Seniors.

Support for young performers

Created in 2003 in partnership with SAG-AFTRA, the Fund’s Looking Ahead program helps professional young performers and their families thrive amid the unique challenges of working in the entertainment industry.

In addition to their ongoing programming, Looking Ahead has recently offered a series of support groups for young Black male-identifying performers, young Black female-identifying performers and their parents.

Learn more at lookingaheadprogram.org.

Stay connected

For a calendar of ongoing workshops, groups and seminars from The Actors Fund, visit actorsfund.org/Workshops.

To sign up for a monthly email with all the latest offerings from The Actors Fund, visit actorsfund.org/SignUp.