Eligibility Requirements and How To Apply

for Disaster Relief and Emergency Financial Assistance for SAG-AFTRA members

Please note: Suspended Payment, Terminated, and Fee-Paying-Non-Member (Ficore) are NOT ELIGIBLE to receive emergency assistance from the SAG-AFTRA Foundation. If you submit an application and fall into this category, your application will be denied.

Before filling out our online application, you must review the eligibility criteria and be prepared to digitize and upload all required documentation including any correspondence pertaining to the crisis which has caused your emergency financial situation i.e. copy of bill, letter from your doctor confirming illness diagnosis, or proof of disaster or emergency. Applications without proper and sufficient documentation will be denied.

If you have questions, please email assistance@sagaftra.foundation or call 323-549-6773.

The Following Eligibility Requirements Must be Met In Order to Apply for and Receive Disaster Relief or Emergency Financial Assistance—

  1. You must be paid up on your SAG-AFTRA dues through October 2022; if you joined the union after October 2022, you must be currently paid up on your dues.
  2. You must provide a copy of your current SAG-AFTRA membership ID card or confirmation by SAG-AFTRA membership department – including end date. 
  3. You must show documentation of emergency financial need directly related to the unexpected life crisis, such as a natural disaster, accident, catastrophic illness/injury, emergency medical bills not covered by insurance, house fire, eviction, evacuation, death in the family, or other emergency circumstance covered by the IRS regulations which pertain to granting tax free monies to individuals for financial hardship caused by an emergency. 
  4. COVID-19 only: If you contracted COVID-19 while working, and lost pay or your job due to the illness, you must be able to show proof of a positive COVID-19 lab test (not a home test), as well as written notification from your employer stating you were unable to work and did not receive pay, or were unable to return to work due to testing positive for COVID-19.

Tips on Making Your Application Process Easier

You should prepare your documents prior to filling out the online application. You will be required to upload your documents at the end of the online application.

If your documents are not already available electronically, here are some suggested steps to create an electronic file for your paper documents.

  1. Search your app store for a free pdf scanner (eg. Evernote Scannable). There are numerous free apps that are available to create electronic files for your paper documents; please use what works for you.
  2. Download the free app to your phone.
  3. When you are ready, open the app and scan documents.
  4. This will create a PDF of your files.
  5. You will need to create one PDF file for each of these categories:
    1. 1 file for union card(s) or proof of membership status, if applicable
    2. 1 file for last month’s bank statement
    3. 1 file for current lease, rent statement, mortgage/maintenance. (If unavailable, can be substituted with utility/phone bill listing your current address)