The Seattle Foundation announced it is awarding more than $800,000 in grants from the Building Resilience Fund to help Puget Sound families hit hard by the tough economy.

The targeted grants were awarded to five multi-service agencies and will help an estimated 800 people and 352 families in the Puget Sound area.

The Foundation reached out to Puget Sound’s leading philanthropists and corporations last fall to create the Building Resilience Fund to address urgent and long-term community needs resulting from the region’s ailing economy. The Foundation hopes to raise more than $6 million for the collaborative fund over the next three years. Key partners include The Seattle Foundation, Microsoft Corporation, The Boeing Company, Medina Foundation, Safeco, Starbucks, United Way of King County, and the Lawrence True and Linda Brown Foundation.

“Our goal is to help families hit hard by the economy by connecting them to the best assistance in the Puget Sound area,” said Foundation President/CEO Phyllis Campbell.

Campbell emphasized that multi-service agencies are trained and staffed to break through language and cultural barriers that often prevent families from obtaining essential survival services such as eviction prevention, utility subsidies, groceries, and unemployment benefits.