We hope you and your loved ones are staying safe and healthy. We are certainly thinking about the many ways this is impacting our community, and that includes you.
Our days look very different now than they did only a month ago. Allie and Latara are delivering meals to homebound senior adults each week, and starting Monday volunteers from across the city will report to Neighborhood House to pick up food to do the same.
Norman and George are distributing to-go dinners to youth every afternoon from 4:00 - 6:00. Billie is hard at work keeping our food bank open daily. As you may imagine, we are seeing a huge increase in the need for this important resource.
Melinda is sending recordings of favorite stories and dances to the little ones enrolled in our childcare center, but we have a feeling the videos are bringing a smile to some parents, too. (you’ll definitely want to watch these)
We've created a Facebook group for parents and members of our youth program so that we can keep in touch with them, provide updates and make sure they are supported in navigating new challenges and needs for their families.
Allie, Jasmine and Sara are busy adapting family programming, checking in via email, making phone calls, and ensuring families have all the latest information from the school system, city and beyond. This team of three is also working on videos to be shared each friday with useful tips and fun activities to do at home. You can catch up on "Family Friday" here. We've written and spoken many times about the importance of emotional well-being in the people we serve. While our work is more important than ever, we also want to remind you to take care of yourself and do things that bring you joy. We think this quote by the writer Joel Leon sums it up perfectly, "If your heart is asking something of you, pay attention."
All our thanks, always.