Dear John,
I hope you and your family are staying healthy and safe. These are difficult times for all of us, and we anticipate even greater challenges in the weeks ahead.
NVFS continues to lead the way in ensuring those most impacted by this health emergency have the care and support they need. Thank you for partnering with us, for your financial support, for your donations of food and diapers and so much more. Your support helps ensure we can respond and support our neighbors in need as this crisis evolves.
Our Team at NVFS continues to deliver essential services during these unprecedented times:
• Our 92-bed family homeless shelter remains open. We have added additional staff shifts and have adopted strict CDC guidelines around social distancing and keeping the shared spaces at the shelter sanitized.
• Our Hunger Resource Center remains open. We have modified our procedures to ensure the health and safety of our staff, volunteers and, individuals and families in need of access to food and supplies during this time.
• All of our existing services remain available to our current clients as we are able, through teleconferencing and remote-access service delivery.
• We have activated a COVID-19 Emergency Assistance system to assist those impacted by layoffs, unexpected childcare expenses, or other emergency costs. We have counselors staffing the resource line every weekday, and staff prepared to respond to online applications for emergency financial assistance.
These are just a few examples of how our NVFS staff, board, volunteers, supporters and community partners have risen to the challenge in these early days. As we anticipate needs increasing as this crisis continues, we need your help in a few ways:
• Food donations. Food is a critical need among our community, and we are sending our drivers out in trucks to our grocery store partners that used to come back full and now are coming back empty. We are asking for contributions of grocery store gift cards, shelf-stable food, hygiene products, and cleaning supplies.
• Diapers and wipes to prevent families from plummeting into financial despair. We closed all of our Head Start and Early Head Start Centers to help stop the spread of COVID-19, which has had an immediate impact on over 500 families who rely on us not only for care and learning, but also for basic staples (like diapers and food) throughout the day.
• Financial support. We can turn a generous cash gift into the bridge that helps someone make their rent next month, cover a co-pay, or ensure a child gets the care they need while their mother is on duty at the clinic.
