1. We remodeled, innovated
The shelter-in-place rules that accompanied the coronavirus pandemic placed a heavy immediate burden on most of our clients and sent our staff scrambling to adapt to restrictions and find novel ways of fulfilling our mission.
Forced to close the Drop-in Center to events for clients and faced with a scrambled situation for locating resources, we split our staff into two teams:
-- Our “home team” worked by phone, text and social media to locate resources and reach out to clients to listen, reassure and present informed options.
-- Our “drop-by team,” worked at the center, taking in donations and serving clients through the gate outside with meals, essential supplies and counseling -- all the while observing proper social distance.
-- We also produced a video showing clients how to obtain and use the stimulus checks for which many were eligible.
-- We moved our live events on-line and added a few new ones, using Zoom and Facebook Live. They include Bible Study, Prayer Time, Friday Devotional, Peer Support, Zoom Game Night and Rave Movie Night.
Forced to close the Drop-in Center to events for clients and faced with a scrambled situation for locating resources, we split our staff into two teams:
-- Our “home team” worked by phone, text and social media to locate resources and reach out to clients to listen, reassure and present informed options.
-- Our “drop-by team,” worked at the center, taking in donations and serving clients through the gate outside with meals, essential supplies and counseling -- all the while observing proper social distance.
-- We also produced a video showing clients how to obtain and use the stimulus checks for which many were eligible.
-- We moved our live events on-line and added a few new ones, using Zoom and Facebook Live. They include Bible Study, Prayer Time, Friday Devotional, Peer Support, Zoom Game Night and Rave Movie Night.
2. Client numbers are up!
When we wrote our pandemic plan in February, we had no idea we would implement it so quickly nor how important it would be to our clients. Most of our clients have been successful with sheltering in place, either at apartments provided through transitional support services, apartments they were paying for themselves, couch surfing, or in make-shift camps that are remote.
Unfortunately, a few of our clients are not able to do this and we see a core set of them almost every day; many of these are in great need of specialized assistance from organizations that are no longer able to serve them in the pandemic.
The statistics reflect this surge:
-- In March we had 111 electronic check-ins with clients. In April we've already had 207! On any given day recently, about half our contacts are not in person, and we've seeing more people many days than pre-COVID 19.
-- In March we served 136 people compared to 132 in 2019 and 116 in 2018. And we're already at 129 for April. In the last 30 days, we've connected with 150 people, nearly 50% of the 310 people we've served in the past six months.
It's been a monumental task and our staff has been wonderful!
Unfortunately, a few of our clients are not able to do this and we see a core set of them almost every day; many of these are in great need of specialized assistance from organizations that are no longer able to serve them in the pandemic.
The statistics reflect this surge:
-- In March we had 111 electronic check-ins with clients. In April we've already had 207! On any given day recently, about half our contacts are not in person, and we've seeing more people many days than pre-COVID 19.
-- In March we served 136 people compared to 132 in 2019 and 116 in 2018. And we're already at 129 for April. In the last 30 days, we've connected with 150 people, nearly 50% of the 310 people we've served in the past six months.
It's been a monumental task and our staff has been wonderful!
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| Above, wonderful members of One Chapel stay true to their church's belief that "our faith is practical and our lives are meant to be lived in service to others" as they deliver in-kind donations for SYMin distribution outside the Drop-in Center. Below, a client checks his bags of food passed to him through the gate at our Drop-in Center, closed to groups temporarily by Austin shelter-in-place rules. |
3. The crisis came in waves!
Based on our experience weathering the 2008 financial crisis, we were able to predict how the pandemic would impact our clients in waves, so we prioritized our response that way, too. Here is the sequence:Food insecurity -- Our generous volunteers, in-kind donors and church partners responded to our need to shift from a buffet style service to one that relied completely on non-perishable food bags and meals prepared to-go. We received 5,220 food donations in March -- almost all from individual donors rather than our previous corporate food sources – and already 2,550 in April. Our March response was crucial because almost no food pantries or meals were open initially.
Clothing -- We've had to redo all our clothing stores so we can hand pick clothing by size for our clients and take it to them outside. We post our needs daily and amazing donors keep cleaning out closets and supplying us.
Mental Health – This came almost immediately. Clients are bored. They don't often make great choices. Depression, anger and frustration have run rampant. We've made ourselves more available by phone and text. One staff member even works "graveyard" shifts when clients are most likely to have anxiety attacks. We've given out art supplies, craft kits, books and playing cards.
Health care – This surprised us! Our clients are no more symptomatic than normal. We believe they have been relatively isolated. On the other hand, clients cannon obtain dental or medical care as they normally would, because the health care system is dedicated to coronavirus response.
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