To address the clothing crisis, we are talking to a local laundry to provide a service to replace doing the laundry at the Drop-in temporarily. It will increase our costs, but clients need to feel clean and put together.
We know that a financial crisis is coming. Almost all our clients lost their jobs when the city was shut down, and bills are coming due. We don't provide direct emergency financial support, but we are looking for organizations that can. We also have been encouraging job searches. Lots of people are hiring.
We also expect a wave of evictions in June or so. Many clients have had their bills deferred, but we don't expect such bills to be forgiven. Many will lack resources to catch up. We'll be ready with guidance about how to bounce back from eviction if it does occur. We also plan to launch learn-and-earn to help our clients get more financially literate and re-enter the job market.
We are concerned that our clients may become COVID-infected once the "lockdown" in Austin is ended. Our clients have not proven they can reliably observe social distance -- just as most young people have not. If one client gets the virus, the rest are likely to get it in clusters. While we will pray the impact is minor for most, we know some who will likely be compromised. The worst is yet to come and, unfortunately, their exposure will require they be quarantined from our services. For this reason, we are taking a cautious approach to re-opening of our Drop-in Center.
Finally, we know from the 2008 financial meltdown that events like our unemployment situation impact the rate at which we see future clients. We anticipate that 2021 will see a surge in clients because of many factors. Some will be from families that experienced increased economic turmoil in 2020. Some college students will be forced to drop out of college and some will experience homelessness. But we'll be here with proven resources and guidance to help them recover and find their way.
No comments:
Post a Comment