It Takes a Community

Dear WORK Family and Friends, 

Over the last few months, we’ve seen our community rally together to accompany our families in need. During this time, we were not only able to continue our commitment to our families in Menelas and Truitier, but even expanded our efforts to support the First Mile waste collection network. Together, we delivered a set of impacts that we should be proud of. 

Our COVID-19 response work supported 2,760 family members, a 667% increase of total family members served. Of that, we accompanied 100% of our family and collectors network with weekly informational updates of information, financial assistance to cover essential needs while work is slowed or put on pause, PPE, training for all leaders, phones in households who didn’t have them, and constant two-way communication. We answered many questions about COVID-19, invested in businesses so they can continue to drive progress forward during this time, worked with our First Mile partners to help collectors sustain their income, and installed solar panels at our families’ homes which allow them to charge their phones. We saw both our engagement rates and percentage of families utilizing our COVID-19 protocols increase dramatically over just a few weeks to close to 100%. Families have expressed relief to have us as a trusted source of information to minimize confusion on the novel virus. To date, only 6 families have reported mild COVID-19 symptoms. There have been no cases of hospitalization or fatality. Our families are working diligently to stay healthy. Our response work will continue for as long as it takes.

Our entire program team including our Community Health Coordinator Nicole Fils-Aime has been at the frontline of this effort. Nicole is one of our first WORK family members. Through our investment in her, with leading support from her 1:1 Sponsor and many of you, she graduated from a nursing program and has since been accompanying the families who came after her. Together, we’ll continue to hold the frontline while returning to our regular programming by incorporating our COVID-19 prevention strategies. We’ll share more through Nicole’s lens over the next few weeks.

Thank you for your continued investment during this time. Despite the challenges, we will continue to make progress ahead. Invest with us today.

For our families, 

The WORK Team