A food pantry accustomed to serving 100 families a week adjusts to feed more than 1,000. An organization set up to support children in schools quickly pivots to create phone- and text-based check-ins. A shelter for victims of domestic violence finds new ways to create a healthy and safe community while maintaining physical distancing.
In the greater Charlotte, N.C. area, as around the country, nonprofit groups are rethinking how to continue their missions during a global pandemic. Says Laura Clark, president and CEO of United Way of Central Carolinas (UWCC), “They’ve had to figure things out in 24, 48 or 72 hours.”
UWCC is acting fast, too. Its COVID-19 Response Fund helps dozens of local nonprofit partners continue providing essential services. The fund started with a call in March 2020 between Clark and Michael Marsicano, president and CEO of the Foundation For the Carolinas (FFC). Though it was still unclear what the effects of the virus would be, Clark and Marsicano decided they would rather be “on the right side of wrong,” she says, by over-preparing.