Monterrey, Nuevo León, May 24, 2020.— The daily life we knew as “normal” just over two months ago is gone; the economy has come to a standstill, and we see that the services provided by the social and nonprofit sectors have never been more necessary.
In various parts of the world where the COVID-19 pandemic took its toll earlier than in Mexico—such as in Canada—civil society began to respond and organize itself to continue its work.
In this challenging landscape, organized civil society initiatives in Mexico have also been forced to pause or drastically scale back their fundraising and revenue-generation programs. However, innovation has been key to continuing to provide support and care to the most affected populations and communities, just as it has been in Canada.
Imagine Canada, a partner initiative of Community Foundations of Canada, conducted a listening exercise to hear from initiatives that remain as active as ever, and highlighted encouraging examples of organizations that have found ways to adapt and pursue their goals in the face of this adversity.
Here, we share how organizations are tackling this challenge we all face:
1. Collaborating in a spirit of mutual support
Faced with enormous obstacles, the sector has come together. In Montreal, the Espace Pour la Vie Foundation’s short-term priority is to support its botanical gardens, which are closed due to physical distancing measures, but they are doubling their vegetable production to donate to local food banks.
2. Find new ways to reach people.
Physical distancing measures have thrown a wrench into the operations of organizations that distribute physical goods. Staff at the Children’s Book Bank in Toronto believe that reading physical books—not just on a screen—is essential for children, especially during difficult times like these. They have partnered with a local food bank, which is considered an essential service, to distribute books to families.
3. Host or participate in online events
Buy Social Canada, which promotes social procurement, had scheduled an in-person symposium for April. When physical distancing measures made it impossible to hold the event in its original format, the team quickly pivoted to organize the event online and adapted the content to emphasize how social procurement can serve as a tool for post-COVID-19 recovery and reconstruction.
4. Show empathy toward the staff
Recognizing the significant stress its staff is facing right now, the Montreal Center for Community Organizations is paying its staff for full-time hours but does not expect them to work a normal full-time schedule. They are calling these “COVID hours” to acknowledge the additional caregiving responsibilities their staff are facing during this time.
5. Find new ways to deliver programming
Wellspring Calgary, whose mission is to ensure that no one has to face cancer alone, closed its in-person locations to protect high-risk community members. However, Wellspring continues to find ways to support those living with cancer by transitioning many of its free programs to an online platform and offering its Money One, One-on-One Money Matters, and peer support programs over the phone. Attendance at Wellspring has increased, as those who are self-isolating due to COVID report that they “are not alone” and are grateful to connect via Zoom with Wellspring’s online cancer support community.
6. Be flexible with the beneficiaries
At the start of the COVID-19 crisis, the Lawson Foundation stepped up to support its grantees by assuring them that payments would continue, giving them flexibility to use grant funds for urgent expenses, telling them not to worry about reporting at this time, and encouraging them to reach out if they needed to.
7. Create a crisis management team.
The COVID-19 crisis has been marked by rapidly changing circumstances that create a great deal of uncertainty. ALS Quebec has addressed this by establishing a crisis management team, which meets daily to monitor cash flow and stay abreast of changes in operations.
8. Advocate on behalf of the sector.
When the COVID-19 crisis began to unfold in Canada, many organizations and individuals took action to advocate for relief measures for both the sector and the communities it serves. Since mid-March, people have sent Imagine Canada’s campaign letters in support of the sector more than 2,000 times.
9. Listening
The situation we face is unprecedented, and that brings with it a great deal of uncertainty about how an organization can best serve its community. Organizations like CNIB have responded by asking their communities what they need during this time and letting that information guide their priorities. In CNIB’s case, this has meant developing 150 programs to keep people with vision loss connected during the COVID-19 pandemic to combat social isolation.
The uncertainty and volatility of information in these times present an area of opportunity, as these Canadian organizations have recognized. In Mexico, there are inspiring examples currently being implemented that we will discuss in a future installment. If you know of any and believe it is essential that we include them, please email us at:
contacto@comunalia.org.mx.
Image credit: www.freepik.es
Sources: [1] https://www.imaginecanada.ca/en/360/charities-and-nonprofits-adapting-covid-19. [2] https://www.imaginecanada.ca/en/360/covid-19-strengthening-partnership-time-crisis?mc_cid=10f7913d78&mc_eid=51e8c96acc
