United We Will Win! Communities Coming Together to Fight COVID-19
BY CHRISTINE ROBERE, PRESIDENT AND CEO, UNITED WAY OF THE LAKESHORE
It has been six weeks since the Stay Home, Stay Safe order went into place March 23. Uncertainty has ruled the day for all of us during this unprecedented time.
“What will happen to our children and school?” “Will I be unemployed, and if so how long?” “What is really safe to do?” and hundreds of other questions just like these were the new questions in our minds. In times of uncertainty, it is easy to be fearful or panic.
Muskegon, however, has decided that in times of uncertainty, anything is possible. Local Muskegonites have joined together, and United We Will Win!
Volunteer Efforts To Support Our Families. One impact of the pandemic is the loss of an army of senior volunteers who provided critical support to our local organizations. This left a huge gap to fill for our local charities, and Muskegon answered.
There have been over 200 new volunteers that registered for COVID-19 volunteer needs on the United Way of the Lakeshore’s GetConnected site, a website that connects volunteers to agency needs in our community. Across the county over 1,000 volunteer hours have been logged by these volunteers, and even more to come.
Agencies like Love INC of Muskegon and Mission for Area People have reported that with the overwhelming response of volunteers all of their needs have been met to be fully operational. There are still needs in our community where you can help like the Salvation Army phone team to help coordinate pantry appointments. You can find all up to date volunteer opportunities for COVID-19 here.
Volunteer From Home. United Way of the Lakeshore has also found solutions to volunteering from home! There are opportunities to work with the Smithsonian and Ancestry.com to preserve history. There is a chance to become a trained emotional support listener for those who are experiencing trouble and need a listening ear through 7Cups. A person and their kids could also find a complete list of senior living centers that would like to receive cards for their residents who have not been able to have visitors for weeks.
The most important activity a volunteer can do from home is to make masks for those in need. United Way shares a how-to video and patterns for masks for those who can sew. You can find all of the information for volunteering at home here.
COVID-19 Response Fund: Over $300,000 raised for local agencies.
United Way and the Community Foundation partnered to raise funds to support area non-profits with a myriad of critical emerging issues related to the COVID pandemic. The funds are going out to area non-profit agencies to respond to local emergency needs.
“COVID-19 is bringing out the best in Muskegon County, our ingenuity, our resilience, and our value of caring for our neighbors, for one another,” said Todd Jacobs, President and CEO, Community Foundation for Muskegon County.
Thanks to individual donors, and other corporate partners that include Consumers Energy Foundation, DTE Foundation, Howmet Aerospace Foundation, and Meijer over $300,000 has been raised to aid local agencies to support our local families. You can see a running list of donors here.
Top grants awarded to date have been for food, shelter, baby items, child care, technology, cleaning supplies, mask making materials and volunteers. United Way and the Community Foundation have been reviewing grant requests from agencies on a weekly basis. To date the following grants have been made from the fund.
• Every Woman’s Place: $5,000 for technology to work differently and cleaning supplies
• Muskegon Rescue Mission: $5,000 food and cleaning supplies
• Head Start of Muskegon: $2,500 diapers, wipes, and young children’s products
• Mission for Area People: $15,000 support unemployed, rent assistance, transportation, food and more
• LOVE Inc.: $5,000 for food, shelter, personal care items, and masks
• YMCA: $4,500 veggie van to distribute healthy produce to seniors
• Fruitport Christian Reformed: $1,000 Food pantry and personal care items
• Community Encompass: $10,000 for housing support for families
• Catholic Charities: $5,000 for food pantry
• Agewell Services: $5,000 for food for seniors – Curbside distribution and Meals on Wheels
• Salvation Army: $3,000 – Meat for the food pantry
• Child Care Center Supports: $5,000 to provide necessities to local daycares in operations
United Way is monitoring developments of the pandemic, particularly for families in our most vulnerable local communities. For these families, one illness or missed paycheck can be disastrous. We are communicating weekly with the emergency services agencies to keep aware of the changing needs.
Families are encouraged to call 2-1-1, the three-digit helpline, to get connected to health and human services agencies that can help. All the helping agencies have been encouraged to update their program information and availability to ensure that this “one-stop” place to call is continuously updated to meet the needs of local residents. Dial 2-1-1, Text your zip code to 898211, or Visit/Chat www.211.org to link to available local services.
United Way of the Lakeshore is uniting to inspire change and build thriving communities. Our Bold Goal – 10,000 more working families meet their basic needs by 2025. For more information, contact United Way of the Lakeshore at (231) 722-3134. Learn more about United Way of the Lakeshore at UnitedWayLakeshore.org, like the organization on Facebook and receive up to date information from Twitter at twitter.com/uwlakeshore.
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