As coronavirus pandemic roils Modesto region, nonprofits adapting
Haven Women’s Center of Stanislaus has stopped offering nearly all of its face-to-face services to victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking because of the novel coronavirus. Staff members now provide case management, counseling and help filling out restraining orders over the phone.
Executive Director May Rico said her nonprofit has adapted to keep helping people, but she worries the very actions we are being told to do to be safe during the pandemic — stay home as much as possible and keep our distance from others when out — create the ideal circumstances for abusers who like to isolate their victims.
“So far it’s been working well,” said Rico, who added Haven still is operating its six-bed shelter and sending staff to the hospital to be with sexual assault victims. “One thing we know how to do is be creative in a crisis. ... But it weighs very heavily on me (the potential isolation of domestic violence and other victims). I want to say we are doing the best we can.”
Haven is just one of the many local nonprofit agencies that have changed how they do business because of the virus. Besides redefining how they provide services, nonprofits have to figure out how to respond to rising demand while having to cancel fundraisers and deal with the loss of many of their volunteers.
“It’s a perfect storm for nonprofits,” Stanislaus Community Foundation President and CEO Marian Kaanon said. She said the coronavirus’s economic harm is especially poignant for Stanislaus County because so many of its residents struggle to earn a living and need the help of nonprofits.
This story is a sample of how some nonprofits are coping.
Center for Human Services shifts to teleservice
Although the Center for Human Services closed its Ceres, Newman, Oakdale and Patterson offices to the public Monday, staff are still providing take-out food services, said spokeswoman Gina Machado. Counseling services, including substance abuse and therapy, have also switched to phone or video calls. Other services such as its utility assistance program and help with food stamp applications are available via phone.
Despite the circumstances, the center and its partners are working to maintain the quality of service, Machado said, and follow their funding contracts at the federal, state and local level. Still, local school closures forced the center to layoff about 70 staff who ran on-site student assistance programs.
Gallo Center for the Arts postpones shows
The performing arts venue closed its building and ticket office Friday, said CEO Lynn Dickerson, and rescheduled almost all of its shows between then and April 6. Patrons can request refunds online or choose to exchange their tickets for other performances.
“Unfortunately, we had a really robust March schedule and we had a lot of sold-out shows,” Dickerson said. “It really just makes you want to cry because it was really shaping up to be such a great month.”
Many of the center’s 25 part-time workers lost their hours because of the postponements and cancellations, Dickerson said, but no one was laid off last week. The Gallo Center isn’t planning to livestream shows during the closure, she said, but resident companies may consider it. In the meantime, the nonprofit will prepare for a busier fall lineup than initially planned.
“When we get back in business I hope they’ll all be there to support us because we’re certainly going to need everybody’s support to make up these giant losses,” Dickerson said.
Day programs for disabled adults close
United Cerebral Palsy of Stanislaus County has shuttered its day programs in Modesto and Turlock — the two programs serve about 100 people — as well as its jobs program, which serves about 15 people.
The day programs help adults with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome and other disabilities learn how to function with greater independence and provide respite for their families or the residential facilities where they live. The jobs program performs a similar role.
“It’s very person-centered in how we deal with people,” UCP interim Executive Director Chris Martin said. “Social distancing is not a realistic possibility in our day programs. We are looking at how we can provide services in alternative ways.”
Martin said that may be through social media or having UCP workers visit clients in their homes or residential facilities.
Martin said the California Department of Developmental Services on Friday directed UCP and similar agencies to stop offering their traditional services through April 13. She said UCP has not laid off any of its roughly 40 workers, and the state will continue to fund UCP if it can find other ways to deliver services.
“The goal is not for us to shut down,” Martin said.
She said it’s critical UCP and similar agencies continue because they provide a needed break for the families and other caregivers of their clients. “We want to be able to offer our services and help everyone so these times aren’t as difficult for everybody.”
Demand for food growing
Interfaith Ministries of Greater Modesto was handing out groceries to families late last week as though it were the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season, it’s busiest time of the year, and not early spring. And it expected the need to grow as more people were laid off.
“People just now are losing their jobs and being sent home,” Interfaith CEO Elizabeth Wight said late last week. “Lots of people cannot work from home because they work in retail, stores, restaurants and gyms. We absolutely know the need will grow. We do expect it to reach unprecedented levels.”
Wight said her agency provided food to about 60,000 men, women and children last year, many of them seniors and disabled people. She said most of the help came through Interfaith’s food pantry, where people can get groceries once a month. But Interfaith also runs a free mobile farmers market and delivers food to homebound seniors.
She said Interfaith has temporarily suspended its clothes closet, which helps 30 to 50 people a day, and is having its food pantry staff deliver food to clients lined up in their cars, rather than having clients come inside. Both measures are ways to deal with the coronavirus.
Interfaith has lost some of its volunteers who are seniors and canceled a major fundraiser. This comes as it buys more food because food donations are down. “We’re pretty concerned,” Wight said. “We absolutely are not going to meet our budget.”
Storytime over Facebook to help families cope
Jessica’s House has turned to social media to help young people and their families grieve the death of a loved one, primarily a young person’s sibling or parent.
Nancy Daley, one of the Turlock-based nonprofit’s group facilitators, is reading stories over Facebook and Instagram to replace the storytimes that used to take place in small groups. The stories help young people and their families identify and cope with their feelings.
And the Turlock nonprofit is putting videos on Facebook and Instagram, as well as emailing them to families, with what it calls expressive activities that help people deal with their losses. The activities have included children drawing hearts of various colors, with each color representing a different feeling, such as fear, anger or sadness.
“Obviously it’s so healing when we can be face-to-face, and we strengthen each other when we are in each other’s physical presence,” Jessica’s House Executive Director Erin Nelson said. “But we are trying to utilize technology as much as possible to bring them the support they need.”
Nelson said that’s especially important now in a world that’s been turned upside down by a pandemic.
Hospice thrift stores on a break
Community Hospice closed its Hope Chest Thrift Stores, spokeswoman Kristin Mostowski said in an email. The nonprofit furloughed many of its employees that work in the stores until they can reopen, she said, but has not laid anyone off. The clinical staff is still providing services around the clock, but to reduce the risk of coronavirus exposure, patients at the Alexander Cohen Hospice House may only have two visitors per day.
Residents can donate and learn how to help the nonprofits featured in this story by visiting their websites.
This story was originally published March 24, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
