The Foraker Group

Posted Under: COVID

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Whew! This past week was the week where every day felt like six all rolled into one – where we adapted and created and shifted and laughed and, yes, even cried. I did all of those things with my family and my team. I bet you did, too. Every day since this crisis elevated itself and asked us to all be home to keep each other safe, I have watched our nonprofit leaders (board, staff and volunteers) step up in remarkable ways to advocate to government, to lead your teams, and to just figure out how to help people. WOW!

We had nearly 100 people a day come to our COVID-19 Response webinars, all looking for the next step and to connect with others. We saw leaders join local government task forces and talk to their elected officials on behalf of nonprofit missions each and every day. We saw so much adaptation by our human service providers so as to not miss a beat – and then do more. And we saw philanthropic organizations ask new questions about how to get money out fast and with few barriers, all in the name of helping Alaskans. And of course our team is updating our resources page for you as fast as we can.

We have said it before, but Alaska nonprofits are essential to Alaska. From our healthcare and human service missions on the front line of this pandemic to our childcare and educational missions that feed our minds, and our arts, culture, and religious missions that feed our hearts. And let us not forget all of our business associations, unions, and trade associations that are ensuring that our Alaska workers and our Alaska industries are going to weather this storm. We are all in this together.

This past week we saw a federal economic response from Congress like no other in our nation’s history in its size but also for the first time in those relief packages that specifically cover nonprofits and tribal governments. That is no small moment, and I have never been more proud to be a board member of the National Council of Nonprofits . All of us owe our thanks (and donations) to the small but mighty staff of the National Council and their herculean effort to be sure nonprofits are included in decision making. They were literally “in the room where it happened.” (Shout out to Hamilton fans).

So today, while you are home, know I am thinking of each of you who lead Alaska’s nonprofits. We see you.

As I reminded us all (and myself) many times before in other disasters, this is a marathon not a sprint.

• Practice choral breathing so you can take turns taking a break.
• Practice standing on your door step and looking at our beautiful state from whatever vantage you can see. There is beauty all around us.
• Practice redefining productivity to be realistic and manageable now that you are also home school teachers and/or taking on more responsibilities inside your house.

And please remember that we can be physically distant and socially connected.  With that thought in mind, I leave us all with a few ideas from my colleague and friend Liz Moore from the Montana Nonprofit Association with a few additions of my own.

• If you go stock up on groceries, buy a little extra for the food bank. No one should be hungry or wondering how they are going to get through without food.
• If you don’t need cleaning supplies – get some for the youth home, the shelter, the senior living place, and drop it by their doorstep. It will save lives.
• Donate to the groups running the local relief funds (Alaska Community Foundation, United Ways in Anchorage, Tanana Valley, and Southeast). We all know who the people are helping out in our own communities. If you have a little more – whatever that means – follow the lead of Alaska’s philanthropists and give some away now.
• Buy local and buy gift certificates. Nonprofits are supported by local business. Let’s support them.
• Share helpline numbers or Alaska 211 on Facebook so that any friend or neighbor that needs refuge for their kids or themselves from violence can still get help. No judgment. We’re all in it together.
• Make an extra contribution to the arts, artists, cultural centers, animal groups, childcare centers, religious institutions that you rely on every day but that cannot be open right now. We need them to be with us and a world without them is simply unimaginable. (P.S. if they canceled an event recently – turn your ticket into a donation…really).

As we care for our missions let’s also care for other missions, too, in our communities. We are all in this together. Alaska, we can do this. I know we can. Our nonprofits are the backbone of our lives even when we don’t know it. I know we are resilient and adaptable, and we will weather this together.

With gratitude,

Laurie