All of us have been impacted by the recent closures, sheltering-in-place, and news updates changing, by the hour, due to the coronavirus epidemic, and we hope you and your loved ones are safe and healthy.
The past two weeks have been a whirlwind here at La Casa de Don Pedro, as well. We have been working feverishly to keep up to date with the latest news, evaluating our capacity to operate remotely and addressing our technological needs. We have been communicating with our program participants to keep them abreast of our services that we are able to provide while assessing their needs. We have also been communicating with our partners and team members, all while prioritizing the health and safety of our staff and community.
But we are lucky. The spirit of our dedicated team has helped us change course quickly and pivot to our new normal. Our resilience and creativity are serving us well as we work to devise and undertake new strategies to ensure our programs and services remain available to our community members who depend on them, as best we can. With 1,000 Greater Newarkers who rely on our programs and services each day, we remain steadfast and committed to doing all we possibly can.
On March 26th, a team of dedicated staff from our Youth, Family, & Health Community Center at 23 Broadway distributed groceries to 110 Newarkers. We appreciate the commitment of these staff who came through to our families most in need during these extraordinary times: Ashilana Santiago, Luis Arrobo, Roxana Herrera, Laura Jerez, Erika Mojica, Ramon Ortiz, Hector Ramos.We’d also like to thank Table to Table and Goya Foods for the donations.
Our staff are adapting to working from home, making daily phone and video calls to our participants, students and clients and holding telephone conference calls, organizing online classes, and participating in educational webinars to help us adapt steadily to our new reality.
Our Senior Management Team is meeting daily for online briefings to
resolve our challenges and prepare for future opportunities.
Thank you for your support during these difficult times. Our partners, staff, and community keep us inspired. Know that we will keep moving forward.
