It‘s now week three—our third and final week that Erin’s House has been a part of this illuminating COVID-19 blog series.
In our previous post, Cindy shared a glimpse of the changes we implemented in our children’s peer-support grief program.
Now, I want to say thank you for believing in Erin’s House and supporting our mission through this pandemic.
My name is Audrey Gilbert, and I’m the Director of Development & Events at Erin’s House for Grieving Children. I’ve had the pleasure of being part of this awesome organization for the past nine years.
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Audrey Gilbert
When I was first hired as an intern for Erin’s House, I did not know much about the nonprofit world, let alone fundraising. I have been fortunate to be surrounded by amazing co-workers, and an executive director
(read her blog post here) who has always supported my professional growth.
It didn’t take me long to realize how rewarding it is to work for a nonprofit, but it is not always rainbows and butterflies. There have been many trials and triumphs that we have experienced as a team over the years, but the one thing that continues to unite us is our passion for serving grieving children and teens in our community.
When the reality of COVID-19 started setting in, we immediately gathered to start brainstorming on how we could continue to serve our families. As mentioned in our previous articles, our staff has been busy making our resources as accessible as possible. We had to take what had “worked” for the past 27 years and remodel it to fit this “new normal."
It has not been easy. There have been times of frustration, anger, and on the verge of giving up. But, just when we think our efforts aren’t paying off, a little glimmer of hope always peaks through.
There’s a child on the other side of the computer screen with a smile on his face because he gets to see his favorite volunteer for the first time in six weeks. There’s a teen who never felt comfortable sharing in-person about her mom dying and is now opening up to her peers in virtual group.
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Erin's House provides children with a safe space to process their emotions.
We have been forced to dust off the creative and innovative side of our brains in more ways than we could have ever imagined. In addition to making changes to how we serve our families, we also had to look at the business model of Erin’s House. How would we keep our doors open when we are not allowed to physically allow families inside?
Erin’s House operates 100 percent from the generosity of our community. It’s our friendly neighbors, our “mom & pop” businesses, our local restaurants, and our community foundations that keep us afloat. So, with this pandemic on our hands, we had to question what fundraising would like in this “new normal." I had to question how to do my job.
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Erin's House relies on 100 percent community donations and volunteers to serve its families.
Most of my stress lies in the unknown of what to do about our special events which typically raise nearly 40 percent of our annual budget. One of those events, the Common Bond Breakfast, was supposed to take place in March. We made the obvious decision early on to postpone the event, but now we face the obstacle of whether an in-person event later this year is possible or attempting to do a virtual fundraising event instead.
In the midst of trying to decide what would be best for Erin’s House, our team has felt extremely supported by our dedicated Board of Directors. We remain hopeful that the right decision will be made in regard to Common Bond in the next couple of weeks.
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Erin's House served more than 250 families before the quarantine. Since then, new families have joined whose loved ones have died as a result of COVID-19.
During my time working from home, I’ve also watched webinar after webinar wishing someone would have the magic words to tell me how to raise our nearly $1 million budget in the midst of a pandemic.
Unfortunately, there is no wand I can wave to make this all go away. But what I have learned is that while many of us are in crisis mode, there are still countless individuals going about their day (mask on) with giving hearts and wanting to help in whatever ways they can.
I’m sure you have heard the phrase “shop local." Similarly, I’d encourage you to “GIVE LOCAL."
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Erin's House families share a photo from a Family Night at home made possible by local sponsors.
There are hundreds of amazing nonprofits right here in our own community who, much like some small businesses, are struggling through COVID-19. Thousands of families in Northeast Indiana benefit and even rely on the services from our charities. But for the mission of these organizations to continue, they have to be financially supported.
We are extremely grateful for the love Erin’s House has received these past three months during the unknown. Our community has shown up in a multitude of ways from sponsoring our first ever Stay-At-Home Erin’s House Family Night to graciously donating on Giving Tuesday Now.
You have enabled us to continue serving more than 250 families who were already enrolled in our program before the quarantine, and you have helped new families whose loved ones have recently died. This is all done without ever charging a fee to families because we believe that no family should have to worry about how to support their child or teen during this sad time.
As things are starting to open again, we recognize that nothing will go back to how it used to be. We’ll have to continue pushing ourselves and each other to do the unexpected or to make some tough decisions, but I believe that we’ll come out of this better and stronger.
We cannot wait to see kids running through our front doors again for pizza and group time with their Erin’s House friends. We can’t wait to see their artwork hanging on our walls and fingerprints on the windows.
But until then, we appreciate our incredible community reaching out their hand to help Erin’s House build hope and heal hearts in a new way.
Learn more
You can view Erin’s House updates and resources regarding COVID-19 on their website or by following them on social media:
Website:
ErinsHouse.org/covid-19
Facebook:
@ErinsHouseForGrievingChildren
Instagram:
@ErinsHouse4GrievingChildren
Twitter: @ErinsHouse
This blog is part of an ongoing, weekly series in Input Fort Wayne, following local small business owners and nonprofit leaders as they navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Read the previous Erin's House's blog here.