Strong steps adapt to change during the pandemic
CCI Giving announced grants for round 6 of the Communities Taking Steps program in late 2020, when many organisations had hoped the operational impact of the COVID pandemic was behind them. Unfortunately, COVID continued to impact them throughout 2021 and is likely to further impact communities in 2022.
Inspiring stories of resilience and adaptability of non-profits have since emerged because of an unwavering effort to support cohorts of people living with significant and various disadvantages, by adapting to change and finding solutions to new challenges.
CCI Giving encourages grant participants to advise when a program is expected to be modified significantly from its original application, so that funding guidelines are met. There are also opportunities to explore alternatives for the support of programs.
The following organisations demonstrated the importance of adapting programs to the shifting demands of the pandemic in 2021.
Zoe Support
A CCI Giving grant towards ongoing costs of two Butterfly Buses, helped provide reliable transport for young mothers and their children, allowing them to attend school, kindergartens, appointments, and social and educational programs arranged by Zoe Support centre.
Sadly, the reintroduction of lockdown restrictions in 2021 prevented in-person attendance for Zoe Support events. To minimise community isolation, the transportation initiative evolved to become a home delivery service of educational packs and meals. The move assisted engagement among community members and at the same time increased participation for three educational programs.
Thankfully, Butterfly Buses were able to continue to offer childcare transport, providing much needed respite for young mothers, and socialisation for children.
With more people taking part in educational programs in 2021, forward focus will prioritise getting clients back into classrooms and away from home isolation. Overcoming potential social anxiety is a challenge across the nation and the organisation promotes social connection and the development of support networks.
“This support has meant that Zoe Support Australia can offer consistent and reliable transport to young mothers aged between 13 and 25 years and for their children in the Mildura community. The barriers to participation and getting access to improved education and employment has been removed for these families. Funding helps us to stay engaged with for groups through pandemic lockdowns because we can provide home delivery of program packages direct to families. It’s vital that we keep helping people to feel connected to their communities despite lockdown restrictions.”
Dignity
COOK4DIGNITY is an initiative that directly addressed the higher demand for food relief that came about because of the pandemic.
Initial operations involved large scale volunteer cooking days at various locations in Sydney, in compliance with social distancing rules. As restriction intensified demand for food relief grew even more and the ability for volunteers to participate in cooking days took a blow.
Dignity adapted operations by moving to remote volunteering days, providing online induction, and training sessions, allowing for the preparation of meals in homes under guidance, and in food safe containers. The organisation undertook a large coordination effort to collect prepared food and provide an uninterrupted essential service to the community.
“A CCI Small Grant meant we could recruit 445 volunteers to cook 3724 meals for people who were at risk of homelessness. There are more people than ever before doing it tough many individuals want to give back during this challenging time. COOK4Dignity has been an opportunity for volunteers to make a difference for others facing hardship and it’s helped everyone to learn more about issues surrounding the problem of homelessness in Australia.”
StreetSmart
The SmartMeals program was created as an emergency response to the COVID-19 crises. Originally, it aimed to make use of unused cafes and restaurants to get meals to people without housing and to vulnerable community groups. A practical and local solution addressed food security issues and helped workers to remain employed at hospitality businesses and social enterprises.
The pandemic has lingered and for this reason the program has an ongoing challenge to meet the needs of need of a community facing dire income and food shortages.
StreetSmart has proved to be an agile social enterprise that can operate effectively, having successfully deployed its network and resources since March 2020. It has efficiently and quickly distributed the SmartMeals program by giving 259,665 meals to the community through 75 charity partners and 72 hospitality partners.
The program will continue in 2022 because millions of Australians need to find a way to overcome food insecurity. There is more about this program here.
“We are thankful for the support. We couldn't have developed and run SmartMeals for so long without the assistance of philanthropic foundations such as CCI Giving. There is no doubt that this support has been critical to our team effort and boosts other donations from the public. A good healthy meal is the starting point for receiving greater support. It means change can happen.”