When the first shut down arrived in March of this year, I was not sure what would happen to our business. It was bleak. But, people are resilient and our clients and employees got to work in new ways. Working from home and connecting via Teams and Zooms, we stayed the course and reached most of our goals. But what we are most proud of is our numbers.
In our own small way, we helped Gleaners Food Bank deliver twice as many meals in 2020 as they did in 2019 with over 73 million meals. Similarly, we helped over 10,000 Hoosiers engage with the Community Compass app from the Indy Hunger Project to help them locate food resources near them.
For the youngest Hoosiers, we helped 158 families in Marion County apply for the WIC (Women, Infant & Children Program) that provides supplemental funding so young mothers can buy nutritional food for their young kids. We also helped raise awareness for Indiana’s Family & Social Services Administration (FSSA) On My Way Pre-K Program that got over 2,000 kids aged 4-5 into pre-school this year.
CVR staff also worked tirelessly to create a brand and website in 6 weeks for Be Well Indiana, an initiative by Governor Holcomb and the State of Indiana to provide resources for Hoosiers in need being impacted by the pandemic. For many Hoosiers, being isolated without their normal safety net of friends, co-workers, schools and religious organizations as well as lost jobs or the loss of their “normal” lives, created a lot of stress and anxiety. We helped the state respond quickly with more than 85,000 Hoosiers visiting the site, as well as over 4,500 Hoosiers calling the Be Well Indiana Helpline at IN 211 since it launched.
We have also helped FSSA reduce stigma surrounding addiction with additional “Know The Facts” advertising this year, because we know that stressful situations like a pandemic can be a challenge for persons in recovery. Their stories of hope, treatment and recovery are a testament that people can survive even in trying times.
For other clients, we helped them connect with customers who had a hard time paying their bills, or helped them connect digitally in new ways since they could not meet in person. Our team quickly learned how to live stream webinars and events and to get their work done safely.
So, as you can see, these are the numbers for which we are most proud. We finish 2020 knowing that we made a difference in the lives of thousands of our fellow Hoosiers. In the end, that makes it all worthwhile. I can’t thank our staff enough for persevering, and for our clients who let us do good work (and works of good).
I can’t wait to see what 2021 has in store.