Donate food to hungry people, Concept of poverty and hunger

More than a year and a half into the long slog of navigating the pandemic, daily routines and expectations have adapted to COVID’s constant changes, from individuals pitching in for their homebound neighbors to companies adapting to remote options for employees’ safety.

Nonprofits, too, have changed their operational models to stay effectively operational throughout a global health crisis. Those providing services that saw a meteoric rise in demand were especially caught off-guard at first, but pivoted as quickly and safely as they could to keep serving their communities.

But it has been an ever-evolving process that shifts according to new information, new mandates and new needs, creating new procedures almost every time.

Stephen Bardy, the Pet Alliance of Greater Orlando’s executive director, describes it as “18 months of constant change, and shifting how we offer our services almost overnight” for one of the region’s oldest and largest animal welfare agencies. Running two locations that juggle shelter services, veterinary care and pet-food pantries meant moving around volunteer and paid staff, reallocating resources as needed and being attentive to everyone’s mental health while never really knowing what tomorrow will bring.

“In March 2020, our biggest pain point was just the uncertainty of everything,” he recalls. “I had to tell myself that I can’t forecast the future, I can only do what I think is in our best interest. And then it became about protecting our staff. We shifted teams so people could work together and we didn’t cross-contaminate. We really limited movement in our facilities: We went from being a highly social organization … to everybody being in silos and isolated.”

Florida Breast Cancer Foundation (FBCF), which employs a small team between its two locations, went to a work-from-home model for its staff and a virtual model for its events. CEO/President Tracy Jacim says it was a crucial decision, as prioritizing people’s safety is paramount for an organization that both supports and advocates for individuals whose personal health crises didn’t stop for a global one.

“We immediately pivoted to telecommuting,” she says. “People always wander into our offices to tell us about how they just got diagnosed and are looking for help. We can still help, but I did not feel it was the right thing to do to keep our doors open and risk compromising anyone’s health.”

The Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida managed the safety of not only its team members but also those who sought refuge in its two residential facilities. With an influx of locals who weren’t used to asking for help let alone facing homelessness or utilizing the assistance and programming the coalition also offers, its team suddenly accommodated more guests than usual while abiding by necessary indoor safety protocols that made providing shelter more of a challenge than usual.

“We’re the very definition of an essential service,” says Director of Development Meredith Bekemeyer. “On any given day, we’re providing shelter to up to 500 people every single night, not to mention our staff and volunteers who are on campus every day. From a medical standpoint, the homeless population is typically more vulnerable, and we knew that our work was only going to increase in importance.

“Thankfully, we were able to put additional safety protocols in place and make some renovations to the living areas to allow for more social distancing really quickly,” she adds. “Since the beginning of the pandemic, more than 2,300 people have walked through our doors and we’ve had just a 2% (COVID) positivity rate this entire time.”

Greg Higgerson, Chief Development Officer for Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, says the nonprofit endeavored to do “double the work with half the volunteers.” To reduce exposure potential, maintain social distance and ensure the entire community has access to fresh, healthy food, Second Harvest came up with an innovative solution: mobilize its operations to offer a delivery service.

“We had a lot of people letting us know that they couldn’t get out,” he explains. “So we started a home delivery program for the first time in our history, bringing boxes of prepared meals to people’s homes. That program is still going at a rate of about 1,500 deliveries per week in the Greater Orlando area.”

Higgerson notes that the food bank supports a population largely comprising service workers, whose jobs were disproportionately affected by shut-downs, restrictions and furloughs, further compounding the region’s food insecurity. And with the organization distributing nearly double its pre-COVID 300,000 meals a day at one point, it had no choice but to face its challenges head on.

“In service economy like Orlando, we have hundreds of thousands of jobs depending on the tourism industry—when all of that stops very suddenly, everyone’s needs just go through the roof,” he says. “We’ve had a lot of challenges, not just around needing more food and feeding more people. The way we get food into community is through a network of about 550 other nonprofits, like food pantries and shelters. At the outset of the pandemic, many of them were finding it necessary to close their doors. … As many as 90 of our partners were closed at one time.”

Second Harvest benefits from being highly visible, making it easier for people to come to them, as well as for the food pantry to forge new partnerships while strengthening older ones. One of the organizations it’s been working with is Central Florida Foundation (CFF).

According to President/CEO Mark Brewer, CFF supports thousands of nonprofits across the region, sending capital to and connecting with organizations in health care, education, arts and culture, and “all things involving people.” Second Harvest is one of those organizations it’s allocated funds to, helping launch those mobile food-delivery services as a pilot program that Brewer notes is “turning out to be an ongoing model that will probably continue to grow.”

“We provided the $1.2 million they needed for foodstuffs and to actually fund the structuring of the business and the partnerships they needed to pilot it, and then to launch it and expand it,” he says.

While financial troubles have plagued the region’s nonprofits, grants and emergency funding have been hugely beneficial. But Brewer observes there are misconceptions about how nonprofits historically find their funding.

“We tend to think of philanthropy as people with lots of money giving to nonprofits; the reality is philanthropy is a continuum,” he explains. “It starts on one end with ‘retail philanthropy,’ which is when regular people write a check for $25 to a nonprofit or they go to a fundraiser. That retail philanthropy is a big part of what funds operations for all nonprofits. At the next step of the continuum, people get a little more strategic and they start thinking about who’s actually driving the solutions they care about, and they make gifts there. At the far end are hyper-strategic donors: They’re thinking about solving a complex social problem, and they start to identify who’s involved in that.

“During the pandemic, there’s been a real move—and we’ve participated in this directly—to create more collective impact,” Brewer continues. “Collective impact happens when nonprofits that are siloed in what they do instead get together to solve a common problem, as opposed to just helping a smaller group of people.”

In addition to finding allies in likeminded organizations, nonprofits have seen donors and supporters demonstrate a generosity that inspires grateful awe, in addition to providing the funds and support they need in a profoundly difficult era.

“This has been the most challenging time of my career,” Bardy says. “But we’ve had a lot of support from our donors and volunteers throughout the pandemic. Everyone’s determined to save cats and dogs wherever they’re from. There’s been shelters that closed down because their entire staffs got COVID, and we’ve been able to assist them by bringing those animals into our shelter.”

Supporters also responded well to nonprofits’ shift to more digital outreach and virtual events, which had the benefit of also being more inclusive to those with limited time, mobility or transportation options but still want to help. For example, FBCF seamlessly transitioned to hybrid platforms so supporters could participate according to their comfort levels.

“We had two of our biggest events in the history of the organization,” Jacim says. “One was our art exhibit, which we did in-person at The Vinoy in St. Pete’s and also as a virtual program. The other was the hybrid Race for the Cure, which we were the title sponsor for. Both of those events were crucial in helping us continue to grow despite the pandemic.”

And that community support will remain crucial once the pandemic’s stranglehold on the region relents. Longtime nonprofit workers keenly recall how long it took for the socioeconomic impact of the Great Recession to abate, expecting post-COVID recovery to be just as protracted.

“I think we’re going to see a really, really prolonged recovery for those most in need in our community,” Bekemeyer says. “When the moratorium on evictions was in place, it was providing a safety net for so many people. There’s an estimate that in Central Florida and Orange County alone, we could be looking at anywhere from 6,000 to 9,000 evictions. I think the fallout from that isn’t going to be seen or felt overnight, but those people are in a precarious place. More than 90% of our shelter guests are Central Florida residents, so when people are supporting the coalition, they’re supporting their neighbors in need.”

But if the regions’ nonprofits learned anything from the immense challenge of staying the course despite wave after crushing wave of COVID, it’s that their supporters are in it for the long haul.

“Everyone always asks how to help: I think the best thing to do is find what’s meaningful to you and then really home in on what nonprofits in those sectors actually need,” Bardy advises. “Whether you care about animals or children or homelessness or fighting hunger, visit those organizations’ websites, their social media or reach out to find out what they need. Some want very specific donations and have wish lists you can pick from, some want financial support, some need volunteers.”

Brewer notes that CFF’s website (cffound.org) includes the Nonprofit Search tool, allowing people to “find their cause.” Higgerson adds that truly understanding what a nonprofit needs—whether it’s specific items from a wish list, financial donations, hands-on volunteers or advocates who’ve done their homework—is also the best way to maximize support.

And every organization echoed sentiments similar to one Jacim shared, acknowledging that successful philanthropy is a team effort.

“Our volunteers, partners and staff rose to every occasion, and we’re so grateful for that,” she says. “People came together to be a part of something bigger. Because everyone stepped up, we could do more outreach, offer more education and, ultimately, save more lives.”