"So many doors are closing their services while Doorways remains open"
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"We are experiencing an unprecedented time causing us to adapt and adjust our work in unprecedented ways," wrote a Doorways staff member. "The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting every aspect of our daily/ societal norm and functioning, not to mention the health and wellbeing of everyone. This pandemic issued the social isolation and distancing, which led to a decision for schools in the state of VA to close their doors to our students for the rest of the academic year. So many doors are closing their services while Doorways remains open, providing critical and essential needs for our clients."
Read more.
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Generous community members like you are working hard to ensure that we have
critical supplies for clients
, including toilet paper, hand soap, and baby care items. Thank you for your support!
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The essentials are still hard to find
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Like you, we are having trouble finding some essential supplies for our clients, including hand soap and cleaning supplies.
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Grocery gift cards can help our staff purchase these items as they become available at local stores.
Gift cards can also support clients who are normally able to sustain a good portion of their basic needs, but due to COVID-19 are
facing reduced work, layoffs, and financial challenges that come with loss of income.
Giant, Safeway, and Harris Teeter gift cards can be shipped to Doorways at P.O. Box 100185, Arlington, VA 22210.
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Yes, we have WiFi (sorry not sorry)
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In a moment many families can relate to, a child living in a Doorways shelter tried (unsuccessfully) to convince teachers that we do not have WiF
i, so it is not possible to do schoolwork. (Alas, we do.)
😂
Luckily, there's plenty of time to play, too.
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Pro tip for tough times: Find moments of levity.
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Now employed only on a day-to-day basis
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"Katherine has had a stable full-time job in a restaurant since coming into shelter," wrote one of Doorways' program directors. "Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, she's had to obtain childcare for her children as she needs to continue working.
She was told by her employer that her employment is now 'on a day-to-day basis,' as they are unsure of how much longer they can stay open without laying people off. This places Katherine in financial vulnerability, as she has the added cost of child care while working with the kids not in school and potentially with no income if she is laid off."
Learn how Doorways is supporting clients like Katherine, and how you can help.
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"Even before the COVID-19 public health and economic crises, nearly eight million extremely low-income renter households were spending more than half of their incomes on their housing,
leaving them no ability to save for a future emergency and putting them just one financial shock away from housing instability. That financial shock is here
," the National Low Income Housing Coalition reports. "Today the Department of Labor announced that
3,283,000 new claims for unemployment insurance
were filed last week. This is
nearly five times larger than any previous increase on record."
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How Doorways' team stays connected
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Looking for ways to stay connected? Here are recommendations from our staff that you can try at home with family or roommates, on a Zoom call with friends, or on social media.
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- Take a Class from Home: Take a dance class (like this one a Doorways' team member is taking), do a Zoom call yoga class with friends, or find another online class that fits your interests.
- Join Colleagues Virtually for Lunch: Check out resources like Zoom to keep your team connected despite being apart. In addition to meetings, technology can allow you to have a team lunch or "meet" one another's pets and kids.
- Rose and Thorn: Go around and each share a "rose," something positive, and a "thorn," something challenging. Celebrate and commiserate together, and support one another.
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We're all in this together. Thank you for your ongoing support of everyone at Doorways!
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