End of 2020 Statement

The year 2020 is nearing the end and although much has happened to many of us, we are looking forward to 2021 expecting better things will happen. 2020 has proven to be the ultimate stress test.

Families and businesses were asked to adapt to a daily changing environment in large part due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Family members and friends were asked to stay apart and limit contact, businesses struggle to stay open without the usual foot traffic. The medical professionals were asked to treat sick patients wearing makeshift PPE. People were trapped in their homes struggling to make things work. Without income, some people were in desperate search for food and afraid their landlord would evict them. Then the world saw the murder of innocent black people on their TV and social media. These murders had nothing to do with the pandemic and just adding to the stress we as a people were going through in 2020. As a nation, we looked to our elected officials for leadership and dissatisfied with the results, went ahead and demonstrated in the streets, and the ballot box.

The impacts of 2020 are not going to magically go away in 2021. The pandemic is still active, the racist policies still exist and there is still much that we must demand of our elected officials. The reality is the only one to save us, is us; the “front line” workers, the “essential service” workers, your neighbors that stop by to check on you. Activism is growing at the grassroots level.

There is a natural expectation that neighborhood organizations like Hope Community will assist and the staff did extend themselves to making sure that the people we serve were kept informed of the various services and programs. Staff participated in getting food to needy people, a weekly blog to disseminate information was started, PPE was distributed, and people were linked to rental assistance programs. This work was done while also providing the continuous daily janitorial and building maintenance operations.

In 2021, we all need to make necessary adjustments so that once the virus is under control, we can plot a path towards recovery and work towards the new “normal”. Normal will look very different than it did in 2019. Too much has happened since then to go back. Hope Community will continue to provide support to families and businesses. Before we start planning on what we will do next, Hope Community will spend time speaking with our constituents and partners to determine how we can make the most impact. It is our intention to connect the need to a resource to help resolve the need. This important “checking in” will help with figuring out our next 3-year plan.

We look forward to hearing from you in 2021

Have a wonderful New Year’s celebration

Stay safe, stay well