To our members, staff, funders, partners, and supporters,
On behalf of the Center for Urban Families (CFUF), I wanted to send a personal note to let you know how CFUF is responding to COVID-19.
During the past several weeks, our Board of Directors, Senior Leadership Team, and I have been talking to public health officials; listening and reading carefully about the spread of COVID-19; and discussing especially how this issue impacts our members (clients), staff, and partners. We are deeply concerned and want to do what we can to keep everyone safe and healthy.
Out of an abundance of caution, the board and leadership team have decided to adjust our regular operations by limiting access to our building. As a result, beginning today, Monday, March 16th through Friday, March 27th, CFUF staff will be working remotely. We recognize that our decision to close the building impacts those that have the least amount of resources and the greatest need. Although our building will be closed, critical business activities will continue without disruption. We will leverage technology to provide virtual case management services, training, and job search assistance to our members. In addition, we will continue to support employer partners as appropriate.
We have rescheduled our next STRIVE job training, initially scheduled to start on Friday, March 27th, to Monday, March 30th. We will monitor public health advisements and government directives to evaluate whether to continue the training and when to offer future trainings.
We have had conversations with key funders and they have agreed to continue supporting us, despite face-to-face client service being affected. We are thankful for their understanding, and we will continue to communicate with them about our status, need for support, and any programmatic adjustments.
We have also decided to postpone our 2020 Urban Visionary Awards gala scheduled for April 24th. We are in communication with our event honorees about rescheduling and will announce the new date once it has been finalized.
As we make our way through this very significant public health challenge, I want to express that we will continue focusing on what is important, and that is the safety and well-being of our members, our staff, and the broader community. The leadership of CFUF will continue to monitor the latest developments and make decisions based upon up-to-date public health information and government directives. We will provide periodic updates to let you know how we are doing.
I am confident that we will come through this experience stronger, wiser, and closer together as a City and as a nation. #StrongerTogether.
Thank you for standing with us.
Sincerely,
Joe
Joseph T. Jones, Jr.,
Founder/President and CEO