by Ken Toll
The week after Independence Day, we did a soft reopening of our office. Our staff still mostly works from home, but a few come to the office when needed. Meetings are by appointment, so there’s no steady stream of visitors.
I confess, it all feels weird.
Not that weird is a new thing; we’ve been living with it for months. When COVID-19 hit with earnest in March, everyone’s daily routines sputtered to a halt. Family, friends, and neighbors stayed at home. Schools, businesses and places of worship closed their doors. Conversations centered on toilet paper, face masks and hand sanitizer.
At the same time, we all found a new sense of appreciation and admiration for essential employees—the folks who keep us fed, healthy and safe. And we all discovered the power of living united.
I’m immensely proud of how our United Way team rose to the challenge that COVID-19 brought. In partnership with the Jackson Community Foundation, we launched a response fund that helped provide food, shelter and essential needs for thousands of people and dozens of nonprofits. We connected with more than 40 organizations to create the Jackson COVID-19 Action Network, or JCAN, that’s still working hard to meet people’s needs. United Way staff members dove into volunteer efforts despite the health risks because they care for our community.
As we move out of our initial response to COVID-19, we know that there is far more work to do. COVID-19 exposed many of us to the hardships of the ALICE population—the 40% of households working yet struggling to afford the basics. With our commitment to financial stability, we’ve been working with ALICE residents for years. Our hope is that, as we come together to recover, reimagine and rebuild Jackson County, we’ll be able to turbocharge this work and help more families reach financial stability.
The key word here is “together.” The secret to our shared success is “united.”
I’m convinced we can make it happen. But we need your help. We need your financial support. We need your volunteer spirit. We need your voice to advocate for this work and the people we serve.
This week we’re joining with United Ways across Michigan to reiterate our commitment to that work: “United We Will.” That work is challenging, and there’s lots more to do. But that’s what United Way was built for.
So many generous people helped make our pandemic response successful! Now we’re at the next step: vanquishing poverty by giving every Jackson County resident the opportunity to become financially stable. United, we will make that happen.
Jackson, we got this!
Ken Toll is President and CEO of United Way of Jackson County. Learn more about the statewide awareness effort at unitedwewillmi.org.