Flexibility in times of crisis: loosening grant restrictions during COVID-19

“Having United Way of Lane County step up with the flexibility and immediate leadership you are providing is comforting.  I see so many opportunities amidst this crisis and we are all called to lean in and lead forward.  Thanks for setting the standard.” - Margaret Theisen, executive director of Pearl Buck Center

One of life’s important lessons is that no matter how detailed and well executed our plans may be, there are many realities that are out of our control. This current pandemic and swirling economic crisis have reminded us all that while we may not be able to control what happens, we do have some control over how we react.

One of our first responses at United Way of Lane County in the early hours and days of the COVID-19 crisis was to ask ourselves: how could we best support our funded partner agencies in working to improve lives for children and families throughout the county?

We rolled out an agency survey immediately to hear directly from partners what their concerns and needs were, both immediate and longer term. These partners are on the front lines of quickly adjusting to the changing and evolving needs of families and individuals in our community and our efforts need to focus on making sure they have every possible resource to do this important work.

One of many ways we responded to current funded partners’ needs was to loosen restrictions on the grant funds they were already receiving from United Way. We let our partners know that not only were we committed to helping support their work in whatever ways possible during this unprecedented time, we also wanted them to know that they could use the funding from their existing grant awards however would best serve their missions. We trust the leadership of our partnering organizations to know how best to meet the needs of vulnerable folks and we wanted them to have all the possible resources to do what they do best—serve people.

One of these agency partners is Pearl Buck Center, which provides support and programs for people with cognitive disabilities. In response to United Way empowering partners to use funds where most needed, Margaret Theisen, executive director of Pearl Buck Center, shared this:

“I feel the most important contribution this flexibility brought to us was ease of mind at a moment when nothing was easy. The pace and volume of change and information sharing in the first couple weeks of life after COVID-19 was disorienting,” she adds, “particularly in times of stress, grounding relationships and effort are critical.”

In addition to this increased flexibility for existing funds, United Way created the COVID-19 Community Response Fund to get additional emergency funding to an even broader array of nonprofits throughout the county. In a matter of days, we were able to mobilize emergency donations from business and individual donors for urgent service needs arising from the pandemic crisis and get those dollars into the coffers of responding organizations.

While leveraging resources of all kinds has always been our focus, this work took on yet more new forms in the first few weeks of COVID-19 response. By collaborating with Community Organizations Active in Disasters (COAD) and helping adapt 15th Night’s existing text-alert tool to connect nonprofits with resources, a new network of partners came together to form the Lane Emergency Response Network (LERN). This network and new tool are now helping connect nonprofits in need of volunteers and in-kind donations with the people and resources to fill those needs. Such connections made through the LERN include providing Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for those working directly with people, gathering and distributing sleeping bags to nonprofits working with those who are unhoused, and more.

The fact that we are community-based—working right along-side nonprofit organizations and partners, means we can be flexible and responsive to community need. We have built a foundation that connects donors, businesses, volunteers, and service providers through shared purpose and strong relationships during the best of times; and by reminding ourselves of the strength of these connections, we realized that flexibility to true need was the best and only response!

We will continue to do what we as United Way of Lane County do best—connect compassionate donors and supporters to the passionate folks who are working tirelessly to improve the lives of children and families throughout Lane County—regardless of the external circumstances beyond our control. What we can control, is how quickly, thoughtfully, and equitably we help connect resources with need.