COVID-19: one year later
“Reflection is one of the most underused yet powerful tools for success.” - Richard Carlson
Our landscape is continuing to evolve. It’s been an exhausting and emotionally draining year for many. It’s also been a year we should be proud of. Proud of how we came together as a community to support each other and find ways through a challenging time.
One year ago, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. Over the coming days, everything flipped on its side as organizations, including CUPS, closed their physical doors and worked quickly to find ways to continue supporting clients in an ever-changing landscape.
As we reflect on the year that has passed, we know the work isn’t done. And while many of us are chomping at the bit to get back to “normal,” we also know that the world is continuing to shift and evolve and what we knew as normal in 2019 isn’t what individuals and families in our community will experience moving forward.
In the meantime, we are taking this week to reflect. To consider all that has happened in the last year, to recognize our staff for the incredible work they’ve done and to celebrate our clients for finding the resilience to work with us through the year and continue striving to their goals.
A quick pivot
If there’s a word for the last year, it has to be pivot. And the largest maneuver took place right away in March 2020. In-person Health Clinic visits were reduced to urgent care only and our staff worked quickly to establish new health and safety precautions and guidelines to keep clients and staff safe as they continued to provide important medical care. Non-urgent care was all shifted to phone appointments.
But it wasn’t just adults who were impacted. The closing of our schools meant our Child Development Centre (CDC) students could no longer learn in the classroom. This meant rejigging lesson plans, dropping off computers and school supplies at front doors and helping our families get set up with at-home classrooms. Our kiddos learned from their kitchen table or settled in on the living room floor for virtual lessons.
Interactive and engaging learning is woven throughout CUPS, both at the CDC and our Nurturing Parenting programs! For a little extra special fun, CUPS Chef Sameer set up an online cooking class for families to teach them how to cook a delicious and nutritious meal at home during lockdown!
Finding technology
Our ability to pivot was directly related to the support from the community who enabled our care teams and clients to stay connected. Technology has played a powerful role in the pandemic, as we rely on computers and devices to stay connected. However, many CUPS clients don’t have regular digital access. So in June 2020, generosity from the TELUS Friendly Future Foundation ensured that our health, counselling, educating and housing teams had the technology needed to provide client care without interruption.
Supporters also provided CUPS with laptops and phones to our clients — of all ages — to keep them connected during a challenging lockdown.
Partnerships for greater community success
What COVID-19 brought to light was the power of partnerships and collaboration. When the State of Local Emergency was declared, the Calgary Flames Foundation for Life was the first to reach out to CUPS with an offer to help. Within a few weeks, the community had rallied with technology for our clients, cash donations and more — everything we needed to keep our programs running.
A new program also began with significant community support. In April 2020, longtime partners of CUPS, the Calgary Homeless Foundation and The Alex, joined forces with many other agencies to activate an Assisted Self-Isolation Site. Vulnerable individuals who are symptomatic, test positive or have been in contact with a person who has tested positive for COVID-19 can stay at the site. From early April to mid-August 2020, more than 300 homeless Calgarians used the site and it remains active to this day.
Knocking on 100 Doors
Like everyone, we are missing the face-to-face connections with both our clients and our donors. CUPS is a community in its own right and it’s the people — staff, clients and supporters — who come together to make an impact.
In February 2021, we decided that since we couldn’t bring everyone together, we’d take a different approach for a little face time. We knocked on the doors of 100 of our individuals and families with care packages — food and essentials. Baskets were safely delivered to homes, and backpacks were given to our community members who are sleeping rough or in shelter spaces. This initiative also provided a good connection between our community members and CUPS Care Coordination Team — the ones who connect people to all of the right services and programs to end the multi-generational cycle of poverty and trauma. This all happened thanks to incredible support from Trent from Contract Professionals Canada Inc., RBC, 7-11 and Sock Rocket.
This global health crisis has impacted all of us. It’s stressful and has been the ultimate test of resilience for many individuals and families.
As the situation continues to evolve, CUPS remains committed to supporting those experiencing poverty and trauma through Integrated Care — working closely with individuals and families to provide customized care to directly support their needs.