Belmont Cragin, the resilient and diverse community that Onward Neighborhood House calls home, has been impacted greatly in 2020.
Reports and experience have shown that we are at an intersection of inequity, topping the lists in the city of COVID-19 cases, first time unemployment, and lack of access to the technology needed to participate in online learning, request relief resources, remote work, and more. We are seeing a need for increased capacity and resources to address these issues.
Since March, we’ve grown the number of families and individuals served by our food pantry, helped small businesses request and secure Payment Protection Program loans, and increased the amount of time available for childcare to essential worker parents.
As we prepare for the winter, we are adding more resources for the residents of Belmont Cragin. We have established partnerships with CommunityHealth to open a telemedicine micro-site at our center and Lurie Children’s Hospital to provide mobile healthcare for children. We are also expanding our offerings for digital literacy classes in an effort to continue chipping away at the digital divide.
We have been able to respond to the needs of our community as a direct result of the support we have received from our donors. We will only get through this pandemic by working together, and we are truly grateful for our funders, partners, participants, volunteers, and neighbors. A special thank you to the foundations who released us from specific program obligations or gave additional funding to support us during this crisis.
Thank you for your support,
Mario F. García
Executive Director