Juliana Rodger is Executive Officer of Causeway Foundation, in Ottawa. She’s a graduate of Carleton’s MPNL program and volunteers her time with the Association of Fundraising Professionals, both locally and nationally.
How has your sector adapted since the COVID-19 crisis started?
The onset of the pandemic prompted human-service organizations to re-examine the needs of beneficiaries, find new ways of using resources and form meaningful partnerships with other organizations to meet community needs. This is certainly true of Causeway. The priorities of a large portion of our beneficiaries shifted from searching for work to accessing basic necessities, such as food. This meant we needed to shift, too.
Can you explain a success story in terms of adapting to the COVID-19 crisis in your sector?
Leveraging our catering social enterprise, Krackers Katering, we secured temporary funding to deliver hampers of essential items to our clients. The flexibility of a funder also enabled us to partner with Parkdale Food Centre to help deliver food, and prepare meals for the Cooking for a Cause initiative. By adapting in this way, we were able to continue employing clients in a social enterprise that otherwise could not carry out its business due to COVID-19 restrictions. By looking at community needs rather than simply organizational needs, our sub-sector is better equipped to face the new landscape.
Juliana Rodger is on LinkedIn and Twitter. Photos are courtesy of Causeway Foundation.
