recreated all our materials and activities virtually. It was a relief to our families and participants when they realized they could still see their friends and staff virtually while doing familiar activities at home. As soon as we were able to have 10 people in the building in early June 2020, we resumed in-person programs. It was not easy and there was a tremendous amount of anxiety for the participants, their families and the staff. My job was to ease everyone back in and reassure the families and staff that we would be safe. We had all participants rotating days in the building with assigned pods. When it was not their day to come in, we continued to offer the virtual Zooms to keep that relationship and structure going. We also had to restructure our daily schedules because our participants were used to being out in the community and during this time we couldn’t go anywhere. There was not even a question in my mind about coming back in person. Although our staff worked tirelessly to create meaningful, structured virtual programming, it was not the same. Our participants needed that face to face. Our mission is to fight isolation, so we needed them back in person to continue developing relationships and to get back to some normalcy and stop the regression. Predictability is crucial to our participants and we were living in the most unpredictable of times. What we could give them was at least some reassurance of normalcy by coming back to their safe place, Have Dreams. The financial support of our donor community in 2020 and 2021 was crucial. If not for it, we would not have been able to sustain our staff to continue our mission. Because of our donors, not only were we one of the first [organizations] to resume in-person programs, but we were able to keep our incredible staff. We were able to do that for our families. There are no words to describe how meaningful it was to our staff that our donors rallied around our mission and helped us keep our doors open. In the toughest of times, that support rejuvenated our spirits to keep going every day. When other organizations were struggling, we were thriving and progressing because of donor support.
Because of our donors, not only were we one of the first to resume in-person programs, but we were able to keep our incredible staff. We were able to do that for our families.”
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— Andrea Franckowiak Program Director
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See a brief overview of Have Dreams Programs
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