Letter from the Executive Director Penelope Griffith , LCSW-C, LICSW
“I know that 2023 will bring new challenges and new opportunities, and I am deeply confident that we will meet them together.”
When COVID arrived in March of 2020, Collaborative Solutions for Communities braced for the unknown. How would this mysterious virus impact the vulnerable families we serve? We suddenly found ourselves viewing our strategies and services through a new lens: our goal was to do everything in our power to help our families survive the pandemic. Somehow, we found ways to keep our families safe. We were determined that our families would have the food they needed to survive, their children would keep learning, playing and thriving, and the pressures of the pandemic would not lead to a spike in domestic neglect and violence. Day after day, our phenomenal staff rose to that challenge. Today, I am so deeply proud to tell you that our team stayed strong. We worked hard and relied on each other. In 2022, we could finally begin to exhale. None of our clients had succumbed to the virus. Not a single one! I know you will understand when I say that, for the CSC family, this was a victory beyond measure. The difficulties wrought by COVID-19 are far from over, but now—for the first time—we are able to take a step back and begin the process of reassessing and recalibrating. In that spirit, we are using a results-based accountability approach to conduct a thorough operational assessment. How much are we doing? How well are we doing it? Do we have the appropriate data to measure our impact? Are we making the right difference for our clients?
In the coming months, we will be working with our dedicated and supportive Board of Directors to translate the results of the assessment into a roadmap for our future. I’m confident that new opportunities will surface, and I also know that we will take what’s working and find ways to do it better. We’ll work with schools and other programs to provide them with the resources they need to deal with the traumas their students experience on a daily basis. We will identify opportunities to bring our services to the DMV region. We will expand our media outreach. The past three years have been the most challenging chapter in the more than 26-year history of Collaborative Solutions for Communities. I would be less than honest if I didn’t confess that there were days when our staff felt depleted and discouraged. Would we find the inspiration to keep giving our families the essential support they needed to weather the COVID storm? I am grateful to report that the answer was yes . We found our inspiration in each other, in the dignity and courage of the families we serve, and we found it in you and your abiding support for our mission. We’ve come a long way. I know that 2023 will bring new challenges and new opportunities, and I am deeply confident we will meet them together.
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