On behalf of the staff and Board of The Nelson Foundation, I am reaching out to update you on what is going on at the Foundation. Jenny and I continue to work from home and are in regular contact with each other as well as with the Foundation’s Board of Directors. Right now, we are particularly busy working on the Board Meeting packet for the Foundation’s early June Board Meeting, which we are planning to hold via videoconference. The agenda, not surprisingly, will be full, and we plan to devote a good portion of the meeting to discussing additional ways in which the Foundation can support its nonprofit partners during this challenging time.

Unfortunately, as many of you already know, the Foundation has had to postpone or cancel a number of grantee activities that had been planned through early September, including the sponsorship of 17 staff from 11 organizations who had planned on attending the Trauma Training Conference this summer. These “beyond the grant” opportunities are an important aspect of the overall support provided by the Foundation, so hopefully in the next few months, the Foundation will be able to begin rescheduling some of these special program events, or to rethink how they are delivered.

Jenny and I also continue to talk and share information with fellow funders, municipal officials, many of our grantee partners, and others. We find these conversations (in all forms of media) to be informative and helpful in understanding the layered challenges everyone is facing as well as the success stories, and in identifying resources for the Foundation and our nonprofit partners. Below are two items that we thought you might find helpful:

Finally, please know that we are thinking of you, and that you should reach out to me or Jenny, if you would like to talk about how you, your organization, the children and youth you serve, and their families and community are doing.

Hang in there!
Mindy