2020 Annual Appeal
2020 Annual Appeal Letter
November 2020
Dear Friend,
2020 likely began for you as a year full of possibilities yet turned into a year none of us could ever have imagined.
And just like you, Eliana felt 2020 held great promise. After attending school part-time while working, Eliana finally earned her teaching degree. She had been offered a teaching position that would allow this single mother of two to build a better life for her family. Then the pandemic exploded. Like so many in vulnerable communities, her family was hard hit. Tragically, she lost both her mother and brother to Covid-19 and along with them the support that was so critical to her small family. Because Eliana was an essential worker in a grocery store, she continued to work, but with schools shut, the teaching job never materialized. Without her family’s help with childcare and rent, she struggled financially. Out of desperation, she called Ivy at the Morristown Neighborhood House.
Fortunately, donors like yourself provided us with resources to meet needs that are magnified during a pandemic. Ivy was able to add Eliana’s family to our food distribution list and to our free-lunch Fridays, both community collaborations addressing the increase in food insecurity. Eliana was able to enroll her daughter in full day pre-school and her son in the before and after-school programs at the Neighborhood House where our teens helped him with his homework and provided him with much needed technology support.
Your support allowed us to be there for Eliana and her children. We also were able to hire Eliana as a teacher! This new job allowed her to put her hard-earned degree to work and become part of the team providing a safe place for her children.
We were able to help Eliana, but our challenges grow every day. Government funding is declining. We have been forced to change or cancel major fundraising events, and the costs of maintaining a healthy and safe in-person environment have skyrocketed. Your generous support is crucially important to close this gap and help so many more families like Eliana’s.
Your donation will help so many people! We are fortunate to have such a caring community supporting all our programs so that everyone has a chance to live a happy, healthy, and productive life.
With sincere gratitude,
