Caring through COVID-19: How WellSky teammates are supporting communities
Communities across the U.S. and globe continue to grapple with the far-reaching impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond even the immense public health risk, people are facing new and challenging socioeconomic pressures altering their quality of life. At WellSky, as a company focused on advancing health and wellness, giving back within our communities is one of our core values. This deep commitment to supporting people in need extends to our 1,600 teammates as well.
Here are powerful stories from three WellSky teammates who are making a difference for people in their local communities who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic:
Meghan Hale, Senior Project Manager, delivered meals to children and families in the Atlanta Public Schools (APS) district in Georgia. Meghan rode along a school bus route and delivered meals to students who rely on school lunches each day. In one day, Meghan’s bus delivered 300 meals to local families via a school bus on its regular route. There were about eight donation sites across the school district, and at Meghan’s site, she was part of a larger team volunteers across 10 buses. Each of the 10 buses at the site were limited to one driver and one volunteer to ensure social distancing. In one given day, APS volunteers delivered somewhere between 10,000 and 20,000 combination breakfast and lunch meals.
The APS district serves 50,000 students each year, and last year, all of those students were eligible to receive free meals year-round. The delivery of food to local children and families is crucial in making sure no kid goes hungry during this time when school is normally in session.
“It was a very heartening experience,” Meghan said. “One family asked for 10 meals. Another family asked for a meal for their grandmother. And a man experiencing homelessness also approached the bus to ask for food, so we made sure he had a meal too.”
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Juliana Richard, Senior Solutions Manager, supplied handmade masks to hard-hit healthcare workers in New York state, as healthcare workers across the country continue to face shortages of critical personal protective equipment (PPE). During the brunt of New York’s outbreak, she sent masks to front line healthcare workers over the last several of weeks. As part of the 100 Million Mask Challenge, Juliana sewed 40 masks with her fiancé, and she also worked with her neighbors to send a total of 100 masks to health workers in New York. Along with Juliana, several other WellSky teammates are contributing home-made masks to support healthcare workers across the country who are in dire need of more resources.“Helping the healthcare workers on the frontlines is the most critical thing any of us can do today,” Juliana said. “Seeing our community in Austin, Texas band together to gather PPE was really powerful, and it showed us that we all can do our part to help.”
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Judy Harrison, Senior Software Engineer, connected with her neighbors in the Pittsburgh-area community to purchase and deliver supplies — including gift cards, groceries, diapers, and toilet paper. When Judy’s son graduated from college, she was looking forward to finally doing some home renovations. But when she saw the COVID-19 pandemic shut down and stay-at-home orders affecting people in her community, Judy put the renovations on hold and prioritized supporting families who suddenly found themselves with no income, children to feed, and bills to pay. Judy uses the NextDoor app to support neighbors in her community, and her example has inspired fellow WellSky teammates to similarly share their time, money, and resources.
“It started out with just me supporting as many families and their needs as possible each payday,” Judy said. “But then it snowballed, and I formed a ‘Help our Neighbors’ group on the NextDoor app and now there’s a group of five volunteers all pitching in.”Judy is proactively making a difference to help her neighbors and build a stronger community.
“What inspired me most were my memories of being a kid, when all of our neighbors knew each other, and you could just knock on the door and ask for help,” Judy said. “I wanted to bring back that feeling that you can count on your neighbors when you need help. It’s worked out great! And I have met so many great new friends that live right here in my neighborhood.”
We’re honored to work with each of these teammates at WellSky every day. We look forward to supporting them, our clients, and our communities during this crisis and well beyond.
For more information on how WellSky is responding to COVID-19, we invite you to check out the links below:
- Complimentary educational content, available 24/7: The WellSky COVID-19 Resource Center
- News: WellSky®, Qlik® Partner to Deliver Complimentary COVID-19 Tracking Solution, Empowering Home-Based Care Clients with Data to Better Protect Staff, Allocate PPE
- News: WellSky® Advances Better, Smarter Care with New Initiatives, Technology to Support Clients Throughout COVID-19 Pandemic
- News: WellSky® Launches National Care Coordination Network of 10,000 In-Home Care Agencies to Alleviate Strains on Heavily Burdened Hospitals