Beatitude House’s Boyce: Maintaining Hope, Connectivity

Teresa Boyce, government programs administrator of the Beatitude House in Youngstown, is coming back strong, along with Stacy Piette, the organization’s bookkeeper. To learn more about the Beatitude House, check out its website.

What are some ways the COVID-19 outbreak has affected your organization, and how is it rebounding?

Like everyone else, this virus has had a profound impact on our organization. Our biggest challenge was figuring out how to keep everyone safe while still meeting the needs of the people we serve. Each program had its own unique set of obstacles they needed to address.

Our English Language Learner (ELL) classes were cancelled, along with tutoring sessions for the children in our Immigrant Outreach program. Staff and volunteers quickly created a plan to use technology such as Zoom to continue working with the adults and the children; it was especially important for the children who were trying to adjust to remote learning. They were even able to provide a virtual summer camp with fun activities they could do at home. We are starting to resume in-person classes for both children and adults utilizing all of the CDC guidelines including social distancing, face masks and other recommendations to keep everyone safe.

Students in the Scholars program were able to continue communicating with our staff and their mentor through a software application that we had just launched a few months prior to the breakout. This was a very scary time for our scholars who were also trying to adapt to online classes, but with our help, we were still able to celebrate 16 graduations this year!

The most challenging situation was with families in our housing program. We currently provide housing for 37 families and individuals in Mahoning County (12 on the north side of Youngstown, five on the west side and 20 scattered throughout the county). The first thing we did was provide them with a care package filled with items such as hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes, and other supplies, along with handouts from the health department and the CDC to help keep them safe. Participants have had many traumas in their lives and suffer from depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses. That is why our support staff continued to stay in touch with them, even if it was just a phone call asking “how are you doing today?”

Food was a very big need early on. With hungry kids at home 24 hours a day, it was difficult for our moms to keep up. Aside from the cost of purchasing all that additional food, many lacked the transportation to go to the grocery store. Those who did have a car often were forced to take their children with them since they had no one to care for them at home. Staff spent many hours dropping off bags of food at everyone’s doorstep. We also were able to use some emergency funding provided by local foundations to purchase a commercial grade refrigerator that allowed us to purchase more perishable food items from the foodbank and other resources.

To add to other challenges, many of the students in all of our programs lacked the necessary tools to have a successful virtual learning experience. We were able to provide transportation to pick up things that the schools were distributing, and we provided things like mobile hotspots, laptops and other items. Local agencies such as The United Way, The Youngstown Foundation, The Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley and The Raymond John Wean Foundation have been very helpful in providing resources to help our clients get through these tough times.

Overall funding for the organization is also an issue. As part of the Ursuline Ministries, Beatitude House was fortunate to receive assistance from the Paycheck Protection Program to help us through the very tough first few months, but future funding continues to be a concern. While we are fortunate to have many very generous donors who are helping us with the necessary resources to allow us to continue our mission, we anticipate that donations will be down in the coming year from individuals, groups, churches and foundations as everyone struggles to rebound from the downturn in the economy.

What’s been the reaction from clients so far?

Overall, it has been mostly positive. They appreciate that we are working hard to keep them safe. Some are still very scared of catching the virus and continue to stay home as much as possible, while some are starting to ignore some of the guidelines and let their guard down. Staff continues to remind them of the importance of following the guidelines. We are also providing them with necessary PPE such as masks and hand sanitizer. Clients across all programs continue to meet with their case manager or other staff member either remotely or in-person (with proper precautions).

What impact has the outbreak had on you personally?

At the very beginning, it hit me very hard. I had trouble sleeping and was worrying about myself, my loved ones, our staff and the people we serve. Even though our families live in their own houses or apartments, I was constantly worrying about what would happen to the children if their mom became so ill she couldn’t take care of them. Thankfully, this has not happened yet, but I still worry.

I miss my extended family, especially my young nieces and nephews. I worry about my daughter, who lives in California. Thankfully, we are able to text and/or talk daily. I miss going out to lunch or dinner with family and friends. I try to remind myself that I am very fortunate. There are so many people who are suffering from symptoms of the virus, mourning a loved one who lost their battle with the virus, people who lost their livelihood, and people who are suffering from months of isolation.

What advice are you sharing with the people you love?

Stay safe, stay home, when possible, and we will get through this.