The impact of COVID-19
Due to the global impact of COVID-19, Little City is on pace to suffer a loss of $1 million in vital funding and we need your help.
For the more than 1,300 people who rely on Little City’s services, there has never been such a relentless threat to their physical health and access to vital support. Of Little City’s adult residents, roughly 60 percent are 55 and older and virtually all are immune compromised – putting them in the most vulnerable population for COVID-19.
For 60 years, the Little City community of supporters has led the way. Today we need that leadership more than ever. No matter what you can give, you will have given hope. Every dollar is a step toward a brighter future for someone with developmental disabilities. Every dollar is a message from the community that people with developmental disabilities will not be cast aside in this pandemic.
While the threat is great, we know when we come together the resolve of Little City and those who support it is greater. With your help today, we will have a brighter tomorrow.
By the numbers
$80,000
in unexpected preventative care expenses.
Roughly $80,000 has been invested in personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, technology and equipment for residents to maintain active days at home.
$100,000
in additional staffing
costs.
To ensure residents are as safe as possible, only fully healthy staff are allowed to enter homes. The hours and rotations of a normal schedule are simply impossible during a pandemic and no cost is too great to protect residents.
LOSS
in
state
funding.
Little City relies on state funding to support the many day programs for those we serve. When day programs shut down, funding declined, but Little City remained committed to delivering those services.
$700,000 LOSS
because of Special Events cancellations.
Little City’s cancellation of the annual Gala and postponement of the Little City Invitational until the next fiscal year has led to an estimated loss of nearly $700,000 – close to 70 percent of the $1 million shortfall.
Adjusting to Change
“Teri Pacion, whose son Jarrod has gone to Countryside since 2011, said her son has regressed since the quarantine and losing the routine Countryside offered has confused and agitated him.
“When the quarantine hit, he just really stopped functioning well,” she said. “He has a hard time regulating emotions, he gets aggressive and it is all due to not being able to go there. That is his social life, his work, it is everything to him.”
Teri said Jarrod was progressing so well at one point he was gaining enough independence to move into a CILA situation, but now it feels like they are starting all over. His father, John, drives part-time for Countryside and still goes every day to help with food delivery and other tasks. Teri said no matter how often they explain the situation to Jarrod, he still feels like he is the only one who is not allowed to go to Little City and struggles to grasp the concept of what is happening.
“I have done the best I can, but I don’t know what we would do if at some point I thought he wouldn’t go back,” Teri said. “This is not sustainable.”
