Live & Learn has received $15,000 of critical support from the Arizona Community Foundation’s Covid-19 Community Response Fund. The Arizona Community Foundation established this fund to provide immediate relief to nonprofits facing increased demand for services as a result of Covid-19. At Live & Learn, this support is a critical lifeline for the women we serve during this challenging time.
In March, when Coronavirus safety measures began to take effect in Maricopa County, Live & Learn women began to lose wages, lose jobs, lose childcare options. The number of women financially and emotionally affected continues to rise daily. Demand for Live & Learn has increased over 20% in the past month. At least 85% of the 260 women currently enrolled in Live & Learn’s program have been negatively affected by this pandemic. Simultaneously, Live & Learn was forced to cancel a major food and toiletry drive and multiple volunteer groups scheduled this spring.
Support from the Arizona Community Foundation helps Live & Learn meet this increased demand, recover from lost volunteer hours, and overcome shortages in food and toiletry donations. Even more importantly, this support has already had an incredible, direct impact on Live & Learn women. Women like Disnny.
Disnny is a mother of two young children. She is enrolled in the Year Up AZ career training program and has been working incredibly hard to pursue a career in business management. Through hard work, Disnny was starting to achieve her goals.
Then in late March, with increasing threat from the Coronavirus pandemic, everything changed in a matter of days. Disnny lost her job and started using what little savings she had to provide essentials for her family. The stress and worry were overwhelming. Thanks to support from the Arizona Community Foundation, Live & Learn has been able to provide groceries and toiletries so that Disnny can continue with school and not lose the progress she had made, meeting her family’s basic needs and easing her stress.
The well-being of women in our community is critical to ensuring the safety and health of their families. Live & Learn empowers women to break the cycle of generational poverty. In the program, women work incredibly hard for two years to pursue their educations and careers, and this pandemic threatens to derail their progress. The Arizona Community Foundation is supporting many nonprofits that our community desperately needs right now, and we are deeply grateful for their support.
