Changing the Narrative Colorado shares the idea that “ageism is a form of othering, where we distance ourselves from another group, taking away our common humanity.” As older adults and people with disabilities or other illnesses comply with isolation orders or choose to self-isolate, the general population views them as “others” who are more likely to become ill with COVID-19.
Our team recognizes that all people are connected and the perspectives of the people in these groups are crucial to understanding the larger impacts of the pandemic on society. For example, Via’s Call Center and Business Development department staff have been making phone calls to clients and donors to check in on their wellbeing and learning how we can serve them best during this crisis.
We’re also adapting our fleet of accessible vehicles to creatively meet the changing needs of older adults and people with disabilities. We’re working with local nonprofits to provide trips for cancer patients who need to get to treatment centers, our Mobility Specialists are working with local municipalities to translate messaging for our Spanish-speaking communities, and we’re collaborating with various organizations to make sure that our food-insecure and isolated neighbors have access to fresh food.
Local and national foundations are helping us continue to support and empower those who are most vulnerable in our community as we get through this together. So far we have received:
- $25,000 from the NextFifity Initiative’s COVID-19 Response Fund
- $10,000 from the Community Foundation Serving Boulder County’s COVID-19 Response Fund
- $10,000 from The Denver Foundation’s Critical Needs Fund
- $6,800 from the Longmont Community Foundation’s Neighbor to Neighbor Fund
- $5,154 – and counting – from donors like you!
