This has been a month of disruption, change, and uncertainty. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CCATE moved its operations online beginning on March 9th. We continue to assess the situation on a weekly basis, keeping in mind any recent recommendations and scientific knowledge.
Though we may not be open physically, our staff of three continues to support our community and students during this time. In the past two weeks, as we have moved our operations online, our staff, instructors, volunteers, and parents have been meeting virtually via Zoom. We have piloted 6 online classes so far and are also hosting weekly online meetings with our instructors and mentors.
Obed, our Executive Director, is posting weekly informational videos on our social media pages and they are being broadly shared as a news source for our community. We have also sent out questionnaires to families and volunteers to survey their concerns and needs and will continue to survey every 2-3 weeks to keep up with the rapidly changing situation. Starting next week, CCATE will also have a weekly column in the hispanic magazine Impacto. The column will focus on the life of the CCATE community and the Latinx community in Norristown.
This situation presents many financial challenges both for CCATE and our families and in the coming weeks we will continue assessing the changing needs of our community. We are currently working to create an online version of our yearly fundraiser, Noche de Arte. We will keep our supporters and community updated and hope that you will all join virtually to offer your support to CCATE as we navigate this challenging time.
Starting in April, we will be partnering with Greener Partners and Common Market to pilot a food distribution program for CCATE families. We know what our community creates and provides is even more important at times like this and we continue to push forward so we can emerge stronger and better than before. ¡Viva la comunidad!