I hope this letter finds you and yours safe and healthy during this trying time. I wanted to take a moment to reach out to you today to update you on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted our work.
As we all have had to adjust to a new normal, Revolution Workshop has also adapted so that we can meet the changing needs of our community. Although our training program has been closed since the Stay at Home order was issued by Governor Pritzker, our staff has been hard at work transforming RW from an organization that focuses on workforce development to one providing direct services. We quickly realized that although construction is considered an essential service, the sector was not immune to the economic fallout of COVID-19. To date, 75% of our alumni have experienced a cut in hours or have been furloughed. Thankfully, someone from our RW family made an initial gift of $10,000 to establish the Revolution Workshop COVID-19 Emergency Fund, a fund set up to help our alumni and trainees meet their needs during this public health crisis.
Since that fund has been established, I am proud to share that our RW family rallied and raised over $75,000 for the fund. I want to thank each and every person who donated because none of this would have been possible without your generous support. Because of you, our staff has been able to reach out to all of our 105 alumni and disperse just under $17,000 in much needed assistance for necessities like groceries, rent, and more. We are continuing to work with our alumni to disperse grants for the month of May and are planning for additional support to go out in June. We are dedicated to doing as much as we can for as long as we can, because our community needs it.
Today is #GivingTuesdayNow, an international effort to raise money for community based organizations during this unprecedented time. A time when organizations and communities need support now, more than ever. And while we are fortunate to have such strong support from our RW family, Revolution Workshop still needs help to operate. If you have not given already, I am asking you to consider supporting Revolution Workshop and our work.
We are dedicated to doing all that we can to continue to help our community build skills, hope and resilience and hope you’ll join us in this mission.