THIS POST FROM ECO-ENCLOSE is shared with permission. What follows is a great summary of small businesses resources during COVID-19 outbreak. Please visit their website to learn more about Eco-Enclose.

COVID-19 Resources: Summary of Funding Opportunities For Small Businesses

Mar 23rd 2020

This piece was written on March 23, 2020. New funding opportunities are being announced and changed every day, so please check out our Google Doc out for more up to date information and email me at saloni@ecoenclose.com to share new funding options that we don’t have listed.


Over the next two weeks, Eco-Enclose will be sharing resources to help small businesses during this uncertain time.

Today’s piece is focused on cash flow and financing. Read on for a summary of funding options that could help cover expenses such as rent, utilities, payroll and working capital if sales have slowed or halted altogether as a result of coronavirus protection measures.

We’ve also created a more searchable spreadsheet of funding opportunities. We will do our best to update the spreadsheet every few days as new funding sources become available. Please share anything we are missing so we can include these on our list by emailing information to saloni@ecoenclose.com.

Read the full blog post here

 

 

Staying up to date with current factual information can help ease any anxiety or stress about the situation.

COVID19  information updated regularly in our 211 Database of Contra Costa County resources – click here.

This includes food distribution, site closures, shelter information, tax preparation information, and more. Search resources here! or text your zip code to 898211, call 211 (or 800.833.2900) for 24/7 assistance.

We recommend checking the following for additional information:

  • Contra Costa Health Services is updating a webpage with information here. This page is updated with new information as it becomes available, daily at 10 am and 2 pm.
  • Center for Disease Control (CDC) is updating a robust site with information and answers to commonly asked questions here.
  • Contra Costa County is offering free drive-through testing – if you are experiencing symptoms: fever, cough, or flu-like symptoms.  You must call 1-844-421-4084 to be screened before coming for Coronavirus test. Free for all Contra Costa residents, no insurance required! Details here: COVID-19 Community Testing  SPANISH  COVID19 Community Testing English

Please stay home as much as possible, wash your hands frequently, practice self-care, call your physician if you have any symptoms, and stay informed and patient. We are all in this together.

Keep in mind that the outcome desired is to “flatten the curve” of the virus so as not to overwhelm health care systems and facilities.

Help everyone stay calm and healthy.

Call 211 if you have questions. We are here 24/7.

Call 211 or text your zip code to 898211 for free and confidential conversation about #Census2020.

Here are some quick answers for FAQ’s re: Census 2020:

    • Easy: The census questionnaire is short. Depending on your household, it only takes about 10 minutes to complete.
    • Safe: By law, the Census Bureau cannot share respondents’ answers with anyone, including federal and local law enforcement agencies. Census Bureau workers take an oath to protect the confidentiality of the data. The penalty for unlawful disclosure is a fine up to $250,000 or imprisonment of up to 5 years, or both.
    • Important: Census Data helps determine our political representation and funding for local roads, schools, and community improvement. So many programs are dependent on this source of funding!

Please call us at 211 for info, or text your zip code to 898211 to text with us. We can confidentially answer any of your questions about Census 2020! Here are some helpful links for more information and to sign up for updates.

Census 2020 California State Website
Census 2020 Contra Costa Website

Pledge to be counted! #CountMeIn

We are pleased to announce that we have been re-accredited by the American Association of Suicidology for another five years!

Crisis Centers across the nation seek accreditation as a validation of high quality service delivery according to nationally recognized standards, a model of program excellence, and a commitment to systematic, ongoing self-evaluation and improvement of suicide prevention and crisis intervention services.

We are proud and thankful for the hard work and dedication of all of our volunteers and staff in continuing to help people in times of crisis. With help comes hope.

To learn more about AAS Accreditation, click the link to the AAS site below.

https://suicidology.org/training-accreditation/crisis-center-accreditation/

~211 helps in Contra Costa County and all over the USA

Here is more on how we at 211 provide help:

211 provides expert, caring help
–No matter the situation, the specialists at 211 listen and identify underlying problems. Then we connect people in need with resources and services in their community that improve their lives.
211 meets real needs in real time
–In 2018 alone, 211s in the US answered more than 11 million calls and almost 1 million texts, chats and emails, helping millions with life-changing support. There is no other network in the country that has a similar pulse on America’s needs.
211 provides unmatched, critical services
–211 is a vital service leveraged by millions of people across North America. Every day, clients contact 211 to access free and confidential crisis and emergency counseling, disaster assistance, food, health care and insurance assistance, stable housing and utilities payment assistance, employment services, veteran services and childcare and family services.
Need more information – Call 211 or text your zip code to 898211 anytime, day or night. We are here to help!

As the decade draws to a close, we are looking back at some of the major events for the Crisis Center in the last 10 years. We also want to offer our most sincere thanks and gratitude to the volunteers, donors, supporters, staff, partners, and community that make this critical work possible.

We wish we did not need to be here, but are glad we are here for the community. Crisis calls are up 26% and APS/CPS calls are up 14%. 211 referrals – connecting those in need to vital services – are up 200%!

We’ve added Linea de Crisis (the Bay Area Spanish language crisis line) and now offer grief groups in Spanish to better serve the community we represent.

We retired our mortgage with help from Leftovers Thrift Shop and The Joseph & Vera Long Foundation.

We launched the Help Me Grow project with First5 Contra Costa and partners, providing support and resources for parents and developing youth 0-5 years old.

Website use is up 14% and ten years ago we had no social media presence.

Our call center was re-accredited for five years by the American Association of Suicidology in in 2014 and again in 2019!

Again, thanks to all of you for making this lifesaving support possible!

The Crisis Center help lines provide 24/7 crisis counseling. Whether you are dealing emotional distress or other issues, we are here for you. We also can provide or connect you or people you love to services or recovery resources. Call us anytime, night or day, at 211 or 800-833-2900 or text HOPE to 20121.

We invite you to watch these powerful stories – from actual Crisis Center Grief Program participants- about how they utilized programs of the Crisis Center to help cope with tremendous loss. (CW) The content is very powerful and might illicit a strong emotional response, but there are also powerful messages of hope.

Their stories have this in common – they called the Crisis Center.

If you, or someone you know, needs emotional support, we are here 24/7. Call 211 or text HOPE to 20121 to talk with someone.

 

Congratulations to Ron Potts, the recipient of the Annual “Judy Guthrie Volunteer Appreciation and Recognition Brunch” Volunteer of the Year Award for 2019!

Sunday, July 21st, 2019 was a day of appreciation for all the many volunteers and staff that contribute in making the Contra Costa Crisis Center the best it can be! All of them work tirelessly to ensure that we fulfill our mission to keep people alive and safe, help them through crises, and provide or connect them with culturally relevant resources in the community.

Many of the attendees came from the Leftovers Thrift Shop, which operates entirely through the staff of volunteers who sort, price, create displays, and sell merchandise. Since the shop was founded in 1976, it has never had a paid employee.

And other attendees came from our call center’s hotline, which operates 24-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week, and serves as a touchstone for the community. Answering nearly 70,000 calls a year, the 211 Information and Referral program, assists to connect individuals and families in need to agencies that provide emergency shelter, food, mental health and substance abuse counseling and hundreds of other services.

Thank you all for your volunteer work. Thank you all for attending.

And a special thank you to Ron Potts, our Volunteer of the year!