“There’s a lot of implications of COVID, for not just how we react but then how we move forward and specifically for kids that come through our shelter having to be inside and how that impacts them. How not having summer camp impacts the kids, but that also impacts a parent’s ability to do things that they would have done while the kids are at summer camp, like work,” Weil said.
Dan McCabe, chief of staff and CEO at CareSource Foundation, said that after seeing reports that domestic violence would likely worsen as stay-at-home orders kept people cooped up, the decision to donate to YWCA Dayton was an easy one.
“We wanted to give them some funding so they didn’t feel like they had to make choices. So, first and foremost, we just wanted them to really use these funds to provide additional services,” McCabe said.
Although calls to the YWCA crisis hotline have decreased overall, five times more callers reported an immediate safety concern in April 2020 than in April 2019, Clinical Director Michelle Sayer said in a statement.
“We are seeing increased severity of domestic violence situations and many more emergency situations where there are imminent, versus ongoing, safety concerns,” Sayer stated.
The shelter has also made adjustments to allow for social distancing and despite major fundraisers being delayed, Weil said the shelter has not turned anyone away. The YWCA has continued to provide resources to the community, partially thanks to a variety of donors, including CareSource.
Weil said that to receive an unrestricted gift as large as the one from CareSource almost never happens and is “a big deal.”
CareSource is one of the nation’s largest Medicaid managed care plans and McCabe said that many of the moms and kids using YWCA’s resources are CareSource users.
“Their mission of providing a safe home and providing resources to allow women to escape domestic violence and to become mentally physically healthy — that mission aligns perfectly with our mission of supporting our members through their health and well being,” he said.
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