Coronavirus impact on our friends in East St. Louis – Please help!

Please CLICK HERE to help us help the children in East St. Louis today!

An important message from Sheila Burton

Dear Friends,

I hesitate to write, but our need is urgent. And many of you have asked how our families and children are doing during this time.

The limitations and impact of the coronavirus is being felt by all, but our 200+ children and their families are especially impacted. Already living on the margins of society, many of our parents are losing their jobs and being pushed further into poverty and desperation. They are scared.

I am anticipating as the weeks and months progress, that our families’ need for emergency assistance will increase dramatically. I was just speaking with one of our moms; she does not have a phone. During ordinary times, not having a phone is hard enough, but now without one she is scared, feeling desperately the need to be connected to others. Join Hands will help. Earlier today, another one of our parents told me how the restaurant she works at just closed. She now has no means to pay her bills. She is okay for today, and she knows she can call on us if/when she needs help.

Almost all of our families live paycheck to paycheck without a safety net. Join Hands is their safety net!

While it was important to close the Ubuntu Center for Peace, and to postpone the grand opening of our new Dream Path Teen Center, our Join Hands staff remains committed to serving children and families in East St. Louis. We are distributing food and regularly reaching out to our families, assessing each family’s needs and ensuring children have what they need to continue with their studies. We will continue to journey with our families during this time, even if we are forced to do it remotely.

We are currently putting together activity kits for 200 children and teens. The children are home from school, but so many of the homes our children live in do not have games to play or books to read. A huge number of our families do not have internet. We are trying to make sure all of our children have something constructive to do during this time at home.

$20 will help us purchase books or workbooks, games, coloring books and crayons for one child to use during this scary time.
$100 will allow a family to have phone service for two months.
$250 will give a small family food for a few weeks.
$500 will pay rent and prevent an eviction. Whatever you can do will be so appreciated.

If you can help us, please make an online donation today. And if you can make it a recurring gift, no matter how small, it will give us the stability we need to know we can keep helping our friends in East St. Louis.

Please click HERE to help us help the children in East St. Louis today!

Thank you so much for all of your support, and I am praying for the health and safety of you and your family.

Love,
Sheila