MACON, Ga. — 13WMAZ, GPB Macon, the Telegraph and Mercer’s Center for Collaborative Journalism will continue to report on how coronavirus has impacted our lives, and the price we all pay in a series titled 'Cost of COVID.'
As much of the country tries to get back up and running during the pandemic, some Central Georgia nonprofit organizations are having a tough time getting back on their feet.
With fewer volunteers and possibly more people in need, these organizations are learning to do more with much less.
"God provides, right? And God gives us the strength. We've been running a marathon, but you can only run a marathon for so long," said Sister Teresa Sullivan.
Sullivan, the director at Macon's Daybreak Center for the homeless, describes the struggle facing organizations. The struggle is not because of what COVID-19 has taken away, but rather who it has taken.
"We went down by like 80% of our volunteers,” said Sullivan. “We had to cut down our hours and we had to try to cut down our services so that we could provide the most essential."
Loaves and Fishes Director Jake Ferro says they’ve lost some volunteers too.
"We've not maintained a strong contact with a number of the volunteers at this point in time," said Ferro.
That also led to cutting some services. For example, the organization helps homeless people track down their birth records so they can get a government issued ID -- something that is needed for jobs, medicine or even financial assistance.
“We don't have the resources to have it more than just half a day on Monday and half a day on Thursday, so there's some that are falling through the cracks maybe a little bit," Ferro explained.
With shelter-in-place mandates and CDC guidelines prompting many people to stay home, both organizations are becoming desperate for assistance.
"Pretty soon we won't have enough money to operate for any length of time so volunteers are critical," said Ferro.
It would leave those who need the most help without it until COVID-19 is under control.
“Volunteers are the heart of service at Daybreak," said Sullivan.
Loaves and Fishes is not yet able to allow volunteers back in the building, but Daybreak has implemented new protocols like temperature checks, masks and handwashing to help get more volunteers back in the building.
If you think you can help, contact Daybreak or Loaves & Fishes for more information.
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