Nova Scotia charities try to make the best COVID-19 adaptations permanent

After more than two years of adapting programs due to COVID-19, non-profit groups across Nova Scotia are making some of the new services permanent.

COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted since March.

The Elizabeth Fry Society provides services to women and gender-diverse people involved in the criminal justice system. 

"Pre-COVID, our programs and services were in-person, and people would come to our office or we would go to offices in other communities or find a space in other communities," said Julie Kendell, associate executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society.

"When we were hit with the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to kind of think outside the box and become innovative. And what we did to do that is we accessed as much virtual opportunities as we could."

Putting minutes to good use

The organization was given federal funding through the United Way and used that money to develop online programs and help their clients access the internet.

"We got some funding to provide phone cards for people because they needed the ability to put minutes on their cell phones to be able to access not only us, but other service providers and resources in the community."

Darlene MacEachern, the executive director of the Elizabeth Fry Society, said switching their services to a hybrid of online and in-person has helped the organization in a broader sense.

"We have 24 sister [chapters] across the country and they may have specific programming that we don't have and don't have an expertise in and could refer a person into their online programs," said MacEachern.

Overcoming education deficit

Another non-profit that benefited from changing their model from strictly in-person before the pandemic to a mixture of online and in-person services now is the Adult Learning Association of Cape Breton County.

They were given $3,500 to develop online programs.

"The first year for us was a really steep learning curve. We had to build up the capacity for developing online learning," said Karen Blair, the executive director.

"Then we also had to particularly build up the skills and capacity of our participants, because our participants are individuals without a high school education. So they're at an educational deficit compared to your average resident of the CBRM. And often their digital skills are fairly limited."

The association now offers online learning that about fifteen per cent of participants still use.

Like the Elizabeth Fry Society, the Adult Learning Association of Cape Breton County plans to continue to offer online courses to accommodate people who can't be there in person.

"I still have to say that in-person learning is probably better – is higher quality. But, this gives us an option for ourselves and other community members to be able to participate when otherwise they wouldn't."

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