NONPROFIT TALK: Serving vulnerable children during the COVID crisis
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Jeremy Kohomban is the president and executive director of The Children’s Village. Photo courtesy of The Children’s Village
By Jeremy Kohomban, as told to the Eagle
Jeremy Kohomban is the president and executive director of The Children’s Village, which works in partnership with families to help society’s most vulnerable children. Founded in 1851, the organization is based in Harlem, with locations in Westchester and across New York City, including Jamaica and Far Rockaway in Queens.
How has your organization navigated the pandemic?
We’ve instituted rigorous safety protocols including daily sanitizing, social distancing, PPE, and following all state and CDC guidelines. Activities at our residential facilities now happen on a staggered schedule. Our pediatricians developed common-sense measures, including twice-daily temperature checks. We purchased tablets and hotspots to keep kids connected to family. We take great care to address their anxieties and maintain their sense of normalcy as much as possible. This is particularly important because they have already experienced the trauma of being separated from their families. In cases where family contact was essential, we provided for-hire vehicles to facilitate safe visits.
How are you now serving your constituents/clients/program participants?
We’re providing all the services we used to, but we have had to get creative. Once safety was addressed, we moved from remote to in-person visits, because children need the love and touch of the people who care about them. Our staff and families are fully equipped with PPE. Our foster families became home-school teachers and recreation experts overnight, which is not easy to do with teens. They are strong and resilient, but many need help purchasing school supplies, food, etc. We want the families to know that we are always there for them.
How are you balancing the needs of your clients with the level of risk to your employees?
Our employees who can’t work from home continue to report-in every day. They show endless dedication to the young people they care for, despite the risks. At the start of the pandemic and through the peak months of COVID, they had to turn on a dime and implement safety protocols that require a whole new level of attention and effort, on top of the work they do every day. In recognition of their dedication and the risks they face, we instituted a 25% pay increase for all 800 frontline staff that began on March 15th and ended June 26th.
What types of support do you most need now?
We’re looking for foster parents and mentors, because every child deserves a home, love and a family, and some need adults who are willing to engage them meaningfully. Some families need goods and supplies to help get them through the pandemic. And we are worried about families who lost employment and now face risk of eviction. One of the many things we do to support families is pay their rent when they can’t. People can learn more about all of these programs and how to contribute on our website.
What programs/services have you had to cut or scale back on? (and/or) Are there open positions now and if so, which ones/what types?
We have many open positions in social services, direct care, administration and numerous other categories, all of which can be found on our website.
What do you think the future holds for your sector as a result of the pandemic?
We did the best we could to serve throughout the pandemic. We learned that remote technology can be less intrusive to families and we should use it more often. However, poverty and race are the drivers in our sector. The vast majority of children separated from their families are Black, brown and poor. We need to do more to reduce needless separation, to support our families and to give them the same things that we want for our own children. They need respect, dignity, a good education, opportunity for success and a way out of segregation.
Learn more about The Children’s Village at childrensvillage.org.
