Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, CHNA 20 has been highlighting the stories of our community partners and their heroic efforts to continue serving their clients despite the many challenges presented by the pandemic. As an organization that strives to make meaningful connections between agencies to improve public health outcomes in the long term, we feel it’s vitally important for us to take some time to step back and examine the lessons that have been learned during this time. What has worked well? What surprising insights have agencies had due to changing their models? What do community partners want to take forward with them into a “new normal” that will hopefully change public health for the better?
Caring for the Community during COVID-19: Quincy Community Action Programs (QCAP)
“It was so wonderful to hear a friendly voice after our ordeal. And without a delivery, we didn’t know how we were going to get food.”
Fred* and his brother George* share a home in Weymouth and, in their late seventies, are both in frail health. For the past few years, they’ve faithfully visited Quincy Community Action Program’s (QCAP) Southwest Community Food Center. But in 2019, both brothers fell ill and were hospitalized. The toll on their health left them vulnerable during the pandemic. Both Fred and George contracted COVID-19. Fortunately, their friends at QCAP were able to help as the brothers recovered from their long illness.