A Schreiber update from James DeBord

Schreiber carries on 10 weeks into the COVID-19 pandemic

It’s hard to believe it’s been 10 weeks since Schreiber faced the most challenging period in our 84-year history. Thanks to so many of you, our generous supporters, we have been able to weather this difficult phase of an unprecedented public health crisis.

Here’s where we stand as of the first week of June.

The good news

Beginning telehealth services in April allowed us to bring in some revenue from therapy programs in April and May. While providing those services helped, we could only treat a fraction of the kiddos we would normally see.

In-person visits resumed in May, and those have helped, too. Again, though, because of social distancing and the need to thoroughly clean and sterilize surfaces and equipment between every individual session, we will only be able to see two kids per department per hour. Normally, we would see 10-15 kids per hour in the center, depending on the time of day.

We were able to receive Paycheck Protection Program funds that we will use to pay all of our staff for 2.5 months, which takes us into July (the clock on this began ticking when we received the funds in early May).**

** In early June, Congress was set to pass a reform measure that would modify the terms of the program to help small businesses.

We have raised more than $500,000 since mid-March. That includes more than $100,000 from our Phonathon, a record for us, and close to $30,000 from the online version of our Gala auction. The Clark Associates Charitable Foundation also made their expected donation of Derby Day proceeds, even though the foundation’s annual fundraising event was canceled. It was the latest example of the way this community responds when we put out a call for help.

Circle of Friends Academy will re-open June 8, allowing us to resume our Keystone Stars 4 Stars-level child care services.

All of our usual summer camps were postponed, but we will offer an alternative version of summer fun, a Virtual Camp Schreiber that will run four days a week for seven weeks starting June 22.

We kept furloughs to a minimum and have plans in place to bring all staff back by June 30.

Now, the tougher news

The outlook beyond July and August remains uncertain and filled with more challenges.

We don’t know yet what preschool services will look like and what limitations we will have when the traditional school calendar starts in September.

We don’t know how long insurance will continue to pay for telehealth services. That was a temporary adjustment the insurers made at the start of the pandemic.

The number of kids we’re able to see right now will not support our current level of full staffing. Even as we bring more staff back this month, we will still have to limit the number of kids we see each hour in each department.

In-person fundraising remains uncertain, and we are making changes to our fundraising events as we speak, starting with our Rubber Duckie Race. Watch for a big announcement about that coming June 15.

So that’s where we are. Like so many other for-profit businesses and nonprofit organizations, we have a difficult path ahead of us. I wanted all of you to know that all of us here at Schreiber, from the management team and the board to every one of our dedicated employees, will do everything possible to make sure Schreiber will be here for many more years so that we can continue the work Edna Schreiber started in 1936.