As our local community joins the rest of the globe in navigating the coronavirus pandemic, we wanted to update our valued partners about actions that the Community Foundation of Howard County is taking to operate with intention.
Our hearts, hands, and minds are engaged in safeguarding the wellbeing of our staff and helping our community weather this public health crisis.
We are working proactively to…
Protect the health and safety of our staff. The CFHoCo office will be closed to the public, effective Friday, March 13, 2020 through the end of the month as we evaluate the ever-changing situation. While our physical space will be closed, our full team of professionals will continue to operate remotely in an effort to practice safe social distancing as recommended by public health officials.
What does this mean?
- You can continue to reach our team members via their office phone and email
- We will continue to process contributions to funds and grant requests
- Previously scheduled live meetings will be rescheduled as video or telephone conferences
- We have decided to postpone our 38th annual Spring Party, scheduled for Thursday, May 28, to a future date to be determined later
If you have any questions about our business operations during this time, please contact Jay Vidyarthi, Operations Manager.
Responsibly steward the charitable assets we manage. In this time of market volatility, we are fortunate to have a very active and experienced investment committee and a top-ranked investment consultant (Brown Advisors) paying careful attention to the market and our investments. As a 50-year-old organization, we are no stranger to market volatility. We have responsible mitigation strategies in place and will continue to monitor our investments closely.
Fulfill our mission as a community foundation. We exist to serve our community, especially in times of critical need. We will continue to pay close attention to needs related to the pandemic as they develop in Howard County, particularly in the populations most vulnerable to the coronavirus and in historically underserved communities.
We are painfully, urgently aware that this pandemic threatens to deepen the inequities we work every day to address. Now more than ever, we are driven to create a community where the wellbeing of our loved ones and neighbors is never determined by whose job provides sick leave, who lives in a well-equipped nursing home, or whose income allows them to stock up on extra medications and provisions.
As we progress through this health care emergency, we’ll collaborate with other funders and will develop a fair and well-managed process to support the nonprofit sector which delivers front line services to the community. As our community did through the 2016 and 2018 Ellicott City flood relief efforts, you can make donations to the Community Foundation of Howard County’s “Howard County Community Relief Fund.” Click here to donate.
If you have a donor advised fund with the Community Foundation of Howard County, please go to your Donor Central login here to make a grant to that fund. You can also send a check payable to the Community Foundation of Howard County at 10440 Little Patuxent Parkway, Suite 230, Columbia, MD 21044 referencing the “Howard County Community Relief Fund” on the memo line. You can also call us 410-730-7840 for additional information.
We are deeply grateful for your partnership in this work and wish you good health.
Sincerely,
Community Foundation of Howard County Team