Dear Friend and Supporter,
We are living in tumultuous times. With the global coronavirus pandemic and the changing economy, there is a great deal that is out of our control. The senseless killing of George Floyd in the streets of our hometown of Minneapolis has rightfully turned the attention of the world to the daily, systemic injustices experienced by people of color. We must continue to work for equity in every sphere, including access to high-quality health care.
We don’t know how and when the present crises will pass. But at Children’s HeartLink we remain committed to our mission, to saving and improving the lives of children who need and deserve medical care. We are grateful to every one of you for your concern and support, which is more important now than ever. No matter what is happening in the world, children with congenital heart disease are being born, and they need high-quality care. Read our new story The Girl Who Waited 12 Years for Her Heart to Be Repaired
Like organizations everywhere, at Children’s HeartLink we’ve made many changes to the way we work during this time of health risks and travel restrictions due to COVID-19, and its resulting impact on the economy.
- Like many small organizations, we have been impacted by the sudden economic downturn and have had to reduce our expenses, including staff.
- We received a small business loan (PPP) that was made available in response to the economic fall-out from the coronavirus.
- We’ve been collaborating with our grant funders, and we are grateful that they have given us some flexibility to redirect funding from grant activities to supporting the organization as needed to sustain our mission and impact.
- Thanks to some recent corporate and family foundation grants and generous individual gifts, we anticipate ending our fiscal year on June 30th close to a balanced budget. We’re relieved and happy to report this, and grateful to find ourselves in this position at a time like this, thanks to our committed supporters! We also know that the months ahead will continue to present fundraising challenges.
- We’re engaging medical volunteers as they are available, to participate in remote training with our partners around the world.
- We’re regularly providing our partners with timely resources specific to COVID-19 and congenital heart disease, to help them manage their patients and teams during these unprecedented times. Read Inside Our Partner Hospitals During the COVID-19 Pandemic
- We’re evaluating and reimagining our training model for the future, which will be a hybrid of remote technology used in combination with in-person training. This will provide us with a more sustainable program model and will strengthen the impact of our training when travel restrictions are lifted and after this pandemic passes.
Children’s HeartLink has endured many challenges in its 51 years, and it met those challenges time and again, thanks to visionary leadership, dedicated volunteers and partners, and generous and committed donors. Together, we will meet the challenges of this moment and continue our vital work. Children and families around the world are depending on us.
With gratitude,
Jackie Boucher
President