The CRIS Response to COVID-19

Many people have lost jobs or been furloughed as a result of the impact of COVID-19. We continue to work to place clients in jobs, but case managers are also getting high numbers of requests from current and past clients for help with navigating unemployment applications. In just one month of remote work, our team helped submit over 70 applications!

Please contact Tara at tdhungana@cris-ohio.org with questions.

To date, CRIS has helped connect people with over $80,000 in emergency assistance, covering essential rent, utility bills, and medical expenses.

Contribute to CRIS’ Emergency Needs Fund:

Many CRIS volunteers typically work with our clients face-to-face and even in their homes. As we have implemented social distancing precautions, many volunteers have gotten creative! Some in-home conversation partners are using phone calls or video chats to keep practicing English with clients, while others have introduced their partners to online language learning resources and even Youtube videos.

Some CRIS volunteers have gone particularly above and beyond their normal roles during these times. One volunteer fixed up an old computer that he had laying around and gave it to the family that he works with to help the children do their homework. Another volunteer has been working with her client’s family to help set up free internet access at their home!

As people look for new jobs and unemployment assistance, food is an immediate need. CRIS staff have been checking in and helping connect people to community resources. In the case of senior clients, staff members have been making home deliveries to make sure that at-risk individuals are not unnecessarily exposed.

If you are interested in helping out with this and other urgent needs, you can donate to the Emergency Needs Fund or mail grocery gift cards to our office.

We have suspended in-person meetings and walk-in hours, but our work with the immigration and justice systems continue. Our attorneys and advocates have found creative ways to stay in touch with their clients, scanning documents to each other, submitting applications remotely, and making sure that closures and delays are not depriving anyone of their rights.

It is part of our duty to help keep the local community informed. In addition to regular updates on social media and collaborating on locally-produced information campaigns, language resources are being compiled on our website here. We are also collaborating with local partners, including school systems, FCDJFS, food banks, and healthcare providers, to make sure that accurate information about resources and current events is disseminated in a timely and effective manner.