Dear Community Partners and Friends

​

As our country and community face unprecedented times, Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative is focused and prepared to ensure the safety and health of our members, staff, and organization. Although so much is unknown, we can anticipate that COVID-19 will continue to have a significant impact on the families and communities we serve. Now more than ever, our families are more vulnerable when facing everyday challenges that include hunger, homelessness, job insecurity, and limited access to medical and mental health care – all of which we can assume will become even more daunting and destabilizing as a result of the pandemic. FSFSC was founded with an unwavering commitment to uplifting and serving children and families. Today we are more determined than ever. Our dedication to this community remains strong. Here’s how we’re helping:

​

• Families connected to FSFSC continue to be served, our staff is leveraging technology to provide food assistance, case management, and other essential services.

• Our Credible Messengers team has been on location at Anacostia High School, Brooklyn Middle School, and McKinley Technology High School to support the DCPS food service program.

• Our Violence Interruption team has continued to work to ensure the safety of our community by conducting routine visibility checks in priority communities to assess community climate.

• Families who reside in our priority communities are being connected to teletherapy services.

• Congress Heights Senior Wellness Center has moved programming such as Zumba & Tai Chi online.

• Our community engagement team is calling families and members to offer resources, understand their emergency needs, and inform our response.

​

We will continue to work in concert with community partners to guide and support local relief efforts across the ward. As a community, we will prevail, because we know that there is nothing more powerful and resilient than the GREAT WARD 8 COMMUNITY!