Coronavirus response
Looking for the online vaccine scheduling page? It’s right here → Schedule your vaccine appointment online. WV Residents only.
Can you help your neighbors in need?
If you are able, please make a gift to the MOV COVID-19 Community Response & Recovery Fund: Donate Now online or text MOVResponse to 40403.
Your generosity will help families and people in need access critical information and services like food, shelter, and more through our United Way network.
Community Resources during the Coronavirus Crisis
For help contacting regional banks, addiction and recovery online solutions, utility information, unemployment and small business resources, or other Coronavirus resources, please call 2-1-1 or visit www.wv211.org for more information.
Previous Updates
Thursday, March 19
The United Way alliance of the MOV is so proud of the amazing efforts our funded agencies and community partners are taking as we all face the COVID-19 crisis. Non-profit organizations across our region have mobilized themselves quickly to assess the immediate needs and begin to address the concerns facing the families in our community. Our nonprofits will continue to play a critical role as we step to control the outbreak and deal with the layers and months of ramifications. It is going to require the efforts of an entire community to navigate this crisis and ensure the health and strength of our community.
Unexpected needs are always a challenge for the non-profit system. The magnitude of this situation will leave many of our organizations feeling both depleted and exhausted. If you feel inclined to give directly to an organization in our community, then this is the time to do that! If you know that you need to be a part of making the difference, we need and are unsure how to do that in the most impactful and transparent way- that’s where we can help! Through two generous donor gifts we have been able to establish the MOV COVID-19 Community Response & Recovery Fund. We have added our own impact funds to that cause as well. We will be monitoring and assessing the unmet needs in the community and mobilizing collaborative resources to meet those needs.
We know this a marathon crisis and so we recognize that resources must be deployed in a strategic and sustainable manner.
We are proud to be the conduit for impact in this community and we are humbled that we will be able to connect those in crisis to the resources needed. Both individuals and businesses are able and encouraged to utilize this fund as a mechanism to deliver immediate relief to the members of our community who need it most.
The MOV COVID-19 Community Response & Recovery Fund will provide discretionary support to agencies who are carrying the weight of the crisis as well as those groups and individuals who are falling through the gaps of other services during this time of uncertainty.
Together we CAN make a difference. By Living United we will traverse this challenging time and carry one another to brighter days.
Make a gift to the MOV COVID-19 Community Response & Recovery Fund. Your generosity will help families and people in need access critical information and services like food, shelter, and more through our United Way network.
Update: Monday, March 16
United Way Friends & Partners,
As we all face a very uncertain and unprecedented time, I want you to know that your United Way is ready to help lead the necessary efforts that will help our community navigate this unknown. We have a full business continuity plan in place to maintain all critical community services, including 211, service even if remote work becomes necessary at some point. Our team has been working for two weeks to ensure that evolving services/hours/temporary services, etc. are all being captured and ready to share with our community.
We are maintaining ongoing contact with local agencies who deliver critical services: food pantries, feeding programs, children’s programming, senior services, etc. We want to ensure that we have up to the minute information about modified hours/services. We are making ourselves aware of their contingency plans (and in some cases encouraging and assisting them to develop those if they have not to this point.) We are collecting temporary services and adding those to the 211 database. Our entire team has been pulled from our normal duties and responsibilities and we are all working, nearly around the clock, in information & referral efforts. We are collecting, curating and disseminating information in real time that is critical to our community. We will continue with these same efforts until all needs are met and the crisis is passed.
We are hosting community conversations and maintaining ongoing contact with local food pantries and feeding programs. Since many of these volunteers are in a high-risk demographic, we know that they will be among the first programs to close or severely limit hours. We also know that with school closings, work disruptions etc. that these programs will be more critical than ever. We are already working with our Feeding America partners as well as local partners to create plans for emergency food distribution as that becomes necessary.
We are participating in conversations on both the state and national level. We are staying involved in dialogues that will help to ensure that best practice and timely information flows to our community.
The 211 system nationwide has onboarding mechanisms that are helping to generate data capturing and tracking to see which communities are getting CO-VID 19 resource requests and what those look like. On the tail end of this, we will have extremely relevant information to share with local officials and stakeholders regarding community needs/response patterns
You can help us with these efforts by sharing the 211 resource through your own channels. You will see social media posts on our pages; it would be great if you could to help push out that information in the community. We will continue to work with local media to be sure that our community is utilizing 211 as a resource link.
You can help us in both of the following ways:
(1) encourage agencies/programs that you may be involved with to provide us with ongoing updates and
(2) encourage the community to look to 211 for those resources. It will only become more critical as this continues to develop. Updates and modifications will continue on the site around the clock until it is no longer a need.
Many of you have asked about volunteer needs. At this point we are still monitoring and determining service gaps. As the need arises for healthy manpower, and it will, we will be reaching out to the community through our website and our social media channels. Stay connected!
Beginning today we have closed our office to walk-in traffic. We continue to be on location and fully functional. Should the situation necessitate, we are completely prepared to manage operations remotely guaranteeing that there is no service disruption for the critical information and referral process. I will continue to monitor the situation closely and if the need arises for our team to work remotely, then we are ready to do that.
THIS IS WHAT WE DO. This is an opportunity for us to once again demonstrate to the community that United Way First is not a marketing spin, it is truly the way we live out our mission and vision! If you need to reach me, email is the best avenue at this point. We are responding in triage mode so please understand that response times are not typical for us right now. Your patience is truly appreciated.
If you need us, please reach out!
Stay healthy friends!!