Dear Friends,
 I am writing from home today after two weeks of non-stop love in action: from organizing EP's new Community Buddy system for our vulnerable elders & disabled neighbors, to distributing food & supplies to Upper Peninsula neighborhoods like Rosemount, Joseph Floyd Manor and Bridgeview, to coordinating with the Charleston United Covid Response team -- like many of you, we've been working around the clock, and we are bone tired. But we know in our hearts that SERVICE IS JOY.
 Our work has been focused on putting in SYSTEMS so that as we must be more physically distant, we can stay connected. This week, we were active in our communities -- we served over 1,000 vulnerable neighbors with food & supplies, and most important, we looked folks in the eye (at a distance) to explain physical distancing, hand care precautions, cleaning safety tips, and more. We shared the phone number of the neighbor-led response with our friends at Charleston United Covid Response (flier at the end of this email). We collected cell phone numbers for our friends in many neighborhoods and created check-in chains among us all to ensure we are connected and responsive as COVID-19 makes its way through our fair City.
 Angels have stepped up, again and again, to show us the meaning of love -- to help us creatively address challenge after challenge, with our neighbors. To sequester in a private home is also a privilege that folks in service & living in poverty do not always have.
In times like these, we must identify our roles in serving our community and lean into that service, everyday. It may be writing cards to elderly folks, or becoming an EP Community Buddy, or organizing toilet paper and other necessities. Or it may mean donating to help keep our work going. If you are a current donor, consider stepping up in new ways by becoming a weekly or monthly donor. Or make a gift in honor of someone you love and spread the message that SERVICE IS JOY, and it comes in many forms.
You are ALL needed. You know your gifts -- please, share them now and share them safely. Charleston needs them in the coming weeks more than ever.
Always,
Cathryn the Grateful
cathryn@enoughpie.org
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This week, with help from our friends at Charleston Promise Neighborhood, Enough Pie's team started working nearly 30 new volunteers, who call and check on up to 5 elderly buddies several times weekly. Almost 100 vulnerable elders at Joseph Floyd Manor and Brighton Place have been matched with buddies -- these buddies are first and foremost acting as a team for supporting online medical needs, but they also provide a listening ear, a check-in, and often, a long and loving phone conversation to folks who are isolating solo. All volunteers were interviewed by our team and completed training on topics like active listening (thanks to Wave 4 Women Erin Jones), generalized medical advice for symptoms tangential to COVID-19, and the MUSC COVID-19 virtual screening on behalf of a vulnerable neighbor who does not have access to an email address.
 Furthermore, volunteers track their conversations with their buddies in a shared Google Spreadsheet, and separately report any expressed food, supply, or medical needs to our team. This system has already resulted in a successful mass effort to provide a young family raising a 3-4 month old with vitally-needed baby supplies, as well as a handful of volunteers going above and beyond to purchase specific grocery items needed by residents who lack the resources to get these items. As unique requests arise that we cannot as easily address, such as needs for thermometers and even a table and chairs, we are finding that we may have to broaden how we manage to secure these items. If YOU can offer something like this, please EMAIL US at info@enoughpie.org!
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
- Become an EP Community Buddy: You will be assigned up to 5 vulnerable neighbors to call and check-in with regularly (at minimum 2x a week) for the duration of this crisis. If you are willing to step up, please fill out this GOOGLE FORM as the registration process to volunteer. Currently, this program is available for elders at Joseph Floyd Manor and Brighton Place (in West Ashley). With enough new volunteers, we hope to be able to spread the reach of this program to our neighbors at Bridgeview Village. Thank you SO much to our current buddies -- we couldn't do this without YOU!!
- Help us secure supplies: dry goods, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, etc. You can leave these at 1630 Meeting Street on the outside covered patio near the main doors in the marked "EP" box and they will be collected regularly (please make sure to email us if you are dropping off as we are working from home).
- Donate to Enough Pie: we need financial support more than ever to do this work, especially since our annual spring fundraiser - SWEET AS PIE - which raises approximately $10K is no longer able to take place. So, we need more individual support than ever to keep our work going.
- Put Up Fliers In Your Area: at the bottom of this newsletter is the CUCR flier with the local phone number (staffed by volunteer community members like YOU) for a grassroots network of support. Here is the link to the DHEC fliers as well, so please help get the word out.
We will keep sending regular updates on these efforts, but please know we are working around the clock to support our community and we appreciate all the work you are doing too! It takes a village.
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This week Enough Pie distributed food and supplies to our neighbors at Rosemount, Joseph Floyd Manor, Bridgeview and Brighton Place and we want to extend our deepest thanks to all those who made it possible!
Through our Community Buddy System, we learned most Upper Peninsula neighbors needed….you guessed it….toilet paper. After a tip from the Charleston United Covid Response (CUCR) team (click on their flier @ end of newsletter to get involved), Guest House Charleston supplied 15 cases of toilet paper at cost, which EP distributed roll by roll per person to residents of Joseph Floyd Manor, Bridgeview, Rosemount, and Brighton Place. We were thrilled to CONNECT our neighbors to an important resource (since connecting & empowering is our mission), and our friend with a van, Charlie, helped us deliver all the TP across the communities. It was a team effort! EP invested in these supplies, so if you want to help off-set our TP outreach this week, we would deeply appreciate the support.
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On Wednesday, residents of Joseph Floyd Manor got a special treat: fried chicken boxed meals made by the amazing chef & crew at 5Church, their last team effort as everyone was laid off due to the crisis. We were so grateful for this final act of generosity, and the residents LOVED the delicious meal.
In addition, Summer Anderson, co-host extraordinaire of EP's Tales from the Manor (pictured below with co-host Jae Smith of JFM), bought gift cards to Food Lion for every single resident of the Manor (!!!) which were distributed alongside the toilet paper and boxed lunches. Residents were blown away by this tremendous act of generosity and we can rest easy knowing that our neighbors will be able to meet some of their food and supply needs this week thanks to this thoughtful and deeply appropriate donation.
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On Thursday, the Lowcountry Food Bank delivered a shipment of food for the elders at Brighton Place in West Ashley — which is outside our service area but connected to Joseph Floyd Manor, so we helped our friends when they asked. There was a bountiful supply of lettuce and pickles so we were able to further distribute the donations to our neighbors in Joseph Floyd Manor and Bridgeview Village, as well as our friends at the Pink House in West Ashley.
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Vicky Ingalls, EP Board Member & Charleston Promise Neighborhood staff, loads extra pickles from Brighton Place to deliver to the Upper Peninsula.
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Finally, Trina Lyn, one of our managing artists for the Awakening of Vivian Moultrie Park project, sewed over a dozen handmade masks in a matter of hours so our staff and volunteers could have some protection. Her handiwork did not go unnoticed and we appreciate her hard work so we could be safe and share masks with others who are helping in their communities. Here is a pattern shared today -- there are many online now. If this is something YOU can do, please connect with the awesome new FB group: SEW. SOME. GOOD. Like many non-profits, we need masks and gloves to protect our staff and volunteers when we serve our community on-the-ground (less and less as systems are put in place to have communities self-serve with supplies we help coordinate).
It really takes a village, and we are so thankful for the folks out there who help make our work possible. Please stay safe and if feel called, support EP’s work on our DONATE page.
Here’s to CREATIVELY coming together to support ourselves
& our neighbors during this challenging time.
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