Click above to view the video created in Fall 2021.
our commitment continues.
In mid-March 2020, the Ecuadorian government mandated that we close our doors to in-person programming until further notice due to the COVID-19 outbreak. There was a country-wide lockdown for more than 3 months. Many people, including 80% of our families, lost their jobs and are continuing to struggle to support their families financially.
Thanks to our local and international partnerships and generous donors, we have not only been able to accompany and serve our community through this extremely difficult time, but also help support our neighbors throughout Quito.
Food Security
It all begins with an idea.
In usual times, we provide our members with 3 meals a day, 5 days a week, in addition to the olla solidaria, or community potluck lunch prepared by and served to our families on Saturdays. However, because of the COVID-19 pandemic and safety precautions, our families have not been able to join us in person.
At the start of the country-wide quarantine, our dedicated team was prepared to do what it would take to guarantee that, even though they were on lock down, our members received nutritious and plentiful food for their families. Every two weeks, our families would make their way to the Center to pick up their provision kits - and although it was just for a few minutes, our team was grateful to check-in and make sure our members were doing alright despite the severe & frightening circumstances.
Through local and international connections and support, we were able to not only provide food for our “Family of Families,” but also other communities throughout Quito that were experiencing grave situations of vulnerability. Over the course of a year, we have served more than 100,000 people!
COVID-19 + The Economy
According to the World Bank, the unemployment rate in Ecuador before the pandemic hit was close to 4% (December 2019). However, in 2020, the country’s data drastically increased to an employment rate of more than 6%.
In an August 2020 article shared by The Joint Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Fund, “in Ecuador, between the months of May and June 2020, the official national unemployment rate increased to 13.3% , with the effect of the pandemic being stronger in women (15.15%) than men (11.6%).”
It is extremely important to note that these employment rates do not include those who work in the informal job market, such as street vendors, contracted domestic help, and many other professions in which our community participates. Among many other challenges posed by the pandemic, including quarantine and decreased access to public transportation, the informal job market does not allow for workers to access benefits such as social security, paid time off, sick and parental leaves, etc.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, almost 80% of our community was left without a job. Over the past 6 months, as Ecuador has slowly returned to a semblance of normalcy, almost 1/2 of the unemployed Center members have regained some sort of employment.