The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year
From March 2020 to March 2022 Gilda’s Club Middle Tennessee innovated and redesigned the way we deliver cancer support three completely new ways as we lived, learned, and adapted to the pandemic’s impact on people with cancer. With the first re-design we made an immediate shift to virtual programming, including our Support Groups, Intake and Assessments, Healthy Lifestyle Classes (Yoga, Pilates, Tai Chi, Guided Meditation, Nutritional Counseling and Cooking Classes) Resource and Referrals, and Expressive Arts (Drawing, Quilting, and Calligraphy). This pivot required a new system for onboarding people with cancer, training clinical Support Group leaders about tele-mental health and Zoom technology for psychosocial support, and training volunteers and participants to use Zoom. After 18 months of all virtual programs, we opened our doors by invitation only to groups and individuals by appointment (to manage the number in our clubhouse), and finally as we learned Covid rates would rise and fall with each new variant, we established a third strategy bolstered by a Frist Foundation Grant for teleconferencing technology installed in seven of our program spaces. Our doors would remain open, all groups and activities would be offered in-person, virtually, or a hybrid of both. Members choose what is best for them according to their treatment and health status. The all-Virtual program was advertised with a weekly emailed calendar, the invitation only on-site programs involved personalized communication, and finally the here-to-stay combination method of virtual, in-person, and hybrid offerings requires a monthly printed calendar along with monthly email updates.