The nonprofit has an opportunity to tell the story of how the organization adapted to tremendous external changes in the last year.
The last year was unprecedented in the changes, and the challenges, experienced by Rivers of Recovery. In the early days of COVID-19, we were forced to cancel all trips and fundraising events, as these were conducted entirely in person previously. We were able to secure a PPP loan to maintain our current staffing levels.
At the same time, combat veterans were more likely to experience complications to their recovery as the isolation and uncertainty of the pandemic exasperated the mental health issues so prevalent in these populations. As a result, we pivoted to direct one-on-one support between our experienced veteran volunteers and our participant communities. These included virtual events and direct communication via phone, text and video chat, as well as outreach efforts via social media.
We also moved all fundraising events to online events whenever possible. The biggest change was to our annual auction, which was traditionally held in D.C. We were able to secure support from a major donor to develop an online auction for both 2020 and 2021, which proved to be successful. The biggest advantage to the change in format was that supporters from other parts of the country were able to participate online, in addition to our donors in the D.C. area. While fundraising continues to be challenging, this effort directly impacted our ability to return to hosting trips as soon as possible. It was particularly important because we also saw a surge of interest in our programs from combat veterans as they looked for more resources to help with their recovery during this time.
In 2021, we were able to host trips in every one of our major locations: California, Wisconsin, Arkansas, and Connecticut. We were also able to add trips in a new location, New York, as well as additional womens-only trips in Wisconsin.