Until COVID-19, 200 UPO Foster Grandparents were annually serving 6,000 socio-economically disadvantaged children in Washington, DC. Engaged in tutoring, mentoring, social and emotional support and assisting students in learning programs, proven outcomes are improved school readiness and K-12 success. In response to the restraints we have restructured our UPO Foster Grandparents program to become an integral part of the remote classroom.

• We have continued a service delivery model of working one-on-one and in small groups with 600 students in grades PreK-3rd at 7 schools remotely.
• We have 8 additional schools requesting 32 Foster Grandparents to serve in the remote and Care classrooms (CARE stands for “Canvas Academics and Real Engagement” and is an example of our commitment to maximize learning. In these small-group classrooms, students will have supervised care for the school day from a Foster Grandparent and caring adult who is not their teacher. Students will have the benefit of being with their peers at school but will participate in lessons virtually with their teacher on a computer.)
• Our partnership with Reading Partners will provide students with remote learning opportunities.
• 130 Foster Grandparents will participate in ongoing training via email and ZOOM platform on teaching early literacy, reading, math and social and emotional development.
• We are positioning the program to provide various opportunities under the COVID19 safety protocols and beyond.

Your support at his time in support of these new projects in response to the pandemic will certainly be greatly appreciated

You have an opportunity to double your donation in Support UPO’s Foster Grandparents Program!

Please consider taking advantage of GlobalGiving’s 100% Monthly Match. New monthly donations set up will be eligible for a one-time 100% match (up to $200) as long as the new monthly donation remains active for a minimum of four payments.

During the COVID pandemic UPO’s Shelter Hotline has been focusing much more effort on outreach services to address the needs of un-sheltered clients in the streets, encampments and other places. Since people live on the streets at all hours, UPO helps them 24 hours a day. Our team of outreach workers constantly check their health and safety while distributing 150 meals a day, water, blankets, socks, and personal protective equipment (masks/gloves). We have given out 29,250 meals, along with water, comfort items, and rides to the city's most vulnerable — people experiencing homelessness during the past 6 months.

We have been supporting special projects such as transporting clients to cooling centers (during extreme heat), shower sites, moving clients to other low barrier shelters (when shelters close down) and transporting them to medical appointments. Our phone operators/dispatchers obtain hourly count of beds available from all shelters, make referrals to available shelters as well as track turn away of homeless clients (in order to assist DHS/Contract Funder justify the need to more shelter space).   Presently, we are preparing for the upcoming Hyperthermia Season.

We’ve seen a steady increase in the number of younger people on the streets in the last 5 years. The pandemic will accelerate this trend and the aftermath is expected to spark a greater homelessness crisis in DC. UPO is always there for people who need us. We reach out to them and they cherish our help.

Thanks to you and all our supporters, we are responding powerfully to our neighbors’ needs during the pandemic, as we do in each crisis faced by our beloved District. Our frontline Shelter Hotline heroes continue to provide high-quality direct services. We remain intentional about prioritizing the safety of our staff as well as our clients.

The funds you donate help SO much to provide care packages, food, and protective clothing that are SO important to our DC neighbors who are driven to shelters and medical appointments by UPO’s Shelter Hotline team.  Your support of their efforts, working on the front lines daily, means SO much to our team as they bravely face the perils of this vicious virus.

PLEASE HELP UPO HELP the DC HOMELESS NOW!

Until COVID-19, 200 UPO Foster Grandparents were annually serving 6,000 socio-economically disadvantaged children in Washington, DC. Engaged in tutoring, mentoring, social emotional support and assisting students in learning programs, proven outcomes are improved school readiness and K-12 success. DC Title I Public and Public Charter Schools have reopened virtually.  In response, we are restructuring our UPO Foster Grandparents program to become an integral part of the remote classroom. 

Initially, we will continue a service delivery model of working one-on-one and in small groups with 600 students in grades PreK-3rd at 7 schools.  Our 200 senior volunteers are being provided with laptop computers and training. Students at DC Public and Public Charter Schools have been provided with laptop computers. To assist with homework, art projects, math and vocabulary, our students need remote learning supplies. Our challenge is raising the funds to provide all their essential supplies.

Now IS the time. Together, we’ll make your dollars go further:

GlobalGiving’s Little by Little Matching Campaign runs from 09:00:00 ET on Monday, September 14, 2020, to 23:59:59 ET on Friday, September 18, 2020. During the Little by Little campaign, all eligible donations up to $50 will be matched at 50%!

Your generous Support of  UPO's Foster Grandparents Program, to help us meet our project goal of $15,000, will help us raise $7,500, which will ensure that the cost of essential supplies will be fully funded for at least 60 students.