Rich in Spirit: Family, Faith and the Little Sisters of the Poor

Development Director Debbie Strengari and Sister Cecilia join us from Little Sisters of the Poor in Newark to discuss providing community-centric, residential care for the elderly poor.  Little Sisters of the Poor received a $40,000 grant from the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund to help fund the PPE, cleaning equipment, and staff needed to control the spread of the COVID-19 virus and care for residents of the Newark facility. The Little Sisters were the first nursing home in the state to experience deaths from the virus. Since those difficult early weeks of the outbreak, they've received support through a partnership with Christiana Care, and have been able to establish new protective measures, including frequent testing, to keep their residents healthy. Now faced with the reality of life in lockdown, the Little Sisters and their residents are using new technology, as well as socially-distanced activities, to stay connected with one another and their families outside the facility.   We also talk with Sheila Bravo, president & CEO of the Delaware Alliance for Nonprofit Advancement (DANA), and one of the DCF's key partners in establishing the Strategic Response Fund.  All six episodes in this second season of Building Opportunity will feature stories about how the Delaware COVID-19 Strategic Response Fund has helped nonprofits meet the needs of our community during this crisis. DCF President & CEO Stuart Comstock-Gay is our host.  You can listen and subscribe to the show on Apple, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Find all podcast episodes at delcf.org/podcast.