As you read this, we hope you are all healthy!
In our effort to reduce the spread of Covid-19 and support “flattening the curve” of the pandemic through social distancing, we have decided to take the following actions:
- Postpone our Advocates for Adults with Autism Awards event until September 30, 2020.
- Close our physical store, Girl AGain boutique, for the month of March – and perhaps longer.
- Shift our training program to remote coaching.
As a nonprofit that engages face-to-face with our beneficiaries, we are devastated. But we are doing this for the safety of our staff, our customers, our supporters, and our trainees. This pandemic is taking both an emotional toll and a financial toll on all non-profits.
While refurbished American Girl merchandise is not essential to anyone’s health, the revenue generated from our sales is crucial to funding our job skills development program for young women with autism and learning disabilities. Revenue from Girl AGain represents 40% of income for our organization. So, we have taken steps to increase our online sales – details below.
Impact on our training program
At the same time, we are modifying our Yes She Can job skills training program so that our trainees can work from home while being coached remotely through the use of Zoom. Lesli Cattan, our Director of Training Programs, is working with Chandra Russell, our boutique manager, and work skills coaches Jennifer, Laura and Pam, on the processes to implement this.
Our trainees not only benefit from the skills development, but also need to maintain a routine, as well as engage in social interactions. Many of our program participants do not have a rich social network to connect with over the phone or through various social networks. We are concerned about their potential isolation and intend to maintain contact with them during this difficult time.
Before founding Yes She Can, I worked for IBM for 17 years and most of that time I worked from my home office, on conference calls with web-based tools, with colleagues all over the world. We use to say IBM stood for I‘m By Myself. Interestingly, in the past few years, IBM has decided to move more employees into shared offices.
But, our staff are social workers and psychologists, and remote working is not a typical practice when counseling with groups. Our trainees also do not have experience with remote team work. So we are all learning and adjusting and having to be flexible.
I am so impressed with how everyone is coping!
Ways to shop with Girl AGain
Online: Our trainees can add products to our web-based store remotely so we are adding more one-of-a-kind merchandise to our website as fast as we can. Check frequently. Girl AGain Shop online
NEW! Care Packages: You may know an AG fan stuck at home that would love a pick-me-up. We have created several options at two price points (includes shipping) Care Packages
- Bitty Baby package $19.95
- Girls at Sports package $19.95
- Doll hair care and PJs $24.95
- Girls in History package $24.95
We’ll ship twice a week.
Thank you for supporting Yes She Can and our mission.
Your donation to support Yes She Can would be especially appreciated now. Donate
Marjorie Madfis, Founder and President
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