Update on City Year’s Response to COVID-19

City Year Community,

I want to provide an update on our response to COVID-19, as this unprecedented and challenging situation continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Our hearts are with our students, families, school communities, AmeriCorps members, staff and partners across the country as we work collectively to get through this, together.

City Year’s goal during this time remains unchanged: we seek to act with care for each other while making decisions that allow us to prioritize the safety and well-being of our people and our communities. We continue to work closely with local leadership teams across our 29 sites and in collaboration with our school and district partners, adhering to guidance by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and local health departments. We will provide updates to our guidance and policies as we receive new information.

School closures

As of March 17, every City Year partner school has been closed, though the length of closures varies by school and district. We are working with our partners to understand how we can safely support and respond to local needs.

Local operations

AmeriCorps members who are unable to serve in school during a closure will continue to receive their stipend, health benefits, AmeriCorps childcare benefits and continued educational loan deferral. We are offering increased supports, benefits and flexibility, including virtual options for learning and development, along with ways to stay connected to one other. Our local executive directors are working with local stakeholders to provide additional support to our AmeriCorps members at this time.

City Year staff are encouraged to work remotely. If essential jobs or roles are required to maintain service operations, City Year offices are enacting social distancing measures to limit close contact. City Year has also revised policies to allow more flexibility for caregivers working from home and to provide an additional 14 days of available time off to encourage our staff to take care of themselves and anyone in their care during this time.

Travel & events

Based on new guidelines from the White House which include a recommendation to avoid social gatherings in groups of more than 10 people, all City Year in person events for the next eight weeks are cancelled or being conducted virtually. City Year has suspended air travel requirements for all staff and AmeriCorps members for the foreseeable future. In addition, City Year has advised staff and AmeriCorps members to postpone non-essential business travel and to avoid any non-essential in-person gatherings that involve air, bus or rail travel.

I’m so thankful to you, our community, for your outreach and your continued support of City Year of our students and schools during this time. If you have any questions about City Year’s response plans for COVID-19, please feel free to contact us.

In service,

Jim Balfanz
CEO

Previous COVID-19 Messages

• Update on City Year’s Response to COVID-19: March 12, 2020