The year 2020 just won’t quit. Once again, schools are shutting down in Marion County and switching to e-learning, leaving parents scrambling. AYS believes that parents should never have to choose between their job and their family, so we’re opening four Liftoff e-learning sites that will serve as many as 400 families in Marion County. Even when every other window is dark, AYS keeps the lights on, maintaining its dedication to taking families further. Our commitment to Hoosiers is too strong to give up now.
We know families are struggling financially and emotionally. They’ve weathered this storm once, but they might not be ready to weather it again. For kids, grades are slipping as they deal with the stress of e-learning. Some parents are recovering from being out of work last spring. With only 5-10% of kids living in a home with a stay-at-home mom or dad, many need a safe and enriching place to go that supports their learning so their parents can focus on providing for the family, and AYS provides that. We successfully navigated this e-learning environment this past spring, so we’ve already proven we’re up to the task.
The truth is, e-learning support isn’t cheap. Offering full day, five-day-a-week care that includes academic enrichment, social-emotional learning, and COVID-19 safety precautions is costly for us, but we don’t want it to be costly for our families. Thanks to the generous support of the United Way of Central Indiana and The Mind Trust, AYS will be providing 95 Liftoff spots at no cost to parents, but we need your help, too. Your gift to the Ellen Clippinger Fund will allow us to offer more discounts to more families. Your support will go directly to providing a family with much-needed e-learning support. It might just keep a mom from quitting her career to stay home with her kids, or keep a child from failing a grade because of the challenges of virtual learning. Thanks to the CARES Act, you can now deduct more of your charitable gifts. Ask your tax advisor for guidance.
Our 2019-2020 fiscal year was unlike any other, and although it certainly threw us more curveballs than we have ever seen before, one thing remained constant throughout the year – AYS continued adapting and improving its services to provide safe and trusted support for Hoosier families when they needed it the most. For a recap of our year of adaptation and innovation, check out our FY20 Impact Report.
We appreciate all of the support we’ve received so far, and we’re grateful to have you in our AYS family. As we all know, it takes a village. Thanks for a being part of our village.
Warm Regards,
Chrystal Struben
President and CEO
