At All-Options, we have been reflecting on the impact of the still-present pandemic that threw a wrench into all our lives two years ago. Our Center Manager Jess Marchbank shares her reflections on these transformative changes:
Like so many of you, I have been spending the last couple of months reminiscing about our lives in early March 2020, and I’ve been struck by our collective perceptions of the start of the pandemic. In those first few weeks, many of us thought that turning everything in our personal and work lives upside down was going to be a temporary thing—just for a little while, we said.
Before the pandemic, our All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center was open to the public for 4 days a week. People walked in and received diapers, peer counseling, or abortion funding—maybe all three. We met them with a smile and open-hearted, judgment-free support, no matter their reason for coming in.
Then the pandemic hit the US, and everything turned upside down. When we made the call to close the Center to the public, I thought we might be overreacting. Then I thought it was going to be “just for a few weeks,” until things blew over. I remember saying, “I’d rather be overly cautious than put clients at risk, and we can figure out a way to still serve people until this all settles.” So we put up a temporary closing sign on our door. I laminated it, even though it felt like overkill at the time.
It was very important to us that we not have any interruption in services, so we scrambled to figure out how to go from being a walk-in resource hub to a contact-free provider of supplies and services. We spent the next few days moving an entire diaper distribution operation to accommodate working from home, communicating with clients via text, and distributing supplies in as safe a way as possible for all involved.
Those first few weeks were a blur to me while I also navigated a divorce, a move, and my own young children home from school. I set up a “command center” on the top of a decommissioned changing table: sticky notes, trash bags for holding diapers, masks, and hand sanitizer. Out of an abundance of caution, we closed our volunteer program, and our internship program was on pause, so it was just me for most of 2020. We also saw an increased community need as well as an outpouring of community support, and made the decision to get rid of our waiting list for diapers, offering supplies to anyone who needed them on a first-come, first-served basis.
My days were spent reconfiguring our database, texting with clients, scrambling to secure diapers from new sources, and writing grants. Eventually, we refined our systems. No more changing-table and garbage bags for diapers. Now the entire front of the Center is dedicated to storage and organization, and we have improved systems that help us provide more supplies and support to clients than ever before.
Before the pandemic, we distributed about 6,500 diapers per month to local families. By January 2022, we more than doubled that, giving over 14,000 diapers in one month. We now offer delivery for those who can’t come to our weekly, contact-free distribution days. Once a month, we offer a bonus diaper distribution in another area of Bloomington. Through the generosity of other community organizations and individuals, we can offer hand-knitted scarves and hats, coloring books for kids, and basic hygiene items like toothpaste and deodorant. Although they can no longer come inside the building, clients report that they feel even more supported in their parenting needs.
Looking back, I’m proud, overwhelmed, and a little exhausted when I think about where we started in 2015, where we pivoted in 2020, and where we are now. What an internal revolution: from sticky notes on trash bags, to printed order forms on IKEA bags and a highly efficient diaper distribution center. But what is most apparent, looking back, is that we kept the most important things in mind: centering people and their needs. Whether we call them clients, or families, or parents—we have always centered the person seeking our services.
Today, just like two years ago when clients could walk in our front door, people who reach out to us are still met with open-hearted, judgment-free support. Whether they are seeking a listening ear, tangible support in the form of diapers, tampons, abortion funding, or all of the above, our clients can trust that we will hear them, and that we will meet them where they are. The methods may have changed, but we are still doing the same work—maybe better than ever.
— Jess Marchbank is the Center Manager of All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center.