Today many of us re-stocked our desks, plugged in our computers, and rolled up our sleeves to start our workday with old and new friends and colleagues. Some of us have never even met – at least not in person. For a few Community Foundation staffers hired since our office closed 455 days ago due to the pandemic, today was a sweet meet-and-greet with team members we’ve only seen via Zoom or Teams video meetings.

Sweet surprises

Even though a few of us have been working on site this past year, “regular workday office hours” won’t happen right away. We’re going to make sure employees are comfortable back in the office and working with each other again before we open the doors to everyone. Many of our friends and stakeholders are looking forward to visiting and seeing our new office renovation. Our building will open to the public July 19. We’re looking forward to welcoming you.

Megan Mulholland and Amy Spreeman once again collaborating in person

As we navigate this new environment, we’re adopting hybrid work schedules, which will look a little different for each of us. As with many other organizations, our team will have the option to work from home or the office based on organization, department and individual needs.  This arrangement gives all of us the flexibility to work where we can have the greatest effectiveness for achieving our own and team goals while fulfilling our Community Foundation’s mission. 

As office COVID-19 safety protocols allow, we’ll be together for staff meetings, board or committee meetings, lean projects, and to be attentive for donors, nonprofit representatives and volunteers when requested or expected.  It’s a pilot program of sorts, to be reviewed after several months. And just as we adapted to working from home, we’ll innovate great ways to triumph in this phase. We’re especially looking forward to enjoying our receptionist Betty Van den Broek’s wonderful homemade treats again in the weeks and months ahead!

Thinking back to March 16 of 2020 (has it been that long?), it wasn’t easy to simply pack up our desks without knowing when we’d be back together again. We had to learn a whole new set of skills: How to navigate kitchen tables and background noises and managing our work life and family life in the same space. How to best meet the needs of our donors, nonprofit partners, volunteers and affiliates who couldn’t just walk through our office doors to see us.

We’d like to take a moment to again thank all of our employees for their hard work, dedication, flexibility and resolve over the past year.

Being together in person again will be good for us, and for our workplace culture. And eventually, for our visitors! See you soon.

Need to reach us? Our team members are here to help. Contact us via our office phone numbers and emails.