With COVID-19 affecting every aspect of our individual lives and our community, I wanted to share an update on HEA’s work. This week, we have made the decision to have all of our employees work remotely to protect their health and well-being. Our offices in Goshen and in Elkhart are now closed for the foreseeable future. We are leveraging technology to do our work and all of our staff continue to be accessible. We will continue to monitor the situation and make the best decisions we can to protect the health of our employees, the people we serve, and our community partners.

Even though our offices are closed — and our in-person convenings are not possible — we are actively finding ways to keep people connected as we continue to find ways to support “innovation through collaboration” during this time. HEA has used Zoom technology extensively over the past several years, and we are leveraging this tool (and others) to continue to bring people together.

In terms of HEA’s countywide initiatives, please watch for future updates as we look for virtual ways to continue to offer support to parents through Triple P — Positive Parenting Program, stay connected with our ECoSistema music students, support schools and employers as we continue to build the CareerWise Elkhart County apprenticeship program, continue to work with our adult learners to advance their education, and support our school counselors in the Comprehensive Counseling Collaborative of Elkhart County initiative. We believe that collaboration is as important as ever!

Our thoughts are with all those in our community and across the world who have been affected by this pandemic. We are so grateful for the many organizations in our community that are working to support children and families during this time.

We will be in contact in the weeks ahead as we find new ways forward. We also invite your communication with any of us at HEA.

We wish you and your loved ones courage and good health.

Sincerely,

Brian Wiebe, President/CEO of HEA