I’m losing my job due to COVID-19

But right now focusing on #blacklivesmatter is more important

Protestors take a stand during a Black Lives Matter rally in Bend, OR (June 6, 2020) | CC BY-SA 4.0 | own work

One week ago I officially found out that I’m about to lose my job.
And after five years with the same company, I understand that nonprofit financing is finicky business —for our first four years we were completely grant funded, but our board (and just good business sense) had us searching for a secondary revenue stream in 2018. The next year, we piloted a new revenue generating program and have managed to bring in more than $265,000 in the first 16 months. The next step was to figure out how to get costs down and revenue up. But then 2020 came, and COVID-19 happened, and our grants are now being cut and our sales pipeline is slowing down.

So in the middle of an economic recession, I’m losing my income.

And in the middle of a global health crisis, I’m losing my health insurance.

But also in the middle of a this pandemic, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Ahmaud Arbery were murdered. And right now my personal struggles seem small indeed.

Protestors in Bend, OR (June 2, 2020)| CC BY-SA 4.0 | own work