Our Response to COVID-19
When the county was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic in early March 2020 and necessitated the sudden closure of schools and an end to in-person gatherings, the Inner City-Inner Child team recognized immediately that we would need to find a new way to reach the students, teachers, and families we serve.
In April, we launched our pandemic response program: Art Apart. Through Art Apart, we began offering virtual learning opportunities, including:
Live instruction, music, and movement classes for children taught by teaching artists and available via Zoom;
Professional development workshops for teachers certified by DC’s Office of the State Superintendent of Education (so educators earn continuing education credits) and available through Zoom and Google Hangouts; and
An online library of over 70 videos that demonstrate how to turn a book into an arts-based experience, promote students’ cognitive development, and prepare students, teachers, and parents for their eventual transition back to the classroom.
Our team collected and distributed backpacks full of books and art materials to children in Wards 7 and 8 so they would have the materials needed to fully engage with our online arts-based literacy learning. We also partnered with other community organizations to distribute food, household supplies, and diapers to families to ensure their basic needs were met.
ICIC Pandemic Response by the Numbers
Despite the challenges that upended the in-person programming we have offered since our inception, during the pandemic we served or provided:
How you can help us with our mission:
With continued support from our generous private, corporate, and individual donors, we will continues to adapt, expand, and build programs that meet the needs of our community. We are dedicated to positively impacting early learners, families, and educators with our vibrant work, and we look forward to seeing what we can achieve with the partnership of donors like you.
Your support will help us reach more early learners during these extraordinary circumstances.
$50 puts an Inspired Child backpack with books + art supplies directly into the hands of a child.
$150 pays for an Inspired Child teaching artist to deliver a book-based music and movement workshop.
$250 pays for Inspired Child and its teaching artists to create and distribute a new video to child care centers and to students learning from home.