COVID Conversations

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Hello and welcome again to COVID Conversations, an introspective of the impact on nonprofits. In today's episode, we'll learn more about the Nevada Diabetes Association, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to have a program or service for anyone affected by diabetes in the communities they serve. The Nevada Diabetes Association serves the entire state of Nevada and parts of California. Let's learn more about how COVID-19 has impacted this organization. Today I'm happy to have a special guest with us and I'll allow her to state her name and role in the organization that she's representing today.

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Hello, my name is Sarah Gleach and I am the Executive Director at the Nevada Diabetes Association.

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And Sarah, how long have you been with the Nevada Diabetes Association?

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I've actually been associated with the Association working here full-time for 14 years, but I was a camper. One of the things that we do at the Association is provide diabetes camps for kids and I started as a camper you know, in my formative years. So it's almost been 25 plus years just with this organization, you know. Oh, wow.

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So would you say serving as a camper is what motivated you to join the organization as an employee?

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You know, absolutely. The premise of what I live on is that somebody did it for me. So I'm gonna do it for somebody else and gonna keep going because it had such a positive impact on my life. And it's one of those jobs where you feel good every day when you go home.

0:01:46
Oh, that's great. Yes, I too, as I shared, was once an employee of a diabetes association, and it is great work. I have been out to the camps, and it's incredible the fact that they're run by mostly volunteers. If you want, I'd like you to provide a quick overview. I know it's Diabetes Association, and I'm familiar with the mission and the incredible work, but just for our listening audience, if you can kind of share a quick overview and your mission and some of the initiatives and programs that you offer.

0:02:19
Absolutely. So the mission over at the Nevada Diabetes Association is to provide a program or service for anybody affected by diabetes here in our community. We are a non-profit that gives everything back to the community. There's nothing that is a national affiliation, so every dollar that's raised goes exactly a dollar out. Our big emphasis that we have here is at the heart of the association started with the diabetes camps for kids. And it has grown to over six different resident camps. We also now have monthly support groups that kind of glue those camps and what they're great learning education and immersion tools together. We provide an emergency medical program to keep people out of the hospital simply for diabetes concerns, things like that. So things such as insulin. And we also do advocacy, education, support, legislation, things like that. So we really want to make sure that we have something to offer anybody to help them through this chronic disease.

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Awesome. And so to what extent has the COVID-19 pandemic impacted your organization's services?

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I feel that COVID-19, the impact has been, it's allowed us to get a little more creative. And I could be the nerd that sits here just because this organization is so, it means so much to me that I dream about what we can do more. So it really was an opportunity to take those, you know, out of the box ideas and put them to work. So what I would say is that there were some in-person events, obviously, that we couldn't do with restrictions. So our in-person events probably went down from one-third to one-half of the population. We usually serve around 14,000 people in the community each year. So what we did, though, is change to a lot more virtual services and just make sure that we are staying in tune impact. And we increased those services by one third to one half. So trying to get a good balance of just switching what the business model looks like so you can keep the impact. Other than your events and programs, has the organization experienced any budget cuts or layoffs or furloughs or anything? We didn't have to furlough anybody. We did just cut the budget, you know, because obviously if I'm not having to pay for a campsite at that point, you know, then we don't have to put that money out there. We did in fact run all of our different programs just in a different way. So we did cut the budget and I think my magic number is gonna be one-third here during this whole, by at least that amount. So I did not personally furlough, but a lot of the people within our industry definitely did. And I think hopefully, you know, established nonprofits know that there's going to be highs and lows. I mean, you just look at the recession of 2008, you know, and what we had to do there. And you have to plan for these things to happen if you want to have sustainability.

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Exactly. Yeah, absolutely. And so as you as your organization continues to manage the impact of the pandemic and how you're planning and you're pivoting. What do you believe your top challenge areas will be or where will you need to pivot more the most as it relates to your camps or other programs or other services? I am interested in like any of your educational initiatives. I'm wondering about your adult programs. If you do have any adult programs and or education programs, how are those being impacted?

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Absolutely. I'll start off with the camps. And most of our camps we do do for kids. Most of them do have type 1 diabetes, but we do have a lot that are type 2 as well. So at the camp programs, I like to tell people that it's honestly just not even 100% for the kids. It's for the staff, the medical trainers. We have an internship program with the local universities that is bar none to anybody else out there. We, I like to call our camps an immersion program for everybody. So the kids get the education that they need, you know, they get to troubleshoot, they get to ask the questions, they get to just see what good behavior is in a group setting. And what the pandemic has done for that in particular is taken away that personal connection that is needed so much for successful chronic disease management. You know, it's seeing what other people are doing, it's seeing what's best for you. And so that has been a huge burden for us and getting these kids back together with, you know, a complication that just makes things a little more extreme. But we do have a plan and we are going back to in-person events here soon. And we did a couple last year too, with, you know, just distancing. So the kids needing that interpersonal communication is bar none. Another thing that the camps do that's great is that for our medical professionals and counselors, we have MDs, we have dieticians, we have interns that come through the program. There's no better education that they will get for diabetes management than being put at a campsite for 144 hours for a week, and really being able to hone in on their craft. Nevada is in a great, it's in a unique situation, I should say, that we don't have a ton of pediatric endocrinologists in our state, but what we do have, they're very close, and they all do Condor Camp, so they get to almost have like a conference just to see are they doing the best practices for our local area. So that's been, yeah, it's been one of the burdens, but it's also one of the, you know, making lemonade out of lemon situations that we're going to do. So in-person camps, I think are vital. I think one year we can get away with doing these virtual programs for the kids and everything. But I think if we continue that, you know, it's going to lose the impact that has been so successful for the years. And I can personally speak to. Then you move on to the adult programs like that. We have a couple different events and one of them that I'm really interested in is called DKA. DKA for people with diabetes usually stands for diabetes ketoacidosis and that's you know that's bad you know it's when your body's shutting down, sugar in the urine stream, all these different things but we flipped the switch and we did it for our young adult population it's called diabetics kind of adulting. And so what we have done with this support group program is we've done it virtually last year, but we just this last weekend had an in-person event. Now, what's great about that is it's when these, when people are not in their continuum of care, but they want to get back and they just don't know how, giving them the tools. So we bring in providers that say, hey, you know what, I'm going to come in a half an hour early that other day. Why don't you come see me? Let's get you back on, you know, a trend. So that has been some of the creative programming that we've done since the pandemic. And then we are able to do a lot more virtual programming, so that helps us increase our adult population. One of the things we've done is a lot of social media live types of posts, and then we're able to archive them and put them on our website so people can go and find these hashtag references if they are wondering about, hey, what is my risk of getting a COVID shot if I have diabetes? You know, what are the things that I would like to be alerted to? What are the statistics saying? Or, you know, is my blood sugar going to change if I do get the shot? You know, what do I do if I'm gaining weight right now, but I can't get in to see my doctor? So we've been able to really have a fast impact on the virtual programming, which I know has helped our adult population out, and they can watch it at their leisure. And that's the biggest thing with adults, you know, it's having time management, especially here in the United States. So that's been a plus where we've been able to shift our focus to help our adult community even more.

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Oh, that's awesome. Well, as we all know, fundraising is critically important to nonprofits. And so as we explore in this podcast, what would be the impact on your organization in this regard, as far as the COVID-19 impact on organizations of fundraising efforts going forward? In general, how do you think fundraising will be impacted for your organization?

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So a couple different things. When 2020 started for our grant season, and the way that we get our income traditionally is through grant funding, contribution income, legacies, and camper fees. And our camper fees are pretty minimal, but that's the bread and butter of usually what the organization runs on. So you start off with COVID, and then, you know, the impact really didn't hit, honestly, until April for us. Funding was still coming in, and usually the first quarter of the year is when the major funding comes in for us. So things were okay, grants were out, and then April hit. And then what I found for our people that normally you know steward us through is that they stopped having their meetings. So foundations are like oh we're not going to meet until X or we don't know what we're going to meet. Yeah, no grant decisions are being made. Yeah, so they held money you know and it wasn't like hey you did anything wrong you haven't been denied we're just holding. Right. So that was a strain to say, well, do I move forward and plan this program? Or how do I modify that? You know, because you don't want to put an organization in the in the red, if it doesn't need to be. So then we came around that whole cycle. And I really thought, okay, 2021, we're going to hit it again. But I do feel that foundations are still not meeting as frequently as they did, let's just say in 2019 to get that done. So I feel that from the contribution and grant portion of that, things are very delayed. And we might skip, who knows, like 11 months, which to me would be a traditional year, in getting funding for something. And I think I'm in good company when it comes to nonprofits like that. Contribution incomes are a little bit different. And so we're not bricks or mortar or food, but we are saving lives. And diabetes management, if you do have the education and you have access, you have the tools, you can be successful, especially. So we have to be able to provide that. But also you have to sell your story to the community. Why is that important? Because some people just can't get food at this point. You know, so depending on what kind of organization you are, you have to shift with the times on that. I think we are doing, you know, doing better now that people are like, okay, it's a little more stable, what have you, or at least they know the way of the, you know, the lay of the land. But we, that was definitely a lull, and I say at least for 12 months.

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Your funding sources then are primarily grants. They're, they're, will that, will that continue funding source or have you started like exploring doing other direct mail campaigns or crowdfunding?

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Yes, everything. This is the time where you start to get really creative. You bring in those committees, you say what are what are those ideas that you wanted to do before and we do things like jail and bail now, like we jail our board members and make them like get out. So different things that we haven't done in the past, you know, obviously special events haven't been as frequent. You know, there so absolutely it's a complete shift on how do you show impact to the community? Contribution giving though has stayed steady if not some people giving just a little bit more. Yeah, they're passionate. Yeah, when you look at like I guess the individual contribution income, it's been pretty good for those that can. So that's one thing that's happened during the pandemic, you know, having that support.

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But is your organization, does your organization operate on a fiscal year or calendar year?

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We're on a calendar year. Okay. Okay. So we are January 1 to December 31.

0:13:56
Got it. Okay. Yeah. And sometimes that makes a difference because I don't think folks understand that sometimes the grant cycles are only open once a year or twice a year. And so you can only apply depending on when that grant cycle is for some of those major grant fundings. Well, Sarah, as you prepare for your next budget year, are you expecting any major operational changes? As we slowly get back to normal, I know it won't be, you know, an immediate normalcy for everyone, but what do you expect?

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Normally, what you would do as an executive director when you go to present a budget to your board, traditionally you have like a 5 to 10 percent increase on things like that. So that will be in there, but things that we didn't anticipate, like what are the costs for additional security protocols, PPE, testing for our kids. We're going to have to decrease our capacity or our camp programs, but the price is going to stay the same. So how do you figure out and budget that through? So there are some additional grant opportunities that are out there right now that have been lifesavers for us saying, hey, I need $5,000 worth of gloves and masks right now. You know, we have to change them every day just so we can be functional. So that opportunity has been great. But yeah, looking at that budget, I have kept the budget the same for this year as I did what I budgeted on for 2020. But we had to say, okay, now we have like this equipment that we never had to buy before, but then our site fee goes down. So for us, it stayed balanced, but it's a complete shift on what allocations are where and what buckets.

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Okay. Yep. That makes sense. Total, totally makes sense. You know, I hear your passion in your voice. I know you love what you do. There's not a question about it, but we all have our favorites, right? And so, are there any passion projects or a particular program that you want to highlight of the Nevada

0:15:47
Diabetes Association? Well, like I said, the Camps for Kids is where I started, so that will always have my heart strings, and I'll make sure that that stays forever. But there is another project, one being DKAA, because I thought it was extremely important to get our young adults back into the system, you know, especially when they get off their parents' insurances. They just need organizational and navigational tools, you know, baking tips and we can we can help them with that. So that's been a great project for us. Our emergency medical, stay out of the hospital. I mean, obviously you don't want people to go in for one shot into an emergency room and they can't at this point. So having that program where we say, listen, get your prescription, let's get this through a pharmacy, you know, is a life changer. But the newest program that we have, and I shouldn't say new because I've been working on it for 12 years, is that we have established an electronic medical system called CampUse where we can, in real time, monitor a whole entire camp with their blood sugar readings, all the medical professionals and the counselors talking at once on one platform specifically designed for diabetes camps and I truly believe that this platform will change the industry. It'll allow us to use these technologies and these insulins that are getting better and better every day and allow us to keep it safer and hopefully mitigate any hypo or hyperglycemia, higher low blood sugars. Right. Keep our kids safe and people protected. Wow, imagine if that could be implemented in schools, if you could do it at a camp. And just having the ability, now granted I was a camp kid myself, I'm the most un-campy camp person you'll ever know, but there's something about that area that just brings you in, you all become family. Yeah. But you know having the opportunity to do studies for diabetes at campsites, it moves the industry forward. You know there's so many safety protocols that are in place, but campsites, it moves the industry forward. You know, there's so many safety protocols that are in place, but we'll be able to test out systems like this so we can get them in schools. We can get them in hospitals. There's no other area that has people managing diabetes at the same time. It's a camp. That's the mother load right there. So everything else is just less burdensome. So yeah, getting everything into place big goal for me. Yes, oh that's awesome, that's awesome. Well Sarah, your organization does incredible work. Would you like to share

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with our listening audience how they can learn more or support your efforts? Thank

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you so much and I appreciate having the time to talk to your audience. If you want more information about the Nevada Diabetes Association and the programs and services we offer. You can visit our website at www.diabetesnv.org. That's

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diabeteslikenevada.org or you can give

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us a call at 1-800-379-3839. Well thank

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you so much Sarah for your time with us today. I really appreciate it. I think the information you shared will be So thank you again for your time.

0:18:54
Well, thank you so much, and we can because of you.

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We appreciate Executive Director Sarah Gleach with Nevada Diabetes Association for joining us today. As we continue to learn how nonprofits have been impacted, we certainly wish them much success in the months and years ahead. Thank you for listening to COVID Conversations, an introspective of the impact on nonprofits. In our next episode, you'll hear from Spread the Word Nevada. It's sure to be another enlightening conversation. Until next time, the Word Nevada. It's sure to be another enlightening conversation. Until next time,

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thank you for listening.