Dear ioby community,

I wanted to share some information with you about how the rapidly unfolding situation concerning COVID-19 will impact our work together at ioby. Nothing is more important to us than the health and safety of our community, and we know that these will be challenging times for all of us. In order to fulfill our role in ensuring our community’s health, and in order to continue to provide support to you, we’re making a few temporary changes to our work together. 

Until further notice, ioby will be transitioning ALL in-person workshops, trainings and events to an online format. This also includes all one-on-one in-person meetings. 

ioby will remain open with all staff working remotely until further notice. We will continue to be ready and available to support your projects via phone, email, and online. 

As always, feel free to reach out to our City Action Strategists in Cleveland, Memphis, Pittsburgh, and Detroit if you’d like to talk to us about your crowdfunding project or an idea to make positive civic change in your neighborhood. You may also reach out to us by emailing hello@ioby.org or calling us at 917-464-4515, or by simply sharing your idea with us at ioby.org/idea.

While there is much we can do to keep ourselves safe, we also want to acknowledge that many of our neighbors are at special risk in this public health emergency. Taking this action is not something we take lightly, but something we take out of an abundance of caution and care for our community and is guided by advice from public health authorities. It is also important to us that we acknowledge and take special care to address the ways that this public health emergency may impact our communities in different ways for numerous reasons. Racism, ableism, classism, and anything else that divides our communities will only make our communities less safe and less just. We stand in solidarity with marginalized groups during this difficult time.

As you continue to plan crowdfunding campaigns and projects to make positive change wherever you are, we invite you to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Prevention to prevent illness. The most important thing we can do right now to care for our community is to stay calm, and stay up to date by following the guidance of the CDC. 

Thanks for being part of our community.

With warm regards,

Erin Barnes
CEO and Co-Founder