By: Yvonne Macias, Program Manager
During a recent check-in with a nonprofit partner, I asked how she feels about Durfee’s focus on wellbeing funding. With our fifth cycle of the Lark Award approaching, it felt like the moment to sit with the question. She quickly answered that Durfee needs to focus on and continue funding wellness, especially at this moment, as the nonprofit sector is facing increasing demands and challenges. The kind of wellness funding Durfee offers, she added, encourages nonprofit staff to prioritize their care and well-being, and permits organizations to be creative.
The Lark Awards program launched in 2022, recognizing the need for rest and renewal for staff at small, community-rooted organizations. During the COVID crisis, many of these organizations shifted or expanded their programs to meet the growing needs of the communities they served. We believed that giving staff a chance to recharge would offer them a bit of respite.
Since then, each year seems to bring more challenges to our communities and to the nonprofit sector. Simultaneously, we continue to see more organizations seeking wellness resources.
The Lark Award is a one-time grant. We hoped that organizations would consider what collective care practices they could continue after the Lark year, within their budget and resources. What we have learned from our partners is that a bigger conversation is taking shape. Many organizations have used their Lark award year to consider a culture shift, one that builds care and wellbeing into daily practices and policies.
That shift brings me back to two themes from my check-in: creativity and permission. Because Lark funds are earmarked for wellness, staff feel like they have permission to take care of themselves and encourage the people around them to do the same. That shared permission is what opens the door to culture shift, and to the creativity our partner named. When staff feel trusted and cared for, they feel comfortable sharing ideas and even step into more leadership at the organization.
As a few former recipients have put it, they are building an “infrastructure of care.” Caring for themselves is what will allow them to continue caring for others.