CORE Response - Annual Report 2020

5 www.COREresponse.org
MESSAGE FROM LEADERSHIP
We could never have predicted what this year has
had in store for us as a country, global community,
and as an organization. At the beginning of 2020,
we were run by a team of less than 10 U.S.-based
staff members. Twelve months later, we are a body
of over 1,500 volunteers and staff spread across the
U.S. battling on the frontlines of a global health crisis.
The COVID-19 pandemic is unlike anything we’ve
encountered. We, like the rest of the world, were
not prepared for a crisis of this magnitude and
devastation. But as it began to run its calamitous
course, we had to do something. We couldn’t sit
idle, knowing that marginalized and vulnerable
communities are often left to fend for themselves in
times of crisis.
CORE sprung forth to do what we know best:
mobilizing communities within their existing structures to provide support during their greatest
times of need. Beginning in Los Angeles in March, we began partnering with local governments
and community partners to administer free tests. Within a matter of weeks, we expanded our
testing program across California, and then the entire nation, to Georgia, Chicago, Detroit, North
Carolina, New Orleans, Washington, D.C., and the Navajo Nation.
We listened and learned, and broadened our COVID-19 relief program to revolve around an
integrated approach inclusive of contact tracing, resource coordination, and supported solutions
for safe quarantine to provide communities with the holistic relief they need.
As the most challenging year of our collective lifetimes comes to a close, we are humbled by
and grateful for your incredible support. It is because of your passionate dedication that CORE is
able to scale and change with the evolving landscape of this crisis. Your generosity and care for
underserved communities continues to inspire hope for what we can accomplish together.
As a new year dawns, our work to protect the most underserved and at-risk communities is far
from over. The coming year will hold some of our most important and urgent work yet. And once
again, we can’t do it alone. Together, we will meet this challenge and emerge with a deeper
commitment to our mission.
On behalf of all those we serve, we thank you for your steadfast support.
With gratitude,
Sean Penn & Ann Lee
Co-founders, CORE