Updates on COVID-19

March 10, 2020

Dear members of the Forefront community,

We wanted to send a brief update on the status of Forefront programming and events in light of the COVID-19 outbreak in Illinois. The Forefront team is monitoring the situation and actively discussing the next steps in case of a larger outbreak in Chicago and across the state. Our highest priority is the wellbeing of our staff and event attendees.

For now, all Forefront events at all our locations will continue as planned, as will our move to FBRK Impact House on March 27. We will send updates via email to event attendees and to our entire community if any plans change. We understand that our Member organizations have their own protocols regarding staff safety, and ask that if you do plan to cancel your attendance to a Forefront event, please do so as soon as possible. To support you in this, Forefront will waive all cancellation fees for events in March and April, no matter the date of cancellation.

We further ask you not to attend Forefront events if you are feeling ill, and have symptoms such as a fever, fatigue, or consistent cough.

We have received updates from the management team of our current location at 208 S. LaSalle. They have committed to:

Increasing the frequency of disinfecting public washrooms
Deep cleaning of all lobby hard surfaces and seating
Increasing the frequency of disinfecting lobby elevator call/floor buttons, railings, door handles, and other high touch surfaces

We have also been in contact with the FBRK team about the steps taken at FBRK Impact House to protect staff and visitors. FBRK is keeping to recommendations from the CDC, including nightly cleaning of the offices, distributing hand sanitizer and Clorox wipes, and encouraging teams to institute a “work from home” policy if staffers are feeling ill or at risk. There will be cleaning and preventative supplies in the Forefront offices upon our arrival on March 27.

We also ask all our attendees to rigorously wash their hands upon joining us for an event and taking other precautions such as coughing into one’s elbow and refraining from physical contact with fellow attendees.

Additional information is available via:

We also ask our community to practice kindness during this time. These events are no excuse for xenophobia or bigotry, and the impact of our actions may be felt across the sector.

As the voice of the social impact sector in Illinois, we are committed to providing you with the appropriate resources to best handle this fast-moving situation. Here are some webinars, posts, and other support from across the country.