Spring 2020 Event Canceled: A Message from our Chair

Dear Women of iZōsh,

Today we made the difficult decision to cancel Friday’s iZōsh Event. At the time of this writing, there are no confirmed cases of the COVID-19 virus in Michigan, but we are following recommendations from the CDC to be cautious about large public gatherings and prepare for the possibility of an outbreak in our community.

Ultimately we know that our decision about one evening isn’t going to have a big impact on the spread or containment of the virus. One of our core values in iZōsh is continuing to make small moves (typically micro-loans!) that matter at the level of an individual woman’s life. Over the span of this ministry, we have funded micro-loans for over 600 women and raised more than $219,000. That’s a big impact! To us it is worth it if this cautious small move keeps our community a little bit healthier and safer. 

You may be thinking about all the women who need loans. Even though we aren’t gathering together, we can absolutely still fund micro-loans! Today is International Women’s Day — even more reason to put our values into action. Kiva is matching loans to women through Monday, March 9 (midnight PST). I contributed my iZōsh dues toward a loan for Digna Xioamara, a cattle farmer in Honduras. Join me in funding a woman entrepreneur, and double your impact!

Funding a micro-loan through Kiva is easy, and you don’t have to fully fund the loan, like we do at our Events. You can contribute as little as $25, and for these women, that money goes a long way! Check out this link on Kiva for help on how to fund a loan on the Kiva website. Or click here to donate to our partners at Healing Hands of Joy. And if giving online is not ideal for you, here are suggestions on how to contribute to Opportunity International without the fuss of navigating online.

I always look forward to iZōsh gatherings and I love being in that space with you, so Friday night will be tough for me. Two of our other core values are being participatory and intergenerational, so it just won’t feel the same when we can’t interact and connect around tables and a famous spread of snacks. And I sure will miss those cowbells and the celebrating we get to do together!  Also, I am disappointed to miss out on hearing from Marie Koch Williams. We’ve invited her back for March 2021, though! 

We expect to be able to hold our next gathering as scheduled, on October 9, 2020. Our speaker is Sherrie Woodring, a successful CEO who dropped everything to impact women living in extreme poverty.

I read every reply, so if you want to let me know your thoughts, drop me a quick note!

With appreciation,
Katie Glupker
Chair, iZōsh Ann Arbor

PS – In order to be financially transparent, we do not hold money between events. So if you have already sent in a check, we will void it. If you have sent in a donation online, we will return it to you.