A community solution to COVID-19
March 2020 seems a long time ago. But, at the start of the pandemic, many local front-line workers and community groups scrambled to find life-saving personal protective equipment. It wasn’t long before Waterloo Region’s barn-raising roots led to a community solution — thanks in part to an impact investment from Waterloo Region Community Foundation (WRCF).
Early on in the pandemic, hospitals used their large buying power to purchase protective equipment — such as gloves and masks — at a reasonable price. However many private physicians, community organizations and non-profits had a harder time accessing PPE because they weren’t able to purchase equipment in large amounts.
That’s where Supply+Protect Inc. stepped in. The non-profit, formally known as PPE Access, was quickly created to help obtain reliable and affordable personal protective equipment in bulk for community frontline health care workers, charitable organizations, non-profits and regional agencies.
“We were trying to solve a really important problem,” says Amber French, former CEO of Supply+Protect Inc. “I know many community physicians and charitable organizations who were struggling to find PPE, and this impacted their ability to reopen.”
The idea for Supply+Protect Inc. actually came out of a community PPE drive, held at Westmount Golf Club. Thousands of pieces of PPE were donated by the community, and while the community drive was only expected to run for one day, it ended up running for 14 weeks. After that, French says they were looking for a more sustainable solution.
But, in order to have the purchasing power needed to secure reliable and affordable equipment on an ongoing basis, Supply+Protect Inc. needed capital. That’s where the $100,000 WRCF impact investment came in.
“In order to go out and procure the equipment in large quantities at a good price, we needed that initial capital to make the purchase,” says French. “Without this impact investment, we would never have been able to launch Supply+Protect Inc.. It’s really difficult unless you have that purchasing power behind you.”
That impact investment also helped Supply+Protect Inc. secure a partnership with a large hospital purchasing consortium. And this meant that, for the first time, community groups had access to PPE at hospital pricing levels.
“Impact investments can really help to solve some really big problems that might be ignored by people who are concerned with traditional rates of return,’ says French. “And this investment is part of the reason why we were able to accomplish so much so quickly.”
Over 300 organizations have registered with Supply+Protect Inc.
“We are in wind-down mode now that the supply chain has finally stabilized and PPE is readily available,’ says French. “At the height of the pandemic, we had thousands of community practitioners and organizations ordering from us across the province, including municipalities like Region of Waterloo and Peel Region and EMS services. At the time of most need, Supply+Protect Inc. was able to provide millions of pieces of hard-to-find PPE, none of which would have been possible without the support from groups like WRCF.”
“People across Waterloo Region have a tendency to be the first to tackle issues,” says French. “We really are a barn-raising community. Our region has done amazing things in the face of COVID-19.”
If you would like to learn more about partnering with WRCF to make impact investments, including establishing your own Donor Advised Fund – Invested for Impact, contact Dan Robert at dan@wrcf.ca or 519-725-1806 x 205.
Note: This story was written prior to Cambridge & North Dumfries Community Foundation and Kitchener Waterloo Community Foundation unifying to become Waterloo Region Community Foundation. Although the story was created by KWCF, we have updated the organization name to WRCF throughout the story.