COVID-19 Task Force

In May of 2020, the FOL Board formed the COVID-19 Task Force with an initial $10,000 budget to focus our response to the pandemic in Liberia. The Task Force had its first meeting virtual on May 19 and is meeting weekly to act quickly and responsibly to distribute funds through projects managed by reliable Liberian NGOs.

Goal

The goal of the COVID-19 Task Force is to provide support to local Liberian NGOs and community-based organizations to help communities who are struggling during the coronavirus pandemic.

If you’d like to be involved,  contact us at covid19@fol.org

Approach

The Task Force will use the lessons learned during the Ebola crisis to plan better, more effective interventions for Liberian communities. Although COVID-19 and Ebola are similar public health crisis, we are concerned that given the global nature of the COVID-19, there may be less support available from the international community. Our COVID-19 Task Force hopes to help support Liberian communities and organizations that may be experiencing the consequences of this reduced international investment and availability of aid.

We want to listen to the needs of Liberian communities and organizations and work together to find out how best we may support them.  The Task Force is currently working with counterparts on the ground to conduct a needs assessment, to identify which communities need support, and what areas of intervention are best.

To date, FOL has received seven proposals from organizations seeking support, some of which will be selected and will receive funding following a full review,  The Task Force will also seek to help support organizations with technical support and knowledge when needed, especially around COVID-19 and public health awareness.

Task Force Members.

Stephen Pasinski is the Task Force Chair, and a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer (RPCV), who served as an Education Volunteer in Grand Cape Mount County from 2016-2018. He is currently the Country Director for Orphan Relief and Rescue in Liberia.

Don Drach is Co-Chair of the Membership Committee with Rebecca Martinez. He is an RPCV who served in Salayea, Lofa County as an elementary teacher from 1971-1973. Don holds a Bachelor’s Degree in political science and international relations from the Pennsylvania State University and a Masters Degree in education from Boston College. He works as an independent consultant, trainer and volunteer with over 35 years of experience in international relations and capacity building. Read more about Don here.

Madeline Farron is an RPCV who served in Salala, Bong County from 2013-2014. During her service, she taught at the local high school, worked with the Bosh Bosh project, and served on the gender committee. Her experience in Liberia led her to a career in public health and she currently works in global and public health research at the University of Michigan.

Jim Gray and his wife Lyn are RPCVs who served in Sanniquellie for three years in the mid-1970s. Since 2003/2004, they have been living and working in Liberia. Jim has been vice president at two universities, worked for USAID, and was an advisor to the National Commission on Higher Education. He has a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Virginia. Although currently in the United States, Jim and Lyn usually reside in Bong County, Liberia.

Rebecca Martinez has been a member of FOL since 2014, and is the co-chair of the FOL Membership Committee with Don Drach. Rebecca maintains a strong love and affection for Liberia with an affinity for fried potato greens and GB and is a huge fan of Liberian musical artist Kobazzie.

Sarah Morrison is the President of FOL. She is an RPCV who served in Monrovia at the Ministry of Health headquarters as a national Training and Logistics Coordinator for the Combating Childhood Communicable Diseases program from 1985-1987. The experience led to her leaving a career in Louisiana, where she had earned a MSW from Tulane and began as a protective services and foster care clinical social worker. Personal travels over ten years to places including China, India, and the Middle East hooked her on following through with an application to Peace Corps and leaving her job as Director of the Governor’s Office of Management and Program Evaluation. Read more about Sarah here.

Laura Jean Ridge is the Board President of Nursing for All, a nonprofit that has funded nurse-led public health interventions in Liberia since 2013. She is a nurse and will begin her Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Michigan this summer.

Freda Koomson is a Healthcare Management Professional who has been working in Monrovia, Liberia for the past four years. Her work centers around management of quality improvement projects, and providing technical capacity support and mentoring to hospital managers, supervisors, and other Liberian healthcare workforce aspirants who are looking to bolster skills in leadership and management for results in various healthcare settings.

Jefferson Krua is a transportation systems engineer and founder of the most award-winning news outlet in Liberia since 2017, The Bush Chicken. Jefferson founded The Bush Chicken to set a new standard for journalism in Liberia. He is recruiting, training and deploying reporters all over the country to research and report independently and effectively on important issues in Liberia, including issues of civic participation, corruption and governance.

Cori Maund is an RPCV who served in Gbarnga, Liberia with Global Health Service Partnership (partnership between SEED Global Health/ Peace Corps) from 2016-2018. She is an Ob-Gyn and worked with the newly established residency program in Liberia to develop curriculum and train more than half of the Ob-Gyns in the country. She now lives in Rockford, IL and works as an Ob-Gyn in a low-resource community there. Her partner, Isaac, was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Nimba County at the same time; they enjoy gardening, canoeing on the river by their house and making cassava leaf soup!

 Kevin C. Moriarty is an RPCV who served in Liberia 1971-1973. For the last 45 years he has headed Governmental Human Resource, Community Health, and Non-profit Hospital and Health System Care for the 74 counties of San Antonio and South Texas. He oversaw more than 200 community health and wellness sites, and 2000+ hospital beds at numerous facilities. He ended his career as President and CEO of Methodist Healthcare Ministries in 2018. He holds an MS in Urban Studies from Hunter/CUNY’75 and advanced management training from both Harvard ‘97 and Stanford ‘2007. He is also married with five children.

Sally Zelonis is the Chair of the FOL Development Committee. She is also an RPCV who served in Karnplay, Liberia from 1971-1972 where she taught elementary school. Upon returning home, Sally married her husband Mark, a tree crops technician in the Peace Corps in Karnplay from 1971-972, and continued teaching in the U.S. for more than ten years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and social work from Elmira College, and a master’s degree in early childhood education from Boston College. Read more about Sally here.