Note: This is a partial response. 

Our nonprofit moved to work-from-home in the middle of March. When our county went into lockdown, it was really rough at home because my wife and I were both working from home along with our 2-year-old whose daycare was also closed. If it weren't for grandparents staying with us to keep him occupied, we would have never gotten work done. We were also blessed with a new bundle of joy in November, but this time around, I was only able to join my wife for one sonogram appointment due to ever-adapting COVID rules. Nevertheless, his arrival was one of the brightest spots of this crazy year. Just before COVID, we had done trial runs with Walmart's grocery pickup but now we are seasoned veterans. We have also become quite familiar with Aldi/Instacart so much that we hardly shop in-store anymore. The first few months of work were hectic with getting our staff accustomed to work-from-home and teaching them best practices for Remote Desktop and Zoom. I believe one of the bright spots for work was moving from High Five video conferencing to Zoom. Many of our staff and board members were already acquainted with Zoom so the transition was fairly smooth. It went so well that we are poised to implement Zoom's VOIP solution in January of 2021. COVID also drove our nonprofit to evaluate Trello and Asana for remote project management. We chose Asana and, while we have a lot to learn, it has become a valuable tool for our organization.

(About managing uncertainty:)  Most days I focus on my work and family which keep my anxiety in check. But there have been several instances when my anxiety peaked such as when we had to reschedule or cancel vacation plans or lose money. Currently navigating the holiday season with a newborn has kept my wife and I both anxious while making plans to visit small groups of family briefly while wearing masks and keeping numbers low. Some of our family members just don't understand why getting together is such a big deal while we feel we have to do our best to avoid COVID for the sake of our little ones.

(About handling stress:)  I listen to music a lot! It has always been a stress reliever of mine but even more so this year. I also try to distance myself from my worries or escape with a good book, movie or video game for a bit. I also seek out free mental wellness during COVID workshops to learn new techniques for stress management in the unique situation of COVID.

(About work life:)  The pandemic has caused us to work-from-home which was a huge paradigm shift for most of our staff but now it has become standard. Our organization continues to seek out COVID relief funding grants which we use to improve our technology model and diversify our offerings to our consumers. In the past, we have had holiday parties for our consumers and attendants to attend for lunch and games. Our marketing director revamped them to be holiday hangouts in large church parking lots. Consumer's stopped at different stations for registration, holiday photos, coloring kits, meal gift cards, bingo prize packs and WiFi hot spot.

(About the home office:)  I do have a home office. It is in a corner of the basement. While we rearranged our household for our new arrival, I took the opportunity to move my desk, chair and file drawers to create a desk space for my work-provided computer. I have surrounded area with collectible odds and ends like Funko Pop Vinyl figures and to personalize the area. This corner of the basement is cold so I have a heater if I need it. Our organization bought us heated vests for our outdoor holiday party. I keep mine near at all times.

(About new approaches to online teaching:)  I began developing independent living skills modules on Blackboard's Course Sites platform. I was also able to acquire 20 free annual subscriptions to You Need a Budget for our consumers so they can learn to budget more effectively. My colleague and I developed a Tech Tip Tuesday email that we send out every so often to all staff when there is a timely piece of technology advice. Zoom gives us the ability to have more interactive software demos in meetings.

(About video conferencing:)  Our nonprofit did not have Zoom when we started to work from home. Our board requested that we evaluate it as an alternative and ultimately, chose to migrate. I believe it has been a game changer, not only for video conferencing but also for instant messaging, technology I was researching at the same time. I believe Zoom has been easier for our staff to use than our previous video conferencing software. We are also in the process of moving to Zoom's VOIP platform in early January because it costs as much as our current hybrid solution but way simpler to administrate.

(About supporting staff:)  Rather than students, I train our staff, consumers and attendants how to use our technology. I frequently have Zoom meetings with staff members to train them how to work from home more effectively. I also call our consumers and attendants on a daily basis to train them how to use our vendor's apps to clock in/out and review their pay stubs.

(About engaging with colleagues:)  I meet with my supervisor on a daily basis via Zoom. We also have monthly staff meetings via Zoom. Many staff members find Zoom chat quite useful when communicating with colleagues. We still use our phone system, too. It's nice to see my colleagues for a few minutes when I do visit the office. We also had holiday hangout parties in church parking lots so it was nice to see almost every staff member in person for a bit while wearing a mask and social distancing.