In early March of this year, Moravian Village of Bethlehem, and really the entire Bethlehem Area Moravians Organization, recognized the 5-year anniversary of the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Looking back at that time, in the course of 7 days, our Administration team went from presenting a 10-year strategic plan to our Board of Directors at the start of the week to scrapping that plan in favor of a total revamp in operations to address a global pandemic by the end of that week.
7 Days…..fundamentally changing all aspects of how we deliver resident life here at Moravian Village.
One of the biggest unknown factors during that time was the large amount of uncertainty in the world. At any moment, we did not know how the government would pivot, what the economy would do in response to that, and more seriously, just how bad the pandemic would get. There were so many unknowns during those days and the uncertainty that comes with that.
Our message during that time was that in uncertain times, stability and certainty were key, and the Bethlehem Area Moravian Organization (Parent Company of Moravian Village) already had 280+ years of certainty in how we operate and how we serve our constituents.
Covid-19 was our 3rd global pandemic as an organization. We have seen revolutionary wars, world wars, a Great Depression, and multiple recessions and turmoil at times in all levels of government….and we are still here to meet today’s challenges.
In some respects, the times of uncertainty we are currently going through are a lot like the beginnings of the Covid-19 pandemic. Great changes are taking place at the governmental level, and depending on your own personal political lens, they are either for the positive or the negative, but anyway you look at it, these changes will once again affect communities like ours in a major way.
Moravian Village’s strength to address whatever changes come our way is our heritage and the fact that we are a one-site community in a town founded by our ancestors. Unlike many communities whose executive team may not be in the same city, let alone the same state, MVB’s Administration team is based right in Bethlehem, with many of us growing up right here in the Lehigh Valley.
And finally, there are few things in this world more stable than an entity that is older than the United States itself and has been providing ministry and outreach for close to three centuries. With age comes experience and the focus of an organizational timeline not in days or even years, but in decades and centuries. For us, moments of great upheaval are exactly that…moments that we will adjust to, work through, and push towards a new day.
Dan Soos, CPA
Chief Executive Officer
Moravian Village of Bethlehem