The cover story of Washingtonian‘s October issue is a look at some of the people who have been helping the city cope with Covid. To read the full interviews, click the links at the end of each entry.

1. Kim R. Ford, Martha’s Table

President and CEO

“To know that [the families we work with] are going through everything that everyone else is, plus X plus Y plus Z, and still keep getting up and coming back—that, to me, is inspiring. I feed off their energy. It’s amazing because they’re optimistic. They just know that, one way or another, we’re going to get through this.”

To read the full interview, click here.

2. Erik Osborn, Inova Health System

Medical director, adult ECMO

“It’s given me humility—this virus we can’t see is taking the lives of young, healthy people. You want to focus on being optimistic. Sometimes you have to walk through the darkness of negativity, be in there for a while and stumble around in a dark hallway, before you find the light switch.”

To read the full interview, click here.

3. Tonia Wellons, Greater Washington Community Foundation

President and CEO

“There are so many amazing thinkers and writers and philanthropists who are thinking hard and deep about how we work toward justice and—as a society, with all these disruptions—put things back together in a much better way than we once knew it.”

To read the full interview, click here.

4. Paola Velez, Bakers Against Racism

Cofounder

“I’m just a baker. To make this worldwide movement was like, Oh, my God. What’s important was the support people gave. The DC [hospitality] community rose up. They made sure I was eating and dropped off food without me having to ask. They all made sure I was okay.”

To read the full interview, click here.

5. Brianne Dornbush, District Bridges

Executive director

“The first few weeks, we were all on the phone constantly, just listening to business owners crying and pouring out their hearts, laying off staff who are family.”

To read the full interview, click here.

6. Erik Bruner-Yang, Power of 10 Initiative

Founder

“For me, Power of 10 was a great [break] from feeling depressed. We started an organization. We worked really hard, and we were able to help a lot of people.”

To read the full interview, click here.

7. Shewit  Burhan & Erica  Williams, George Washington University Hospital

Covid nurses

“Despite our best efforts,” says Burhan, “some people just don’t make it. And that’s the hardest part.”

To read the full interview, click here.

8. Matt Mendelsohn, Matt Mendelsohn Creative

Photojournalist and founder

“The goal was not photographic. The goal was recognition for these seniors.”

To read the full interview, click here.

9. Parisa Norouzi, Empower DC

Cofounder and executive director

“Our work is basically: How can we support public-housing residents to hold elected officials accountable?” says Norouzi. “Because they know the problems and the solutions better than anybody, but we tend to not prioritize their voices.”

To read the full interview, click here.

10. Gregory Glenn, Novavax

President of research and development

“Just before we got the Phase 1 result, I found myself barely able to make a cup of coffee for a couple days. The anticipation is hard to describe. You know, lives count on this, the company counts on this. My family counts on this. Our government counts on this. Other governments are counting on it. It’s a big moment.”

To read the full interview, click here.

11. Tyler Stallings, Kid Time Enterprises

CEO

“It all started when I said I wanted to build houses [for homeless veterans]. Mom said, ‘Well, we can’t do that.’”

To read the full interview, click here.

12. Akshath Mahajan & Maneesh Vallurupalli, Project Support Initiative

Founders

“What we’ve built is a really good bridge between generations. If I can give back to the elderly people in our society who’ve done so much for us, that motivates me to go further with this initiative.”

To read the full interview, click here.

13. Mealy Cronin, Feed Our Fearless Frontline Fighters

Founder

“It provides a small token of my appreciation, and my family’s appreciation and pretty much everyone’s appreciation.”

To read the full interview, click here.

This article appears in the October 2020 issue of Washingtonian.