SEP/OCT
2020
Garden Center Services
The View From My Chair A MESSAGE FROM OUR EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Wear your masks!
INSIDE THIS ISSUE THE VIEW FROM MY CHAIR Page 1 WHAT WE’VE BEEN UP TO Page 2 DAY SERVICES REOPENING Page 3 MORE NEWS Page 4
There are 228 disability providers in the state of Illinois that are providing group home arrangements to approximately 10,000 individuals, across more than 2,100 locations. As of last week, 81 of those agencies had 492 persons who had contracted the coronavirus, with sadly 28 individuals losing their lives. I am so thankful that up until now, none of participants who live in our Community Integrated Living Arrangements or the 15 bed
Intermediate Care Facility for the Developmentally Disabled have caught the virus. This doesn’t mean that we won’t have a positive case at some point, but I’m very pleased by the efforts demonstrated by our staff to keep people safe over the last 5 plus months.
It is under the greatest adversity that there exists the greatest potential for doing good, both for oneself and others -Dalai Lama XIV In most of our living situations we initially had staff unselfishly volunteer to move into a home for weeks on end, which greatly reduced the risk of exposure for our individuals. Staff have been diligently
following the hygiene protocols for hand washing and disinfecting, as well as respecting social distancing when necessary. Mask wearing for staff is mandatory at all of the sites and it is constantly stressed that both the mouth and nose need to be covered. We’ve had designated staff in charge of bringing food and medical provisions to the homes so that we could limit community exposure. While dealing with the stress of the pandemic the staff have also continued to provide a supportive, stimulating environment within our settings, which has been more challenging due to continued on page 4