To our volunteers:
As you undoubtedly are aware, cases of coronavirus (Covid-19) have been reported in Danbury and Norwalk Hospitals, Wilton and Westchester County. We at P2P want to safeguard your health and safety while continuing to ensure all our clients - affected by the outbreak or not - stay healthy, housed and continue to receive our services. To that end, I would like to share with you the following information about P2P’s response to the coronavirus outbreak. This email is not meant to be alarming, but more the start of a conversation to keep everyone informed.
Safety First!
- If you exhibit any symptoms of the coronavirus (coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath, fever over 100.4 degrees), please stay home!
- If you have a “medium” or “high-risk” exposure to the virus — generally meaning having been in close contact with someone who is known to be infected, or having traveled from a high-risk region – please do not come on site for 14 days after the exposure.
The CDC offers this advice for avoiding illness:
- Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
- Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
- Stay home when you are sick.
- Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue or cough/sneeze into your elbow, then throw the tissue in the trash.
- Consider greeting others with an elbow rather than shaking hands, and wash hands after greeting others.
- Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
- Follow CDC’s recommendations for using a facemask. CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory diseases, including COVID-19. Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of COVID-19 to help prevent the spread of the disease to others. The use of facemasks is also crucial for health workers and people who are taking care of someone in close settings (at home or in a health care facility).
- Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
- If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty
- If you or someone in your direct household is diagnosed with Covid-19, please follow your doctor’s orders and notify your supervisor or Nancy as soon as possible.
How we are protecting our volunteers and staff:
- We have had a meeting with our daily cleaning crew to instruct them to disinfect surfaces and doorknobs daily. We have stocked the vans and sites with hand sanitizer and/or disinfectant wipes and tissues.
- If anyone (staff, client, or volunteer) tests positive for Covid-19, Person-to-Person reserves the right to decide the best course of action for the organization as a whole, including closing the site for 14 days. In such a situation, we will make every effort to serve food and emergency financial assistance clients in other sites (see below).
- We are closing the Clothing Center to donors and clients as of noon on Tuesday, March 10th. Clients appointments are being rescheduled for a month from their original appointment.
- Each and every decision surrounding the Coronavirus will be communicated with staff and volunteers as timely as possible.
- It is important that you are reachable with updates. If your contact information has changed, please let Juri know ASAP at jurigarone@p2phelps.org.
How we are protecting our clients:
- Any client who is quarantined may designate a person (who is not at risk of exposure) to pick up food on her/his behalf.
- The Clothing Center is closed as of noon on Tuesday, March 10th. Appointments are being rescheduled for a month from the original appointment.
- Should we need to close one or more locations, we will (1) reschedule Food appointments for at least 14 days later if possible, or (2) make every effort to accommodate displaced clients in one of our other locations (if the client is not able to reschedule)
- Requests for home delivery of food to quarantined clients will be discouraged, but may be considered under extraordinary circumstances on a case-by-case basis
- Any client exhibiting symptoms (coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath) may be denied entry to P2P facilities by designated staff, including Site Managers, Assistant Site Managers, the Clothing Center Manager, Nancy Coughlin, CEO, Elizabeth Finn, COO, Lauren Franciamore, Chief Programs Officer or Tracy Cramer, Chief Philanthropy Officer. Volunteers concerned about a client exhibiting symptoms should not deny entry to a client, but should contact one of the above-referenced staff.
- Any Food Pantry or Emergency Financial Assistance Program client denied entry will be served on a “no contact” basis. For Food Pantry clients, volunteers will be asked to pack bags for the clients and provide them to the clients in the parking lot, remaining at least 6 feet from the client. EFA clients will be asked to discuss their situation with a caseworker by phone.
Please see below for important links you can reference for guidance/information.
As always, we are tremendously grateful for the hard work and dedication of our wonderful volunteers! We could not serve 25,000 individuals each year without your help. During this challenging time we know that communication is key, and we pledge to keep you informed of our response to this outbreak. We respect the difficult decisions you may feel the need to make under these circumstances. Please know we appreciate all you do.
Thank you for being a great volunteer!
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