Dear friend,
Thank you for your continued support of San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center. Our thoughts are with everyone during this difficult and unprecedented time. I want to update you on steps our Center is taking to ensure the health and safety of staff and the children, adults and families we serve. Their health and well-being is of the utmost importance.
Our Center offers a critical safety net for thousands of individuals and families in our community each year who are the most vulnerable. We are committed to continuing to provide essential services and delivering them with compassion during this crisis. Our goal is to minimize any disruption of service. We are remaining open for business; however, our business will be conducted very differently for everyone’s safety. Where possible, our therapists, counselors, case managers, doctors and nurse practitioners will offer services by telephone. For those programs that must continue to operate at the site location, we are carefully following the guidelines established by the CDC and WHO to minimize any risk.
The Center will continue to operate its food bank for our clients. We’re grateful to our extraordinary partners - Albertson’s, Food 4 Less, Food Forward, Smart & Final, Sprouts, Target, Vons and Whole Foods - for supplying us with surplus goods, enough to provide groceries to hundreds of individuals and families each month. While in recent weeks we have seen a drop-off in food donations due to the uncertainty for so many people in our community, we are hopeful that our supplies will return to our normal levels soon.
Our Center also provides transitional housing every night to approximately 100 individuals who have been homeless. We have taken steps to ensure their safety as well through enhanced cleaning, use of gloves and masks and other steps. Clients will remain on the premises unless they have somewhere else to stay, and no outside visitors will be permitted.
The Center is also committed to keeping its homeless day-time drop-in Access Center open, but services available will be limited. Basic services such as food distribution, clothing and basic needs will remain, but showers, laundry facilities, group meetings and other services will be closed for now.
On behalf of everyone at our Center, thank you for your part in helping us to move lives forward for the clients we serve in our community. We will get past this and we will be stronger as a result. Together, we are making our community a safer and healthier place for everyone!
Sincerely,
Tim Ryder
President & CEO
