August 11, 2021
Dear Families and Teams,
Greetings from Opportunity Partners! I hope you’ve had a great summer and you’ve been able to enjoy time together with family and friends. It’s hard to believe that fall will be here soon!
In this email, you’ll find the latest updates on OP’s health and safety protocols, our services and staffing considerations, and our upcoming Success Celebration! As always, please reach out to us at any time if you have questions or need more information.
Success Celebration! We’re excited to be hosting our first in-person event since the pandemic hit in 2020. Our annual Success Celebration honors the achievements of the people we serve and celebrates everyone who is a part of OP. We’re planning a fun event on Sunday, September 12 from 1-3 pm at the Hyland Hills Chalet in Bloomington. The event is free to attend and light refreshments will be served. Please sign up in advance at http://success-celebration-2021.eventbrite.com/
Health/Safety Protocol: Although we had eased masking requirements at OP locations, we are now back to wearing masks at our OP sites and indoor community locations due to increasing cases of the COVID Delta variant in our community and beyond. We will continue to closely follow recommendations from health officials and will share any additional changes if needed. Thank you for your cooperation.
OP Service Capacity: We still have not been able to accommodate everyone who wants to return to day services. We know this has been challenging for anyone waiting to come back after so much time away. Currently, our efforts are hampered by staffing challenges and transportation limits. If you want to return to services but haven’t yet been in touch with us, please call 952-930-4202 or email services@opportunities.org to have your questions answered.
Staffing: As mentioned above, staff shortages are keeping us from serving everyone that we would like to serve. We are working very hard to hire more people, as is our entire disability services sector and many industries across the board. Some actions we have taken to help include:
1. Hiring a full-time team member to lead our recruitment efforts.
2. Increasing the starting wages of our Direct Support Professionals.
3. Investing in exciting, new marketing strategies to promote our organization and our job openings. These include billboards around the Twin Cities, signs on the backs of our vans, ads in community newspapers and radio, and participation in job fairs.
4. Implementing referral bonuses.
We are excited to have seen some good results from our efforts so far. If you know anyone looking for a direct care job in our sector, please contact us and we will work to find a position that fits. We have great jobs for college students, retirees and anyone looking to gain experience in the health and human services field and make a difference in our community!
Thank you to everyone for remaining so encouraging throughout the challenges over the last year and a half. I hope to see many of you at our September Success Celebration. We are stronger together!
Sincerely,
Bill Schultz
President & CEO
