UCP of the North Bay
Adult Day Program Update
April 3rd, 2020
How UCP of the North is helping participants through personal connection
We would like to reassure our participants, family members, and the community that we are doing everything possible to stay connected and provide web-based education and recreation programs that support continued health and well-being. We are in the process of rolling out live and recorded meetings and classes for our adult participants modeled after the distance learning classes that Cypress School is already offering our students. Zoom Video Conferencing is the primary means that we are using to connect with one another, understanding that everyone has different learning and communication needs.
UCP of the North Bay is continuing to advocate for the continuation of funding to maintain our services now and for when we return to learning, working, and playing together. We encourage everyone in our community to be advocates for the children and adults that we serve by responding to “calls-to-action” that you may receive through UCP of the North Bay and other service providers. We understand the challenges that residential providers and families are experiencing with “shelter-in-place” and hope that our ongoing connection is of support to you. We also appreciate our staff members that are working in residential facilities to help during this crisis.
We have been guiding staff members, participants, families, and residential homes in learning Zoom Video Conferencing, our primary means of providing distance learning and activities for our participants. We have hosted a small American Sign Language (ASL) class for a few participants using Zoom and we will be starting more Zoom Classes in the coming week.
Our staff members are continuing to connect with our participants through daily phone calls and our private OADS Facebook Page. We are using this platform as a way for our staff members to provide emotional support, educational materials, schedules, and activities. There are daily prompts for participants to respond to and activities for them to do in the safety of their homes.
Highlight: We hosted our first OADS Zoom Social for participants and staff members and had nine participants successfully log on with six of our staff members. The only expectation that we had for the online meeting was to enjoy each other’s company.
We are continuing to support our participants with daily calls, emails, and text messages. Like our other programs, we will be providing online activities through Zoom Video Conferencing. We are collecting a list of activities that our participants would like to do from home and will be integrating those activities into our online learning schedule beginning next week.
One of our staff members met a participant at her home and they walked to a nearby park together for a much needed visit. Another staff member sent out activity packs through the mail to her group that included coloring sheets, stickers, and crossword puzzles. And, another staff member drove to each of her six participant’s homes, delivering donuts and having safe curbside visits.
WineBev Services provides work crews for many local businesses during normal operation. It’s no surprise that our employees want to get back to work as soon as possible. In the meantime, it’s nice to hear from businesses like Allied Propane Service (Chevron Circle K) that they miss our work crews and that their jobs are waiting for them when they return to work.
Several of our staff members are helping participants with personal needs including grocery shopping for participants that cannot get out of their apartment due to mobility issues. We have also delivered needed supplies including toilet paper, food, and milk to participants that that have significant challenges due to health, income, and emotional well-being.
Highlight: In addition to developing Zoom Video Conferencing capabilities, we started a private WineBev Services Facebook Page for staff and participants to communicate and socialize. Our goal is to reach all our participants through a variety of social media platforms and traditional means of communication.
Our staff members are really enjoying talking to our participants each day and our Seniors are more than happy to talk to them. We have been speaking with residential homes about their access to computers so that we can conduct remote activities using Zoom Video Conferencing.
We know how social our Seniors are and how much they miss their daily recreation activities at our program. Our goal is to approximate that as much as possible, as soon as possible, and sustain our remote activities until everyone can safely return to site-based activities.
Supported Employment staff members are continuing to communicate with their participants through phone, email, text, and voice conferencing. Individual Supported Employment is still active in a limited capacity with some participants working in positions that were deemed to be essential by the State of California.
Group Supported Employment is following Shelter in Place guidelines and staff members are checking in with their respective work crews daily to offer support. We are in the process of developing distance learning and employment training for our participants using Zoom Video Conferencing and other means available.
