UCP of the North Bay
Adult Day Program Update
May 8th, 2020
Helping Participants through Personal Connection
“UCP of the North Bay would like to reassure our participants, family members, and the community that we are doing everything possible to stay socially connected by providing online training and education programs that support the continued health and well-being of the children and adults that we serve.”
UCP of the North Bay initiated a Giving Tuesday Campaign that began on Tuesday, May 5 and will run through May 31. The campaign raises funds for purchasing and “giving” Amazon Fire Tablets to children and adults with disabilities that are unable to join our online classes or visit with family and friends without them. Anyone can participate in this campaign by visiting www.ucpnb.org, clicking on Donate to #GivingTuesdayNow, and donating $60 for one tablet. In just three days, we have ordered 70 tablets for distribution to our program participants. From April 30 through May 6, UCP of the North Bay programs presented 77 online classes with a total attendance of 1,247 at an average of 16 participants per class. On average, 92% of our participants are speaking with their assigned staff member individually each day.
Seven participants joined online classes for the first time this week. Our staff members have been training families and residential facilities on how to use Zoom to attend classes. One of our staff members who lives in close proximity to several participants taught them how to use Zoom on their smart phones from a safe distance in front of their homes. During our weekday morning contact with individual participants, they are asked by our staff members if they are okay and if they need any essential items like food or toiletries as part of our wellness assessment. As a result, we delivered masks and plastic utensils to one home, food to another, and activities to a participant to supplement their weekly classes.
OADS has identified the need for tablets for five of our participants who do not currently have the ability to access the Zoom classes. UCP of the North Bay is purchasing Amazon Fire Tablets for those participants to help them get connected. Our staff members continue to reach out to participants daily to gauge how they are coping through our wellness assessment. We are pleased to see that class attendance is increasing weekly and that active participants are encouraging other participants to join them. Both participants and families are very appreciative of the structure and consistency that our classes provide their family members.
OADS is providing a balance of activity oriented classes and employment training classes. In Workplace Safety, we discussed the different businesses that Custom Recycling Solutions serves and what precautions the work crews need to take when servicing their work sites. In Crafting, our staff worked with parents and residential facilities to create Mother’s Day gifts from household objects. As part of Health and Safety, we reviewed emergency preparedness as it relates to Covid-19. With all of our lesson plans, we try to provide as many practical health and safety applications for our participants as possible.
Gone for Good continues to increase class attendance by our participants, largely due to our daily participant outreach and contact with families. We are teaching from five to eight online classes per day that are also reaching participants from WineBev Services and OADS. We are continuing to provide our required staff member trainings including Health & Safety by R&D Transportation. Our participants are sharing their ideas for new online classes during our online Lunch Bunch Hour and we are incorporating their ideas into our planning meetings.
Our staff members continue to operate elements of our Gone for Good recycling business even though our facility is closed to the public. We are also preparing for partially or fully re-opening by maintaining our vehicles with inspections every two weeks and thoroughly cleaning our facility weekly. Prior to sheltering in place, we had two Gone for Good participant crews working at our Fairfield Thrift Center. We have closed that store, but we will be reopening at another location to be announced with the same job opportunities for our participants.
One of our staff members is shopping and delivering food to two participants and is arranging for them to get weekly deliveries through Insta-Cart. This highlights the importance of having daily contact with our participants that allows us to respond to their emerging wellness needs.
Our Senior Adult Program welcomed an additional Senior Companion sponsored by North Bay Regional Center to our online classes. We provided a laptop and computer training for one of our staff members who is now able to present online art classes for our participants. Our senior adults especially enjoyed the virtual tour of Egypt that was part of our Current Events class.
Group Supported Employment job sites, deemed essential, continue to be maintained by staff members until our participants can resume their duties. The exception is the Petaluma Recycling Center, where three participants who live independently now are working in our group supported employment program after receiving Covid-19 Job Safety Training. They are completing their first week of work following the re-opening of the Petaluma Recycling Center as an essential service.
Individuals employed at local businesses through Individual Supported Employment that lost their job due to Covid-19 are receiving assistance from job coaches with filing for unemployment and re-opening their case with the Department of Rehabilitation. We are working with the Department of Rehabilitation to develop new jobs in essential services while maintaining regular contact with those individuals that lost their job.
