UPDATE ON COVID-19 RESPONSE

At NHCIA we have made some changes to the supports and services we provide in order to protect the health and wellbeing of the people we support, our staff people, and the community.

Our office at 2 Alice Street is still open our regular hours, Monday to Friday 8:30-12:00 and 1:00-4:30. Telephone calls are being answered as normal. We require visitors to knock before being granted entry. We are only allowing one visitor into the office at a time and have set up social distancing barriers. We are frequently disinfecting surfaces throughout the day and those entering the building are to wash their hands upon entry.

Our office at 113 Hastings Street, the Rock Edge Centre, is closed to visitors at this time. Our Youth Transition Facilitator and our Child and Family Facilitator are finding ways to provide support remotely and are still available to speak by telephone at 613-332-2090. We thank them for their commitment to the children, youth, and families supported during this uniquely challenging time!

We are no longer offering group activities through our Community Participation program, including our HUB day program. Our Community Connections Facilitators are coming up with ideas to support people remotely and offering activities for people to do from home. We thank them for their creativity and commitment to finding new ways to support people!

Our Supported Independent Living program is still operational, providing essential supports to individuals in their homes. We have changed the way these supports are being provided to reduce risk of exposure for people supported, staff people, and community members. The people we support are being encouraged to stay home. We are doing shopping for people and delivering supplies and items needed to their homes to reduce their need to go out into the community. Our staff people have been doing an excellent job of finding ways to support people to enjoy their time at home and stay in touch with their friends and family. We are sharing information with the people we support to help them understand the importance of staying home and social distancing and their role in stopping the spread. We encourage community members to remind the people we support of social distancing if they see someone out in the community. We thank our staff people in our Supported Independent Living program for working diligently through this challenging time to provide the support these individuals require most through all seasons of life.

Thank you to everyone involved in our continuation of operations; our staff people, our board of directors, our community partners, and of course the individuals and families we support. We appreciate your efforts and your understanding as we make the necessary changes COVID-19 has brought. We continue to watch for updates from Public Health, CDC, WHO, and the provincial and federal government and respond responsibly according to the information available. We will continue to provide updates as things change and we look forward to making it through this time, stronger together!