Director’s Letter
We would like to extend a huge Thank You to all who participated and donated in our Happy Days on the Horizon Fund Raiser. As we have donation envelopes still arriving in the mail, we will not have a final cash count until June. As it stands, we raised $41,000 to date. If you were not able to participate in May, please use the envelope attached to this newsletter to send in your annual donation.
Well, are we open or are we semi-closed? Our heads are spinning attempting to keep up with the various safety mandating agencies that we adhere to. This week the CDC announced that masks were not necessary when indoors if ALL were vaccinated. We have chosen to not ask members and guests if they are vaccinated or not, therefore, we are continuing to require that MASKS BE WORN AT ALL TIMES IN THE CENTER.
This decision was made after I attended a meeting on May 13th with the King County Health Department and representatives from 49 senior centers. It was jointly decided that it was not safe to have folks unmasked in mixed groups of vaccinated and unvaccinated within our buildings. We will no longer require temperatures taken at the door and all participants will be tracked within the class/program they are attending. Now, we must emphasize that if you do not feel well or have a temperature, please do not visit the center. Shoreline continues to have positive diagnoses each day as COVID-19 is still in our midst; we are simply a little safer having been vaccinated. If we note that someone is exhibiting poor health, we will ask them to leave the center.
Safety remains priority.
Friday staff trainings! Effective immediately, we the staff will be closing the center doors each Friday at 1:00 p.m. for staff training sessions and administrative duties. Please note – this is ONLY on Fridays. We will not answer telephone calls, emails or the front door. As a small group of 3 fulltime staff members, we are making every effort to bring back all of our previous programming plus maintain the emergency services initiated during COVID-19. Thank you for understanding our need for uninterrupted work time.
Receptionist Desk Those of you who have already returned to the center have noted that there is no seating in the lobby area and we continue to have plexi glass shields to protect our receptionist. All receptionist functions of the front desk are now electronic in order for us to meet the reporting demands of our funding sources. As the receptionist is working on spreadsheets, accounting software programs and coordinating the daily home delivered meals, we ask that you refrain from choosing to socialize at her station. The front desk is now a ‘working office space’, the same as our offices. The pandemic has changed our operations permanently and while we may not be able to visit at length, know that we are working on your behalf, always seeking new funding and programming options.
Wellness Studio and Senior Center Model – In January of 2020, the Board of Directors chose to support the senior center adopting a Wellness Model. We continue on this mission and while we will include new Life-Long Learning programs, each month we will add more Fitness & Wellness classes/workshops to improve mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. If you’ve relaxed in your fitness regiment, it’s time to take the pajamas off, get out of the house and get active again!
Check out our website for this month’s classes.
See you at the Center!
Theresa LaCroix