John's usual--
Last week was a tough week for CLI. We were missing 7 out of 17 employees. This was a combination of scheduled & unscheduled events. Hopefully, this will be a pretty isolated experience. We've made it through the past year & a half at pretty much our current staffing level. We are working on non-disruptive ways to coordinate staff absences because we need to make sure that CLI staff can take care of their own obligations and spend special time with their own people. However, murphy's law being what it is, we are also building a few ways to consolidate staffing groups if needed and also a last resort plan where we might have shut down just a few programs and keep others open.
This way, if we find ourselves in a situation where we simply don't have enough staff to deliver the originally scheduled services-- we'll have a few fallback plans (B, C, D, etc.) of how we'll adjust. I'm pretty apprehensive about some fall COVID spikes as Ohio shifts back indoors. CLI's new fallback plans might affect different people in different ways depending on scheduled services. This will be important to keep in mind because the notices on your one-call message might be very different from the notice on someone else's one-call message. We'll be running a few tests of the new system that we set up later this month. This will be a transparent process will working 1:1 with everyone's ISP team as we sort this out. There are some pluses too-- as this might create opportunities to quickly consolidate staff & clients to jump on unscheduled opportunities-- like boat trips and advocacy events.
CLI's next fundraiser is on Halloween. We'll be renting lanes & tables at Kenilee Lanes for $100 each. This will get you bowling, pizza, snacks & soft drinks for up to 6 people, followed by a screening of The Nightmare Before Christmas. All profits will go toward the wheelchair accessible renovation project planned for spring of 2022. FYI-- this fundraiser will be wheelchair accessible. CLI has a portable ramp in the space and staff will help people into the dining area and also up onto the lanes. If anyone needs to use an accessible bathroom, we have two accessible bathrooms a few doors down. Not ideal obviously, but I do love the Teddy Roosevelt quote-- "do what you can, with what you have, from where you are." By the way-- CLI is happy to share our accessible restrooms with anyone that needs that accommodation, regardless of why they need it. We know that there are veterans, seniors, and many others in our community that benefit from accessible facilities and we want to be part of the solution.
This Tuesday is the next Market in the Park behind CLI's West Seminary Property. Stop by and grab an autumn treat. We're planning on some iffy weather, so it will be a warm one this time around. Hope to see you there. The vendor turnout has been pretty great-- both in terms of the number and diversity of the local vendors.
Have a great week. Keep your hands clean and the people around you safe.
John
