Full Circle

Circle Center's Weekly Update

" I want to see him smile again -

like he does when he sees his buddies ”

- Family Response in Annual Caregiver Survey regarding reopening

Welcome back to Full Circle, our weekly newsletter designed to keep you in the know about what’s going on while we are all practicing physical distancing.

As we are busy preparing our center and our staff for our first phase of reopening, we are also continuing to sort through responses to our annual caregiver survey and making our weekly check-in calls. And we are hearing it echoed time and time again - the stress on caregivers has increased. Taking an already stressful role and increasing it tenfold over night, while adjusting to new schedules, telework, and the constancy of the role of caregiver is taking a toll on all of us. And the reverberation throughout - that weighs heavily on our minds - that the lack of socialization for our participants is having a detrimental effect on their mental and physical well-being.

This is both a reminder to us of why our program is so essential to the lives of the people that we serve, as well as a call to action. We are more than ready to welcome our friends back, and to see them light up like they do when they walk through our doors and are greeted by their friends and our staff. But we know it will be a process, a process that will likely feel too slow and very laborious for us all at first. However, we know that each part of our new routine and each phase in our reopening is important to the health and safety of our participants, and that a slow and steady path is the one most likely to lead us to our goal: to see our Center full and bustling with the music, the laughter and the sounds of our participants and staff filling our halls again.

You are our partners in this endeavor, and your support has been incredibly important as we weathered this storm together.

Thank you Nick!

Nick Meads has been with Circle Center for 6 years. As our Wellness Manager and a Recreational Therapist, he became a certified Certified Physical Trainer for Senior Adults in order to learn more about the population we serve and to best be able to assist our participants. Nick served with compassion and he was always conscientious about the changing needs of our participants.

Our in house "Renaissance Man" he was our go to for everything from questions about beekeeping to help with any task we asked of him, including dressing up as Prince Charming for our Disney Princess Halloween Parade!

He was constantly looking for opportunities to learn and grow in his own development and continue his education, with an interest in pursuing his MBA in business. He has been offered an opportunity to work for the Defense General Supply and we know he will apply the same dedication and zeal for learning in his newest endeavor as he did during his time at Circle Center. He will be greatly missed here, but please join us as we wish him well with what we know is a bright future that awaits him! Good Luck Nick!

All Hands on CENTER Deck!

It's always been a family affair here at Circle Center, but never more so than when the need to pitch in and 'get the job done' arises! Our team has been hard at work preparing the Center to best able to serve our participants while adhering to our new safety measures. And we've pulled in some extra hands along the way!

Elizabeth Perkins' dad, Lee Price, helped us clear and take away shrubbery and leaves to keep our outdoor spaces and parking lot clear!

Even our littlest helpers have been busy, as Jay Burkhardt and his son Corbin helped with Center clean up!

Do we look like Superheroes in our masks? Our Super Crew is assembled and masked and READY to welcome you! Just like our Welcome Back bulletin board shows!

More Center Updates & A WELCOME return !

A generous donation of thermometers has allowed us to deliver them to participants at home so they may begin to adhere to the protocol of daily temperature taking - just one of the many new health and safety measures that are essential to our phased reopening.

Board Member Paula Desel came to our rescue and donated treads to replace the worn ones on our loading dock!

We are glad to welcome Sheila Cook Horton, C.N.A, back from furlough! As we reopen on Monday with a smaller census due to public health and safety precautions, Sheila joins our small but mighty team in providing care to the 12 participants per day who are returning during phase 1. Sheila is critical to the success of our team because she is not only an amazing CNA, but she can also provide medication management support and back up for our nurse, Casey Warren. Multiple skill sets among staff allows us to better serve our participants as we carefully and slowly ramp up on site services.

We are glad to have Sheila back to the Center!

Jay safely making a delivery to a participant family!

New treads ready to safely accommodate deliveries!

Community Partner Spotlight : Family Lifeline

We are honored to highlight another community partner who understands the need for caregiver support and the detrimental effects of social isolation. Family Lifeline offers long term person-centered, trauma informed support services tailored to individual needs, such as the Visiting Volunteers program.

Through Visiting Volunteers they strive to meet the social and emotional needs of some of the community’s most vulnerable population - older adults and persons with disabilities. Through weekly visits, the program matches program participants with volunteers who provide companionship, outreach, and advocacy. During the pandemic, in person visits have been suspended and volunteers are making weekly reassurance phone calls to participants that are vitally important during this time to reduce social isolation.

Family Lifeline is currently accepting referrals for new participants - if you are interested in participating in the program, please contact Caitlin Reynolds, Visiting Volunteer Coordinator at [email protected] or at 804-402-6338.

Thank you Family Lifeline, for working to ensure overall wellness, healthy aging, and caregiver support in our community, especially during this time. Click HERE to learn more about Family Lifeline and the support services they offer.

Caregiver Survey Reminder

Thank you to those of you have thoughtfully provided answers and feedback to our Caregiver Survey, and if you haven't had the chance to yet - good news there is still time! If you haven't yet returned your Caregiver Survey you still can! Survey responses are essential to us as we make adjustments to our programming as well as to compile necessary data to receive community funding. They are also an opportunity for you to provide feedback about our services, as well as your thoughts on how Circle Center continues to navigate the Pandemic. If you need another copy, please call Jay at 804.355.5717 x210

Our Annual Anonymous Caregiver Survey is designed for current and past participant families who have attended Circle Center in the last 9 months. Thank you!

Moving our Mission Forward

How can you help:

DONATE Your donation means more than it ever has. Consider a donation today to help us stay ready to open our doors as soon as we are safely able to! Click here to donate now!
FOLLOW! Make sure you LIKE our Facebook Page and share our posts!
SHOP Did you know you can support Circle Center while shopping? Stock up on your essentials from Amazon and Kroger, and support Circle Center in the process. Click here to learn how!

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