For the last two years Melissa Thompson, Senior Services Manager, oversaw all programs and services for the Seniors. This included all client services, nutrition, transportation, supervision of 1.98 FTE, and Clackamas County grant reporting. She accepted a position with the City of Hillsboro as the Adaptive Community Senior Center Manager. Her last day was Friday, March 27th. Her friendly demeanor, compassion for others, and knowledge and experience helped our department grow in a multitude of ways. She will be truly missed but we are excited for this opportunity for her and her family. We thank her for the contributions to the City of Sandy community members and staff.
On March 13th, the Community Center closed to the public and canceled all onsite programs and rentals. All senior trips, programs, and activities with the exception of meals on wheels from Mid- March to the end of April have been cancelled. Refunds for all senior trips have been processed. The meals on wheels program has continued with no interruption to our service area. Community services, library, and transit staff have been delivering the meals and extra precautions have been put into place to protect the health and safety of the participants and staff. We continue to serve over 85 meals on M, T, W, & F with frozen meals being delivered for Thursday and the weekends. Some clients have dropped off due to COVID19 but we have also added others to our routes. All frozen meal cost for March were fully covered by the county.
In addition, staff have been reaching out to over 100 seniors on an ongoing basis to check on their health and safety. If a need arises, the Community Services staff reach out to Sandy Helping hands for volunteers to assist with this need. We are also keeping in contact with Ant Farm as additional needs arise.
Weekly Zoom meetings have been occurring with the Clackamas County Community centers. This has been a great collaboration to compare procedures, level of services, PPE needs, emerging issues, and operations. At this point, most of the center are not planning on re-opening before mid to end of May.
Recreation
The beginning of March traditionally marks the end of the Mountain Storm youth basketball season. This year it was somewhat disrupted by the COVID19 public health emergency. One of two Jamborees was completed prior to suspending all recreation programs. This year more than 200 players, volunteer coaches and High School referees participated in the youth basketball league. In addition to providing a team sports experience for grades 3-6, the program provides work experience for High School students. It is a challenging job and helps prepare them for future opportunities. Games and practices took place in Oregon Trail School District gyms including Kelso, Firwood, Sandy Grade, Boring Middle and Cedar Ridge. Jamborees take place at the High School which is very exciting for the young players. The department worked closely with the district and the prep basketball program to coordinate gym time, so that players could practice and play games close to home. Refunds for unused portions of classes were completed for March classes. Adjustments will continue to be made where needed.
The Department will be providing online classes with Kinderdance and sharing other resources with families. Parents are looking for activities they can do from home so their children continue to thrive during this challenging time. Planning for what may be continued social distancing while providing summer activities is currently being conducted. The department is in contact with other agencies as a way to share information, resources and best practices going forward.
Summer planning was nearing completion and included outdoor education, music, sports, acting, and other camps. The department remains in contact with providers about summer programs and is prepared to adjust as required by the public health challenges. Some providers will find it hard to hire and train summer staff in time for the coming summer season. Others will be prepared to provide activities when we are able to open. The department looks forward to providing the community of Sandy with a variety of summer activities and experiences when we get through this together. Thank you to Carol Cohen for her work on identifying new programming opportunities. Among others, these include Acting for Kids and Teens, and Skate Sessions at We Are Camp.
ESA will be reaching out to the Technical Advisory Committee to set up a meeting to determine some adjustments to the timeline. The Longest Day Parkway event has been cancelled. A new alternative will be determined for another public outreach.
Special Events
The month of March was decision making for a lot of programs and events. The volunteer fair in March was the first event to be cancelled. Additionally, the following events have been canceled Senior Easter Egghunt, Solv & Shredding, Noah’s Quest, Longest Day Parkway and any July Summer Sounds events.
The grant submitted for Community Partnership Program Clackamas County Tourism received notice that all grants will be suspended until next year. This event was to be the Corn Hole event with local businesses.
Carol did receive a grant from USA Pickleball Assoc for $250. This grant will be used to supply two portable nets for Cedar Ridge. Tractor Supply Co. also gave a significant discount for a metal container to safely store the nets and other equipment on site. Efforts will continue to reach out to OTSD with a plan on getting the courts ready for play.
Parks
The Community Garden remains open and is nearly sold out. The Ant Farm will be doing repairs to the garden during the month of April. Gardening is one activity that people are enjoying during the closures, both at home and in community gardens.
The Moda Assist campaign was in full swing in March. Although Sandy did not win the grant it was great to see the community come together and highlighted the enthusiasm for more universal design in our park system. It was also a good opportunity to share with the community that the city was in the process of updating the Parks and Trails Master Plan, and how to get involved. A lot was learned during the campaign and the engagement on social media was exciting.
ESA will be setting up a meeting with the TAC in the next month. Changes to the timeline will need to be adjusted due to the COVID19 pandemic. Additionally, due to the cancellation of the Longest Day Parkway, a new community outreach will be established.