The REACH Centre has been significantly impacted by this pandemic including the cancellation of two major fundraisers, Walk to REACH and our next epic play production REACHing for Wonderland, and a drastic drop in donations as people are feeling the pressure of the loss of income. Our hope is to reschedule these events but the impact on our operations now is potentially devastating.
We have been advocating with local government on behalf of families dealing with intellectual or developmental disabilities during self-isolation. REACH has been in contact with MPP Alex Ruff, MP Bill Walker and Grey County to ensure equitable consideration is given to these vulnerable individuals ill-equipped to deal with all the necessary precautions. Our families are struggling and we are doing everything we can to ensure they feel supported and connected.
Since physical closure of the REACH Centre Grey Bruce due to COVID-19, the REACH team has been nimble to ensuring the well-being of our program participants. The team quickly shifted to embracing technology (old and new) to make this happen. We launched a participant portal on the website for REACH friends to stay connected. Every week the team creates and uploads new activities for participants to do at home and these are supported and celebrated in the chats.
In addition, we have Zoom conversation café sessions weekly so participants can see their friends and share what they have been doing while being safe and self isolating. The program participants are assigned to a different team member each week and they are contacted based on their communication skills and preferences. Some receive regular telephone calls to chat, some receive one to one Zoom chats, some participate in group Zoom chats and some participate in all three!
We have also been sending out kits to families via regular mail each week with all the materials 
they need included. The first kit was for friendship bracelets with enough materials for them to make one for themeselves and send one to a friend with the self addressed and stamped envelope contained in their kit. We have sent out seeds with peet pucks to grow marigolds at home to be transferred to the community garden when it is safe to do so. The next kit is going out today!
Even our volutneers rock as they have stepped up to help with the creation of kits and gifts to send to participants, arranging non- contact pick up and drop offs.
We are doing birthday parades for participants with birthdays that are happening during closure and we even have local emergency responders getting on board for this small act of kindness.
