You may recall that the Wayne County Foundation offered rapid grants to local non-profit organizations to assist their support of our community. We followed up with two of the grant recipients to learn what these grants mean to their organization and how they’re using the funds to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and protect the most vulnerable members of the community.
Quaker Hill Conference Center
Many healthcare workers on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 are unduly burdened with the fear of carrying the virus home to vulnerable family members. We also have some who live out of town and have a long commute after such an arduous day at work. Quaker Hill Conference Center realized that they have a solution to these problems and make their Woodard Lodge available to Reid Health workers who need an isolated quiet place to rest and shower between shifts.
The grant that Quaker Hill Conference Center received has gone to assist with utilities, housekeeping, and laundry service. Quaker Hill has been honored to support everyone who has taken advantage of this offer and will continue to do so until they return to regular operations. In addition to this, Quaker Hill was able to assist a retiring Reid Health manager who had already sold her house and planned to move outside of the area when COVID-19 broke out. She was asked to stay through Fall of 2020 to assist with operations and Quaker Hill was happy to offer her a furnished apartment.
Centerstone of Indiana: Children’s Department
Centerstone is on a mission to change people’s lives by providing mental health care, addiction treatment, and community education and we are privileged to have a Centerstone facility in Wayne County. When COVID-19 hit our community, their clinicians were required to move away from face-to-face, in-person support. This meant their staff was faced with a big problem: how do we continue to support children with mental health needs during a time of great stress? They turned to web conferencing and a set of special tools to prevent the rise of trauma or Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) scores in our community.
The Children’s Department used their grant to purchase creative tools like hand puppets, silly wigs, costume kits, trauma support teddy bears, and workbooks to address and resolve trauma with children and youth. These items – which seem like just toys to an outsider – engage our youngest Wayne County residents in tele-therapy and allow them to foster a healing relationship with their mental health provider, despite the physical distance and computer screen between them. With Centerstone’s continued efforts, our local children will come through this disruptive period strong and ready to take on the challenges of whatever comes next.
