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Sep 20

Community Partnership on Aging seeks to re-open centers by early November, but has a lot of preparation to do – cleveland.com

SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio -- The Community Partnership on Aging, which serves seniors in six Hillcrest communities, is preparing to re-open its various locations to the public in early November, but cant do so before some things are worked out.

The CPA, which does its work from community centers within its communities, had to curtail its in-person activities March 17 due to the coronovirus. Since then, it has continued on with its lunch program for those 60 and older, by handing over food curbside to those who drive to its locations. It has also been ding some fresh produce distribution and holding outdoor exercise classes. But, as older people are more susceptible to the dangers of the coronavirus, the CPA has been limited in delivering the some of the services many area seniors have come to depend upon.

Looking ahead to re-opening buildings, CPA Executive Director Wendy Albin Sattin said, The state has put out some mandatory pieces that have to be accomplished before we can open. And those are details that were working out right now, as are other senior centers across Cuyahoga County.

As of now, she said, we are going to maintain our outdoor programming and our virtual programming, with the eye towards moving some of our programs indoors at the beginning of November. Those outdoor programs, held at the various community centers, include yoga, tai chi, senior exercise, walking groups and a meditation group.

Because the community centers will be used as polling places Nov. 3, the CPA will open in those locations a couple days after the election, and after those buildings receive a thorough after-election cleaning.

Certain indoor activities, such as those centered on knitting or wood carving, Sattin said, can not be started up indoors until the CPA figures out how they can be held safely to include social distancing, wearing of masks and extreme cleanliness.

Acknowledging that it could be cold outside in late October, Sattin said plans are being mapped out in case outdoor programs have to be brought inside earlier than the first week of November.

The state has given senior centers guidelines to follow when allowing people inside, such as providing hand sanitizer and creating traffic patterns inside buildings that keep people apart and allow free access in and out of rooms and buildings. Staff members must also watch videos on subjects such as sanitation and distancing ahead of the re-openings.

We also have to determine how many people can safely be in the buildings, and were in the process of doing that right now, Sattin said.

The more critical part we have to deal with is the state requirement that all staff has to be tested for COVID every two weeks, and so thats what were trying to work out right now.

Gov. Mike DeWine has said that senior centers can open as of Sept. 21, but Sattin said that the testing system has yet to be worked out. She added, We dont know the parameters (for testing) yet.

She said it remains a gray area at this time whether staff who work for cities at the various community centers will have to be tested for COVID, as well.

If pre-planning is accomplished earlier than expected, Sattin said CPA could reopen its doors earlier than November.

Sattin said CPA has 18 staff members who rotate work among the community centers when not working at the nonprofits headquarters at the South Euclid Community Center, 1370 Victory Drive. CPA also serves seniors living in Mayfield Village, Mayfield Heights, Lyndhurst, Highland Heights and, most recently Richmond Heights.

Aside from food distribution and social work, CPA service has yet to fully begin furnishing its services in Richmond Heights as the virus struck just as the city joined as a CPA member. In addition, improvements are in the process of being made at the Kiwanis Lodge at Richmond Heights Community Park, which serves as the citys community center. All of the cities' community centers are currently closed to the public.

COVID has created a greater need among area seniors for food services. Sattin said that, at the height of this years food pickup, the number of seniors served was 336 percent greater than at a comparable time in 2019.

These past few months have showed us how nimble we have to be to keep up with the demand and serve our own folks, she said.

We definitely miss our participants, and I think they miss coming here. Their isolation has been at the top of our minds, and how to counteract that. But we really do look forward to the day that we will see our participants in our centers and pick up where left off.

See more Sun Messenger news here.

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Community Partnership on Aging seeks to re-open centers by early November, but has a lot of preparation to do - cleveland.com

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