Dear New Hope friends,

Today I am grateful to report that New Hope has seen a marked decline in COVID-19 activity among the individuals we serve and our associates. While this virus continues to affect those we serve, their caregivers and the way we run our programs every day, it feels like, for now, we are on the mend.

As we begin to look forward to what is next for New Hope, I am cautiously optimistic that we can begin to move toward reopening some of our services which have been halted by this pandemic. Just as Governor Holcomb has provided his steps to getting Indiana Back on Track, New Hope intends to do the same.

New Hope’s “Back on Track” plan will be a slow and deliberate process. The first step took place on May 18th when we began allowing limited visitation at our Supportive Living Program. I know so many families wanted to see their loved ones at New Hope and we are excited for them to do so with some limitations. For Group Homes, New Hope will continue to follow the State’s guidance which does not allow visitors at this time. We are hopeful that this restriction will be lifted shortly, and we will let all those families know as soon as we do. Thank you to all of our New Hope families for following these limitations and for their patience as we work through new procedures to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved.

We are also working to get our Day Services program “Back on Track” for some of the individuals we serve. For the protection of those we serve and our associates, Day Services will have more requirements for participation than usual. The individuals who return to Day Services will need to be able to wear a face mask and maintain social distancing guidelines. We understand that this will not be possible for everyone that has been previously served in Day Services. We will start with a small group of individuals and hope others will return as they become more comfortable with the requirements.

We are beginning to learn how to do things in this new world, and as we get “Back on Track” we will continue to offer creative and meaningful services. Bingo is being brought to us via Zoom as are a weekly Bible study and monthly movies. Our telehealth therapy services are proving effective, and our therapists are finding new ways to support their clients. Just like you, we want to end all the limitations as soon as possible; however, our first goal is to keep the individuals we serve and our staff safe and healthy. To that end, we will continue to get “Back on Track” using the most up to date guidelines from the CDC and the State Department of Health as well as our data on COVID-19 activity at New Hope to inform our decisions.

It has been a long road to get to this point, but we are excited about the future and so thankful to all of the amazing caregivers who have gotten us to this point. Please continue to pray for New Hope that we can safely get “Back on Track”.

Take good care and stay well,
Allison