Dear Friends and Members of the Great Lakes Networking Society of BC (GLBC). Thank you for your unwavering support, relationship, friendship, and commitment for helping and/or assisting us during the common cause of surviving the COVID-19 pandemic. As the COVID’19 out break evolves, the GLBC, our community and most other community groups/individuals are doing everything possible to support our community through this difficult time.
To–date, an un–estimated number in Vancouver, it is environs and beyond have tested positive for COVID 19, some are under mandatory quarantine and /or are receiving treatment for COVID 19.
What have we done to date as a society?
On-going measures are being carried out by various volunteer community members at our out–reach program. These include:
- Educating the communities on COVID’19 Pandemic Preparedness
Specific Response, we provide information specific to the type of outbreak and we will revise with more information as it comes available and/or when the situation changes. We focused on taking immediate steps to prevent the possible spread of the illness, avoid crowded spaces, shaking hands, giving high fives or hugs, touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, Increase your personal space to 6 feet/2m. Wash hands with soap and warm water for at least 20 seconds, if soap and water are not available, use an alcohol hand sanitizer containing at least 60% alcohol, disinfect and increase cleaning regimens by following enhanced Cleaning Procedures, communities to ensure they are engaging in good hand hygiene
- As we have been living with the current pandemic for 6 months, various strategies have been put in place as the various stages. At no time have we discontinued any of the strategies that were previously put in place; we have merely built upon them and changed them as more information becomes available and the global situation evolves.
We continue to follow the guidance of the provincial health officer, and the provincial government
- Supporting those who are not able, like seniors, those living with chronic diseases with shopping, preparing, and offering hot African culturally appropriate meals to individuals in the community.
- Sewing African prints Masks, and sourcing more resources
- Supply of personal protective equipment as Masks and gloves
- What are harm reduction supplies and why they are important now and always. Our volunteers pick up free harm reduction supplies at the community health agencies, and hand over the same to the people on the streets. Harm reduction supply distribution is an important component of public health, it helps promote safer and informed substance use and sex, reduces infections and the transmission of communicable diseases like HIV, Hep C, it as well helps to connect people to social support, other essential social services and clean supplies to those who use drugs on the streets in Vancouver. They include:
- Information about safer drug use, safer sex, communicable diseases, and community resources with Telephone numbers of the Safer places in DTES for detox
- Safer sex supplies including external and internal condoms and lube
- Sterile drug use kits for safer injection, crack and meth smoking, and snorting
- Injectable (IM) and nasal-spray (Narcan) naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses
- Fentanyl test strips (if using SIS/OPS services) and other drug testing services
- Phone-in in collaboration with African stages, Afro Canadian
- Writing to various organisations, government departments, businesses, individuals, and the City of Vancouver for financial support, material, and or any other support
Stage 2 was implemented when the Provincial Health Authority declared a pandemic. We continue to act in accordance with the Provincial Health Officer, our implemented Programs continue with all procedures outlined in Stage 1 ?????
At GLBC we ensure community members remain connected to their friends and families through other means, such as phone calls, Zoom, Facetime, etc. We document our visits, challenges, and phone–ins, however, we are not able to collect data of the sick, those exposed to the virus, in quarantine, those tested or those awaiting results, those tested and confirmed to be okay and those that were tested and on medication, those recovering or/have recovered. (Note We are mindful of the privacy of the information gathered/asked and treat it with utmost confidentiality)
(Note: We have hard Positive financial support as from April 2020 from the Canadian Red-cross ($40,000) The City of Vancouver (Direct Social Services (DSS) grants, funding to address inequity and mitigate conditions that create vulnerability for residents ($15,000) and the COVID-19 Cultural Impact Critical Assistance (CICA) a one-time funding for negatively impacted by COVID-19, to support creative development/production of artistic our projects ($5,000). Since April 2020, we have supplied for the last 10 month a total of 858 – African culturally appropriate hot meals. 600 Face Masks, from the Canadian Red Cross and the ones made from the African prints, two boxes of Gloves from Red-Cross, one Webinar, (we remain hopeful that we shall continue getting more support to keep doing what we do for our community)
A Successful community COVID’19 dialogue was conducted on a webinar on November 21st, 2020. Community members suggested various coping strategies majority of which have been put in action
(Note: There will be a follow up dialogue on December 19th, 2020, – 9 am to 1pm, that will start with our monthly meeting. We are putting together the Youth Debate on the “Hoe COVID has impacted Environment positively” (Six young people who will talk about which has been the best time on the Earth “Climate Change, then and Climate Change during the COVID’19; Music by 5 Artists, 2 poets, 3 Drums/Indigenous and African/Caribbean; and the Webinar in collaboration with People of African Descent African Stages Association of BC, and ACPNet BC. The community Webinar will help us identify the priority to provide a culturally appropriate safe mental health service. If identified, we shall source Honorarium for two community counselors (Black, Brown, or Indigenous who will help run the culturally appropriate safe mental health counselling service. (We shall send out the Zoom Meeting ID)
We have collected assorted essential materials from various sources and distributed them among the community members for these last 10 months. The following activities are still at the fore front of our intervention measures.
- Volunteer opportunities and Train – COVID-19 VOLUNTEERING
At GLBC, we have been impacted by this crisis and we have significantly changed our programming and processes. Please be patient, response times might be a little slower than normal.
This time of COVID’19, we have recognized that many individuals across B C are eager to volunteer their time and support communities through this crisis. The interest in volunteering is appreciated by us and the community we support. Volunteering during this time period looks different than it normally does, with an increase in virtual opportunities as people self isolate and practice social distancing. We have seen many other informal groups formed to support communities and neighbourhoods throughout this time. We recommend that you use utmost caution when exploring these volunteer options, putting your health, safety, and privacy first.
For up to date health information on COVID-19 please visit the Government of Canada – Public Health page.
- Source for and distribute Personal Protective Equipment and basic Medical supplies to community members in shelters, streets and those in individual residences who express need for the same.
- Collect and distribute Home supplies such as food, soap, sugar, etc. to community members, or even with the harm reduction on the Hastings streets of DTES Vancouver
- Preparation of culturally appropriate African hot meals
- Phone-ins – If you live alone or are in isolation, we advice that our community members stay connected to families and friends by phone calls, emails, text, Skype or Zoom. We ask each one of us to practise social distancing, but this does not mean social isolation. Reach out to people to Ensure Our Own Wellbeing as We Care for Others During the COVID-19 Crisis. We 4 organizations, call-in and put together the data of how many community members we have reached out to and spoken to. We try to reach 40 people per week, among the 4 organisations, 10 each organization (1) Great Lakes; (2) African Descent Education, Equity development; (3) African Stages; and (4) ACPNET
- Source for and extend Financial and other aids to Non-status community members (Refugees, New-comers, and International Students from Africa) who have been in quarantine or at home without work, or those in the community who do not qualify for the government support since April 2020
- If we receive, tablets, Laptops, it will make things easier for our Youth to train of seniors on how to access internet, and use this new technology, to talk to their loved ones, locally and internationally
- Honorarium for two community counselors (Black/Brown/Indigenous) to provide culturally safe Mental health service identified as a priority at the upcoming community COVID-19 webinar to be held on Saturday December- 19th 2020
- To Continue strategizing for funds resourcing for long-term coping measures.
We shall realise all the above if we continue with, love, care, compassionate acts of financial giving, and tangible donations of equipment, services and In-kind.
Important Ways to Help
- Reach out to us as, Pastor/Imam, brother, sister, colleague, friend, community member etc. It calmly helps spiritually, and or emotionally
- Volunteer with our out-reach program in Community Black community and on the streets in the DTES Vancouver
- Continue adhering to the provincial issued guidelines and regulations
- Contact the (Africa) Great Lakes Networking Society of BC to donate equipment, services, items, or financial support for Community members’
wellness.
Please do all you are doing to keep our communities safe. Thank you again for your generosity and compassion.
For enquiries and further correspondence
Email: info@greatlakessociety.org
Visit us at
Tel: + 1 604 771 6686
Cell: + 1604 732 4759
Cell: +1 604 789 4212
Toll Free # 1 833 222 4563
Fax: +1 604 225 8751
Great Lakes Networking Society of BC COVID-19 Status Report
December 7th, 2020
Outline of Status Report
Donations Received
- Material from Red Cross – Face Mask and Gloves
- KOSAB Services Inc. Africa Print materials ($500)
- Financial – Red Cross ($40,000)
- City of Vancouver (15,000)
- City of Vancouver Arts/Culture ($5,000)
- Community visits – NIL
Numbers at a glance – Only the record of Phone-ins 10 x 4
organizations, at 10 per week
Totals 40 per week
*Action plan/Pending or ongoing activities – as mentioned
above
Hand Made Masks from KOSAB 400 pieces
Community Visits – 2
80 Face Masks, Gloves hand sanitizers to Norah Hendrix Place
Follow-up once every week
phone call – every day to know how those we are supporting are doing
GLBC – UPDATES
3 Kenyans Phone calls – Immigration hearing done on Dec 2nd, for one male young man – Successful for PR (D)
Looking for the lawyers for the two, got the lawyer for (F) and still looking around for (B)
Lost one African male – living at Norah Hendrix Place in Vancouver, dead when visiting Africa November 2020
Community Visits – 3 by ACPNET at ST. Paul Hospital
Suspended visits doing phone-ins only
Media Quote November 30
OTTAWA (Reuters) – The economic impact of the second wave of COVID-19 in Canada has been deeper than expected and the government must be agile to ensure it can respond to gaps in supports should any emerge, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Thursday. Freeland told a Vancouver business group by video conference that the government hopes the supports it has put in place will get businesses and Canadians through to the end of the pandemic, but did not discount additional aid if needed. “The virulence of the second wave and its economic impact is a little deeper than people thought it would be,” Freeland said. “I am hopeful that we now have the social safety net … to get through to the end of COVID. But I believe you have to be flexible,” she said. “If we find that there are some gaps, obviously we will be agile and look to fill those gaps.”
*Acknowledgments: To our Funders, Volunteers, the Board, stakeholders, partners and communities, thank you.
How to Innovate Amidst Disruption
What an unexpected and challenging year we all had! We hope you, reading this, your colleagues and your loved ones were able to navigate 2020 safely and we wish all of you warmth and connection to positively start the new year 2021.
As often happens in turbulent times, the pandemic has offered us an opportunity to reflect deeply, prototype new avenues of growth, reconsider existing actions, and reinforce our commitment toward positive change. This newsletter shares how we did all the above.
Great Lakes Society looks forward to working more closely (even if remotely) with everyone again in 2021 and beyond, to shape the “better normal” we all wish for!
STATEMENT
Over the past weeks, we continue to witness new cases of the virus amongst our community and or the community members we know. To date, Majority people who were quarantined, hospitalized, or put under strict monitoring as a result of COVID-19 have either recovered, still on treatment or confirmed to be in good health.
What moves you; what Empowers you/others and what is Changing lives?
Further information can be accessed in the following resources:
Public Health Agency of Canada: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection.html
Public Health Agency of Canada (affected area’s): https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/health-professionals/covid-19-affected-areas-list.html
Videos:
Handwashing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHISh559oho
Cough etiquette:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2jbEetZ8G4
Donning PPE’s: https://media.phsa.ca/home/iframe?url=BCCA/bccahealth%5cPuttingOnPPE_20200312
Doffing PPE’s: https://media.phsa.ca/home/iframe?url=BCCA/bccahealth%5cRemovingPPE_20200312
Training
Through Canadian Red Cross
