 Welcome, you're tuned into the COVID-19 community report here on KDRT 95.7 FM in Davis, California. I'm Autumn Labbe-Renau, and today is Tuesday, September 1, 2020. We're sharing local news and resources, focusing on what's impacting Davis and nearby cities in Yolo County during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have two interviews coming up today, and then next week I'll host Corinne Motokaitis about the impact of the pandemic. On youth sports, from her perspective, as co-director of Davis Aquamonsters. Going to catch up with some important statistics today. Yolo County reported 34 COVID-19 new cases yesterday, bringing the total number of county residents infected to 2,424 with 52 deaths countywide since the start of the pandemic. The county's online dashboard reports that 29 of those deaths have been in Woodland. 13 in West Sacramento, 9 in the unincorporated areas of the county, and 1 in Davis. Davis has now seen a total of 256 cases of COVID-19, and interestingly, more than half of them in individuals between the ages of 18 and 34. Statewide, California has seen just over 700,600,000 cases, 12,933 deaths, and listen to this, more than 11,373,000 residents have been tested, and there's a 7-day test positivity rate of 4.6%. In a graph on the Yolo County Department of Public Health's website, Yolo County sits at about the halfway point on a list of counties and their case numbers with Los Angeles counties squarely at the top of the list. And nationally, folks, we've crossed the $6 million people mark of cases this week with 183,000 deaths. Those are some sobering statistics. Yesterday, in some good news, Yolo County began allowing salons and barbershops to resume indoor operations. We hope that's good news. While following state of California guidance, the county's face covering order and strict social distancing protocols. The state of California revealed on August 28th its new tiered framework titled Blueprint for a Safer Economy, which aims to reduce COVID-19 in the state, but also provides revised criteria for loosening and tightening restrictions on various activities. Every county in California is assigned to a tier. There are four, the most serious being widespread, and that's where Yolo County sits based on our rate of new cases and test positivity. At a minimum, counties must remain in a tier for at least three weeks before moving forward, and they must meet the next tier's criteria for two consecutive weeks. Additionally, shopping malls, including indoor malls, destination shopping centers, strip and outlet malls, and swap meets can also reopen in Yolo County, subject to the state's guidance. And finally, the Green Check Program is a new voluntary program from Yolo County that businesses can apply for to show their incompliance with state and local guidance regarding COVID-19 and that public health and safety is a priority for them. Through this incentive program, businesses will need to fill out a simple application that says their establishment is COVID-19 compliant by implementing and following set protocols that include but are not limited to face covering requirements, proper signage and distribution, personnel training, hand washing, and hand sanitizing guidelines, cleaning and disinfecting guidelines, measures to maintain social distancing and prevent unnecessary contact. So the program is self-monitoring. When I saw the news break online, it was the thing that a lot of people questioned. How will we know that they're actually compliant? It is self-monitoring, and I think for now we'll call it a good place to start because there are a lot of businesses out there trying their best. For all County news, please see yolocounty.org and let's take a moment for music and we'll be back with our first interview shortly. Alright, my first guest today is Sarah Gavin. She's a licensed marriage and family therapist as well as a licensed professional clinical counselor and she serves as Chief Behavioral Health Officer at Communicare Health Centers, which means she oversees a 100 person team of mental health and substance use disorder services here in Yolo County. She also sits on the board of Directors of NAMI YOLO, which is the local chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. Welcome, Sarah, and thanks so much for joining us today. Thanks so much for having me. I really want to say how glad I am you're here. There still seems to be a lot of secrecy and shame oftentimes around mental illness. I'd really like to help work towards normalizing that, but let's start there. Why is it so difficult for people to address mental illness in the same way we address physical illness? Well, that's a complicated question to answer and the stigma of mental illness and recovery and substance use disorder services in that included has gone on for a very long time. The more that we openly talk about it, whether we're seeking therapy ourselves, whether we have a family member who is, whether we support services, the more that we talk about it, the more that we bring to light that this is a normal part of health. The more integrated services that we see in primary care centers, any way that we can normalize seeking services as a part of wellness and the way that we take care of ourselves directly addresses that effort. I realize it is a complicated question. I think there's something about the American makeup, if you will, that we are supposed to be strong. We are supposed to be resilient. We're not supposed to fail at those things. And so I just sort of wonder how that plays into it. Absolutely, an individualistic approach and thinking that there's a romanticizing toughness and associating with getting help as something that is a sign of weakness when it absolutely isn't. It's one of the hardest things to do is to ask for help. It's one of the bravest things that someone can do. So here we are. It's September 1st. We're almost six months into this pandemic. And what everyone is calling our new normal now has really wreaked considerable havoc on our social and our support systems, how we move through the world. And I've read several articles and heard others talk about a concern that kind of the next wave of the pandemic is really about our collective mental health. And I think it's important to note we're not just talking about the COVID pandemic. We're also talking about kind of unprecedented political unrest and social unrest. And so in I understand confidentiality applies to all your work. But in general terms, how are you seeing all of this play out among your patient population? What can you share with us? Yeah, thanks for that question. I mean, absolutely, people are suffering. People were suffering before this, but we have added multiple life stressors. And as you mentioned, multiple public health crises. We have COVID, we have systemic racism that has gone on for a very long time, and then of course mental health and the disruption of connection. The way that we heal in loss of aspects of our life is through connecting. And this transition has made it very difficult for people to connect or at least change the way that people connect. And as a therapist, oftentimes we're saying when you're making changes in your life, make those things one step at a time, one change at a time. And for everybody managing their entire life changed overnight. You know, their job stability, their stressors, school closures, their health, the isolation, even things that are simple routines that they had in connecting with people was disruptive. So it's tremendous change. And so you take people that are already struggling with mental health, and then you add a change in the way that they get service delivery, and you add changes in the way that they're isolated and you add stressors. And then there are people that have never accessed mental health services before that are experiencing mental health symptoms and increasing depression and anxiety. What is understandable considering all the stressors and isolation that's occurring? Yeah. And I talk about wanting to normalize this. I'm very transparent. I struggle with anxiety myself. I'm a really high performing person, but I'll tell you that my anxiety has definitely spiked up during this time. And I do talk about it because I feel like it's important for people to be able to say, oh, right, you know, I recognize you're high functioning and yet you're acknowledging this. So I'm hoping that more and more of us can do that to help normalize it. So every business and organization, every single one we've all had to pivot during this time. I'm really wondering how as counselors and therapists, you were able to work with clients during this pandemic. How does that work? So at Communicare specifically, we continue to offer in-person services because we are seeing that some of the services have to happen in person and are essential. And then if they can happen via telehealth, that's what we're doing, offering video and phone visits in lieu of in-person. If that makes sense clinically, there are reasons that people need to come in. And certainly with mental health concerns and the consequences for untreated mental health and substance use, we definitely want to make sure that there are precautions. And NAMI has done the same thing as they're pivoting to create avenues for support via telehealth and have moved their family support group, as an example, over Zoom to engage people that way, as well as there's some self-guided courses that NAMI is offering for education and basic information for people to access during this time. But it was a huge change for the workforce providing the services as well. I can imagine. Well, I'm glad you started heading off into what NAMI YOLO does. So let me just read this. The YOLO County, California chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, NAMI, is a grassroots self-help support and advocacy non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, clinical depression, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and severe emotional disorders in children. So you mentioned how NAMI is also, and that's a lot. That's a very heavy load I just mentioned. I want to take a pause and take a second to acknowledge that I have not accessed NAMI services myself, but I have friends and family who have and who report that some of the family classes, for example, were really instrumental in keeping them whole and well during a very difficult time that a family member was experiencing. So can we talk about those family classes for just a moment? Absolutely. So the family support groups are designed for relatives, for people that are experiencing mental illness. So much of someone's recovery is about the support of people around them. And people that are family members are impacted, certainly, whether it's not themselves that are experiencing it, but they are a part of the system and definitely feel stressors and need support and practical skills and being able to support their loved ones. So that is a really important service that NAMI provides, and it is now available via Zoom. And so that's the first and third Tuesdays in the evening at 6.30 and second and fourth Sundays at 1.30. Okay. And I know there are a variety of other support groups and other services that NAMI YOLO provides. So I want to make sure people have the website is NAMIYOLO.org. And I want to underscore that, again, this is a largely volunteer run effort done by volunteers and advocates. So you may not get an immediate response, but they will get back to you. And addressing your question about stigma, I mean, NAMI is beautiful as an organization that the people that are part of it are people with lived experience in recovery. Yes. Right. So it's going to be not only a compassionate place, but a place where people really get it. They understand whatever it is that you're going through, most likely. So I'm wondering more broadly, Sarah, if we could talk about some strategies that all of us could use at this time to take care of our mental health, we all, regardless of circumstance, just have an awful lot coming with it. We didn't even mention the fires earlier among the list of things we're coping with. So how can we tend to our own mental health? Yeah. So I mean, first, as starting point for everything is to acknowledge the loss and the suffering that change. I think many of us, as a stress response, as a response to this rapid change in crisis, were white knuckling it, hoping that the storm would pass and not taking a moment to acknowledge all that has changed. I always encourage people to start there, which is often the most difficult. People want to move to solutions and want to feel better, but just acknowledging that in ourselves. And then, of course, the basics of health, which is nutrition and exercise and sleeping and water. And I know that many people are engaging in meditation and using apps for the very first time and being able to learn skills and being able to calm our stress response that is activated sometimes daily. And looking for ways to connect, I mean, healing happens with connection. And so I just strongly encourage people to figure out ways that they can reach out to people that they haven't heard from, or look at ways that they can connect in a really creative way. I've heard so many creative ways that people are connecting via Zoom or meeting in parks or any way that people can fill their cup in, which is amazing. I had a moment last week. I was invited to speak at a very small and very appropriately socially distant event at a local business. And I went and all of that was in place, but I couldn't get over how good it was to see people in what I describe as 3D. You know, I spend a lot of time. I run a media and tech organization. I spent a lot of time on Zoom in that 2D interface. And wow, seeing people in the flesh really did something for me. It really lifted my spirits. It's healing. And we don't get that over virtual platform. We get something, but we don't get the feeling of being in the presence of other people. Right. And on that note, in our last couple of minutes, I've really been thinking a lot about the kids doing school remotely. My kids are in college, so I'm past that phase. And the parents who are home trying to manage their own workloads in many cases and then trying to be there as a resource for their kids. And then the teachers and the school staff and the support, I think they have a particular burden on them at this time. Absolutely. And I'm one of those people. And so managing all that, it reminds me of this great quote that's come out through COVID that we may all be in the same storm, but we're not in the same boat. And even in my circumstance, I am privileged in many ways. And so there are people that are working multiple jobs and having stress of their kids doing distance learning and not having resources and all the other stresses they're experiencing. So the more we can have grace on another. Right. And I would imagine that the same kind of care guidelines you outlined a few minutes ago apply equally when we're thinking about our kids. We need to make sure they move. We need to make sure they have some kind of social interaction because that's so important for their development right now. And we need to make sure that they, to the great extent we can pull it off, that they have really good healthy food to eat. Any final thoughts before we conclude here? Anything I didn't ask that you would like us to know? I just wanted to also say that in Davis, you know, Communicare runs a mental health navigation center, which is a drop in. Someone can walk in in person or they can call to help navigate how to access mental health resources. It can be sometimes complicated in how to get help. And so it's just a great resource in Davis for people trying to figure out what the next steps are to getting services. Okay. And do you have a website for Communicare so we can leave folks with that? Yes, CommunicareHC.org. CommunicareHC.org. Okay, Ms. Sara Gavin, thank you so much for making time to talk with us today. I had a lot of people respond on Facebook that this is an important topic to them and they wanted to hear more. So thank you for helping me, you know, discuss it and let's continue working towards normalization of mental illness. Appreciate your time. Yeah, thank you for elevating this topic. All right, take good care. Bye. All right, folks that was Sara Gavin from Communicare and I really appreciated her words and her insight at this time. We are going to take a moment from music and come back with our second interview. Thanks. Okay, I am delighted to welcome my second guest today, Melanie Carr. Melanie is a Davis resident who's been coordinating the Tuesday table since the early days of the pandemic. And she's here to talk about what she does. Welcome to you. Thank you. So I've seen your post on the COVID-19 Yellow Response Group on Facebook. I've been watching them for months. Finally decided I really want to know more about what you do. So what is the Tuesday table? So the Tuesday table is an opportunity to reach out to your neighbors to give and receive from them and really it's to help out anyone who has a tough time financially. So we pick up our tables outside our house, usually on our driveway or sidewalk. And then people come by throughout the day to pick up canned goods, non-perishable items, as well as some fresh food and produce. We have locations in, I think, four or five locations in Davis and two in Woodland that makes up Yolo County. So is this part of a larger effort or is this unique to you started it or help started here in Yolo County? Yeah, the person who started it was Catherine McMullen and she started it on Cinco de Mayo of this year. And it is part of a larger movement. Well, she started the movement and then I saw her post early on and was like 100% in because I really wanted to give back to the community. And I think as the more the word gets out, I think more people who are able to help out either start their own tables or donate or do contribute to the effort. So we even have a table that as far away as the UK. So the word has gotten out a little bit. That's really cool. So as I said, I've been watching your posts for months now and you post lovely pictures of what's available that day. And I noticed today you were excited to say that someone had donated fresh eggs and fresh butter. And so those are really kind of these days. Those are kind of high ticket items. They're they're hard to afford if you're on a lean budget. So that's very cool. And the pictures you posted are beautiful. There was a variety of fresh food. There was bread. There was canned goods. There was all kinds of stuff. So wonderful outpouring of generosity. How can people donate? I did also notice you were calling for additional support and donations. So how can we do that? Yeah, so we accept donations. You can bring it depends on which area you are in. Davis or Woodland, but you can always donate to me or the local Tuesday table. And we have a Facebook page that's called Tuesday Table and you can go there. And we accept store bought as well as homegrown and homemade items. We just we discourage dropping off right at the table because during COVID we don't want there to be so many people touching things. So we'll usually have porch pick up the weekend before or if it's perishable like the day before just to minimize contact with other people. And yeah, you can contact us or contact me and then we arrange the drop off and then they go out on the table and people pick up up. So if someone had an abundance of tomatoes, for example, they would be welcome to drop off a box or call for porch pickup and you would welcome that kind of donation. Oh yeah, we would love that. All right. So can you share with us a little bit about how this has been responded? And I'm wondering if it's if it's actually kind of deep end your own sense of community through doing this because I heard that that you want it to give back. You want it to be involved. Yeah, the response has been really positive. Typically, our items are gone within, you know, a couple hours of opening. And so it really demonstrates that there is a need there. Yeah. And as you said, you heard about it from heard about us from the COVID-19 yellow community response. I think that's like one of the websites that's really gotten the word out because a lot of people really focus on that website that and I think it's enabled us to reach a larger audience. Definitely. We've also had a lot of, yeah, we've also had a lot of donors from Hope's anchor, nonprofit, clothing farm, you CD family groups, as well as others. And then, but for the most part, it's been neighbors, like people are just like, Hey, I've got these items, can I drop them off at your house? And then we say, Yeah, and it's really great. You had mentioned that, you know, has it deepened my sense of community and really has. I've gotten to know a lot more people and people just seem so willing to help. And, you know, in this time where it's just kind of like a pandemic and oh, there's smoke and all this kind of stuff. There's this positive aspect to it that everyone I think really holds on to and cherishes. Definitely. I think we're all really hungry for that sense of connection and something to lift us up. Because I just, you know, my first interview today was talking about mental health during the pandemic and it's pretty heavy. There's a lot sitting on all of our shoulders. So I want to thank you for, you know, for what you're doing for being consistent with the effort and for reaching out to involve others. I'm really glad I learned about it. Even at that, I didn't know about the Tuesday table page on Facebook. So you can bet that I'm going to go and like that and figure out a way to contribute as well. So anything else about how people can reach you or if you're looking for anything in particular in the weeks to come? Yeah, well, I think Tuesday table is a great way to contact us. And, you know, honestly, people just, Melanie Carr is my name and people just contact me and I kind of, you know, figure out the right spot for them to donate to. Or, you know, people can always drop it off at my house. But yeah, I'm really excited about this effort and I think a lot of other people are too. And I'm really excited to see how it moves forward and develops and, you know, how people also, you know, take it as their own and move forward. It's really great. Well, thanks so much for coming on to share that news with us. And I hope that, you know, it's able to be sustained and carried forward. I appreciate your efforts of building community in that way. Great. Well, thank you. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. You bet. Take good care, Melanie. All right. I firmly believe after you talk about some difficult things, it's really important to have a warm fuzzy, something you can feel good about. So thank you to Melanie Carr and Tuesday table for that. I have one last announcement for the day. It's just a reminder that an OptumServe COVID-19 testing site runs through September 20th at the Davis Senior Center, which is 646 A Street in Davis. Apparently when they first opened, there was a line around the block and they've kind of sorted through all of that and have people moving through at a regular pace now. So if you've heard that, rest easy. Testing at this site is open to all California residents. This is important regardless of documentation status and is available by appointment only. And all ages are welcome. You can get tested there. If you have health insurance, you can get tested there. If you don't, they will work it out for you to schedule an appointment. Call 888-634-1123 or visit lhi.care slash COVID testing. I want to thank you for tuning in. We're coming up on the six month mark of this show and you've been listening to the COVID-19 community report. I'm Autumn Lab Aranel. Sign in off till next week. Take care.