 Whenever there would be any really catastrophe that was in the movies or on the air, she would say, always look for the helpers. There will always be helpers. Welcome to Values. I'm Shaquille DeWall. This week we're interviewing helpers, people who are continuing to provide their services to the community, and maybe need help from the public in order to respond to the coronavirus pandemic. Today I'm here with Joseph Zanovich of Hope. Joseph, thanks for being here. Thanks for having me. Can you tell me a little bit about Hope? Yeah, absolutely. We're Hope Homeless Outreach here based in Longmont, and we provide outreach services and shelter services for folks experiencing homelessness, and we provide overnight shelter space currently at two churches, both at Journey Church and Faith Point Church here in town. Along with that, like I mentioned, outreach services, case management, we provide nightly meals for folks, showers, and really a place of safety each night. How long have you been serving Longmont? Hope was founded in 2007, and so we've been here in the community quite a while. How many staff members do you have? We have 11 shelter staff members, and we have seven full-time office admin staff. How has the coronavirus pandemic impacted your staffing levels? Well, it certainly put a bit of a stress on our staff, especially our shelter staff and overnight staff. It's something that we're one of the few organizations that have to remain open during this time, and our staff realize that they're dedicated to this cause, but we're human beings, and there's certainly a bit of a fear that goes into this, that we obviously don't want to catch this. So the staff has been pretty resilient, and I've been trying to communicate with them as best as I can as far as maintaining health and self-care during this time, and we as an organization are supporting our staff as any way we possibly can during this time to make sure they have the support that they need. Have the services that you're providing to the homeless population in Longmont changed as a result of the pandemic? Well, believe it or not, not really. Our service model is really based on helping those in need, and I can't think of a greater time in memory that folks really have a need right now. You know, and for our folks experiencing homelessness, their needs don't change, whether it's a pandemic, good times, or bad economy-wise. I mean, basic needs are essential. It's the Maslow's hierarchy of needs, right? It's food, shelter, clothing. Those basic needs have to be met, and so we will continue to do that through this time, and through our outreach efforts, we're going to still get out in the community, obviously being a little more cautious as far as with safety, as far as making sure that our outreach personnel have proper protocols when interacting with folks. But folks still need basic necessities, especially if they're going to be sleeping outside, and this also gives us a chance to interact with them. Some of them may not even realize what's happening. We found this, and some don't have smartphones. Libraries are closed, places where they normally go for an air and access are closed. They may not even realize what's actually happening in the world around them. This gives us a chance to interact with them, let them know, offer cleanliness. We're grateful to receive a large donation of hand sanitizer. A few years ago, it's been sitting in our warehouse. It's coming to great use right now. I'm really excited about it. So we're obviously handing that out, making sure folks stay as clean as possible. We offer showers at our shelter, and so we have a strict shelter protocol when folks come in that they wash, it's a mandatory hand washing, and we try to maintain social distancing as much as you can in a shelter environment. Can you tell me a little bit more about the people that you're serving, the people who are coming in who maybe just need a meal or they need a shower or a place to stay overnight? How are they feeling mentally these days, in term, you know, people who are watching a lot of the news, for example, are feeling a lot of anxiety. How are the people that you serve feeling? Yeah, and the ones that are aware of what's happening around them, there is some anxiety. I mean, being in a shelter environment as it is, even without this happening, is hard. Our shelter is going to hold up to 49 people. Most folks sleep on mats on the full way of a few cots. So you're already in an environment that's very difficult, there's very little privacy. Then you add this element to a shelter environment, and people are worried. If someone's coughing or sneezing in a giant room, yes, the anxiety is like, oh, do they have something? We do our best to calm those measures. We tried to do fun things with our clients, but we did up until this point. We had fun volleyball games we played with folks in our gym at Faith Point. The social interacting part is difficult because this is a community. We want to try to create as calm in this environment as we can, but obviously with the social distancing elements, it's hard. So people are already going through one of the hardest points in their life. Now we add this on top of it, and it's hard. We try to support them as best we can. At the end of the day, there's still human beings that have basic needs, and we need to remember that. And there's a human-level kindness that needs to go into this with folks. So yeah, there is fear. There absolutely is, and that goes from the staff to those staying there. We want to honor that, and we're doing everything we possibly can within our control to offer people safe space. As you've said before, for people who are experiencing homelessness, sometimes they can get otherized by people in the community because they're seen as people outside the community. Even though they are people who live here, who have lived here for a long time, they're people who often have ties to the community, but are simply going through a hard part of their lives. And social isolation can be a real problem for people who are homeless, even outside the current context. Can you talk about the importance of providing that level of social interaction, social support to the people who are using your services? Yeah, that's a great question. This is interesting from a society standpoint that a lot of us right now at society are going through this isolation aspect where we can't communicate with coworkers or outside family to live in the area. So a lot of folks are now experiencing a small taste of what it is to live in an isolated aspect. This is what folks experiencing homelessness go through on a daily basis. And prior to this happening, there is always a judgment of folks who see them on the corner or isolated outside of by themselves. And isolation in dealing with that, it really, in the back of a second there, when we talk about isolation, normally the answer is community. And this throws a whole monkey wrench into the idea of what we normally associate as community. And that's why the shelter operations still have to be very important. We need, when folks are experiencing the lowest point in the lives, community is generally one of the few things that give them some hope. They look forward to coming to the nightly meal and interacting with other folks going through similar experiences they are. And we want to continue that as much as possible. It's really important if someone doesn't have a roof over their head, family around them, or friends they can still communicate with. Removing this isolation as much as we can is going to be really key and vital to one's success, especially during this time, as much as we can. Obviously we're limited when we get that with the social isolation aspects, but we're going to try and try to think outside the box as much as we can so that folks still have that community to them. For people who need access to your services right now, how can they do that? Yeah, so because of the limitation on city and county buildings, we normally operate through a coordinated entry process. They can come by the Hope office, which is still open. It's 804 South Lincoln Street, and we have non-perishable meals. We'll be able to get them set up in the coordinated entry system so they can access shelter services, showers, and meals as needed. So the best thing to do is call our office, go to our website, or come by. And what needs do you have right now, especially in this trying time when a lot of people aren't working, a lot of people are trying to socially distance themselves because they may be at high risk for the coronavirus? What support can the public offer you? Yeah, really from a support level, if you are a current volunteer with the organization, whatever your role is, especially if it's a soup angel providing food for our shelter guests, please try to continue that. Obviously, if you're sick or somebody else will ask you that they discontinue making food, but that is vital to our operation is ensuring that folks have a warm meal each night. And so our volunteers that still come to the shelter, we understand the fears there, and so we have very strict protocols in place as far as cleanliness and isolatory measures as far as when we're serving food and being in the shelter. If you feel safe, please come by. I think that it's really important when we talk about the social isolation aspect to see that folks in the community still care and just seeing a face, even though we may not be able to shake their hands or give them a hug, just seeing a face and know that people still care is really important. And really, I mean, this for us financial donations are going to be really key and vital during this time to really help cover our staff. They're going to be working extra hours to cover the shifts that volunteers normally cover for us. There's going to be added expenses with overtime and just making sure our staff are covered right now. We're going to need that financial support really to get us through this time. If a member of the public wanted to reach you, what would be the best way to do so? Best way to do so, just go to our website at hopeforlongmont.org. There's our contact information. You can send us an email or give us a call at our office and we'll be happy to communicate with them. Joseph, thank you for your time and work. And for everything you're doing for the community, stay healthy. Thank you very much.