All our lives are undoubtedly being affected as the current situation with COVID-19 develops. We are all having to adapt to this changing reality. Activities at the Anne Sullivan Centre have had to be curtailed, with residents being kept apart. The Advocacy Working Group meetings planned for Spring will now have to be pushed out, probably for many months, and it is similar for the Outreach Visits. However, if you would like to have an online Outreach consultation, these are continuing and you can simply email us at info@annesullivan.ie to set up a consultation from your laptop, tablet or phone. This way we can provide support around communication and post materials to you to support communication. We can also provide support around people who are deafblind not understanding the current situation and on ideas for academic and sensory activities.
What is most important is the health and safety of our community – our residents, our workers and our service users all around Ireland. As elsewhere across the country, we are practicing good hand hygiene, cough etiquette and social distancing. All staff are showing great support and commitment during this time of uncertainty. Where possible some staff can work from home for now and many staff are really stepping up to the mark by working on plans to cope with the emergency and cancelling leave, so that they will be ready to provide extra support.
For our service users around the country, we hope that you have support from family, friends and neighbours, but if you are concerned that you will become isolated and need help, you can contact your nearest Garda station or pop us an email at info@annesullivan.ie and we can see if we can support you. Access full list of Garda stations.
The Gardaí are setting up a fleet of contingency vehicles. Please note that these are not primary response vehicles. These contingency vehicles will be used to maintain personal interactions and where needed to assist and support people, which may include collecting medical prescriptions, attending hospital appointments and other supports people may need. The Garda Síochána will also use these opportunities to link identified people into local, national and state services where appropriate.
We hope that you can maintain both your health and your spirit in the coming weeks.
Best wishes from all at The Anne Sullivan Foundation and The Anne Sullivan Centre.