Here’s an announcement by Raymond Rodgers, Executive Director of DCARA, with some information for the community for May 2020. Please watch our video.

[Description: Raymond, white male with white hair and beard, is wearing a grey shirt with black background – opening and closing the video with him wearing a surgical mask.]

[Beginning of Message]

[Screen fades to show Raymond removing his surgical mask.] Hi all! Everyone here at DCARA misses you all and hopes you all are doing well and staying safe and healthy!

I have some updates to share with you all about what DCARA has been up to these days!

Direct Services
[Slide shows an image of a female providing services remotely via computer to a client appearing in the computer screen.] All of our staff are continuing to work remotely and providing services through videophones, emails, and virtual meeting rooms. However, we recognize that not everyone has the technology to receive services this way. We are working on devising a plan that may be a temporary solution for those who lack technological access so they may receive services. This plan would need to align with the safety requirements and procedures before it can be implemented.

Workshops
[A slide shows three images of current staff who shared their stories through ASL storytelling.] As many of our community events were canceled or postponed until further notice, we are exploring other options to continue workshops or classes with the help of technology. We hosted our webinars with the Youth Services Program to our young audience. We received great feedback and will be continuing the online live storytelling by some of our staff every Tuesday! The Community Education Program is starting to offer webinars as well. We are adding more webinars in the near future. Stay tuned for more online events from us!

DCC
[Slide shows a photo of the DCC building with a picture of a red circle with a red diagonal line through it (running from top left to bottom right) symbol in front of the photo.] The Deaf Community Center is still closed to the public. [Slide shows an image of the Shelter-in-Place Reopening at Stage 4.] We will reopen it once the state announces Stage 4 of the reopening. We are making preparations and implementing protocols before we can reopen some of our office locations when the time is right.

Vlogs
[Slide shows an image of the DCARA’s Coronavirus webpage at www.dcara.org/coronavirus ] DCARA has made it a priority to increase our production of vlogs to ensure the community is getting crucial information about the COVID-19 epidemic. We will continue to produce vlogs as the shelter-in-place order continues and new announcements are made. [Slide shows a full image of the Shelter-in-Place Reopening Stages 1 to 4.]

In closing, please remember even though we are moving up to the next stage as many counties are slowly re-opening:

• Maintain social distancing, [Slide shows an image with 6 ft distance]
• wear masks [Slide shows an illustration of three people wearing various masks]
• and keep washing your hands and/or using hand sanitizers [Slide shows a photo of hands being washed with soap]
• Not to gather for large events i.e. graduations, big birthday parties or special celebrations, etc., and that [Slide shows a photo of a group of people having a party and then a red circle with a red diagonal line through it (running from top left to bottom right) symbol in front of the photo.]
• Every decision about reducing the stay-at-home restrictions depends on:
• Lower numbers of people having to be hospitalized, and
• Lower numbers of people testing positive for the virus

We at DCARA are here for any questions or services you may need.

Please stay healthy and safe! [Raymond is putting on his mask] Good bye!

[End of Message]