Page 3 - DC CCN Newsletter

The Northern
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CCN MOBILE ADVOCACY TEAM USES COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS AND SECURE TECHNOLOGY TO SERVE SURVIVORS DURING PANDEMIC
The COVID-19 pandemic has been incredibly challenging. Individuals are forced to deal with concerns not just about their health and that of their loved ones, but also about employment, finances, childcare, education, transportation, and accessing essential items such as food and cleaning supplies. For domestic violence survivors, these stressors are compounded and amplified. Social isolation – a step that public health and elected officials have determined is necessary to stop the spread of the coronavirus – creates potentially more dangerous situations for survivors, who may be isolated with abusers who can use the conditions of the pandemic to further control and victimize.
Given the critical nature of this global crisis for so many survivors, ongoing availability of Crisis Center North services has become even more important. CCN’s Mobile Advocacy team has been working diligently to ensure that clients have access to what they need, even while in isolation. Prior to the COVID-19 spread, the Mobile team had established service relationships with seven community-based partners, providing accessible and on-site services to clients at these pre- determined locations. When the government mandate was announced that community members would have to remain home and shelter-in-place, the Mobile team went to work, creating an action plan and figuring out its strategy for ensuring that services to clients would continue uninterrupted. The Mobile team has executed this by engaging in ongoing collaboration with others systems and agencies across Allegheny County, in order to create new pathways to services for clients. The team began holding videoconference and
telephone meetings multiple times a week with existing mobile partners, as well as reaching out to build new community relationships, in order to coordinate and provide ongoing services to clients and to let the community know that Crisis Center North remains open and accessible for survivors.
Utilizing some creativity, perseverance, strong partnerships, and secure technology options, the Mobile team has been providing a range of essential services to both existing and new clients. These include things like coordinated (and safe, socially-distant) drop-offs of needed tangible items, providing assistance for getting to essential locations such as grocery stores or medical appointments, and utilizing telephone calls and HIPAA-compliant video conference platforms to continue providing trauma-informed counseling and support.
Additionally, the team recognized that many individuals may be experiencing increased stress or anxiety during this time, and wanted to ensure that resources could be shared more broadly with the community. To do this, the team has created a series of videos, each of which presents information on and guides viewers through the practice of a new relaxation tool that can be used to help decrease stress. There are currently videos on deep breathing, grounding, guided imagery, and emotional regulation. These short videos, which are available on CCN’s Facebook page, present tools that are easy, accessible, and can be done by almost anyone, anywhere, and at any time. The team hopes that these tools will give clients and community members additional ways to help navigate through this incredibly challenging time.
PLEASE HELP US get essentials to victims of domestic violence who don’t have access to products to keep them safe. Even if you can only spare a single item on this list from your supply, that’s one survivor
served who may currently have nothing.
NEEDS INCLUDE:
• Face masks
• Disposable gloves
• Hand sanitizers and soap
• Disinfectant sprays and wipes
• Toilet paper
• Paper towels
• Gift cards to grocery stores, Amazon, and restaurants for food delivery
• Monetary donations to CCN to help continue our essential services