Page 8 - EPIC E-News_Fall 2021_FINAL_Neat

Succeeding Together

By Christina Wilson

People living with disabilities commonly encounter challenges while carrying out daily life activities,
such as community mobility, difficulty accessing public transportation, reduced access to healthcare
services and barriers to communication and socialization. This global pandemic has significantly in-
creased the daily challenges of people with disabilities. Given their dependence on Direct Support
Professionals (DSPs) and agencies such as EPIC to assist them with their independence. It is crucial
that we understand the reality of people with disabilities and support their needs with the necessary

community supports to ensure continuity of care.

Families have had to take on full-time caregiver roles, and as things slowly begin to re-open, we
must attempt to get back to normal. Now we face the challenge of the new normal. COVID-19 has
certainly forced us to provide services differently. Some of the changes have included staffing, and
the low staffing pool that has hit us hard. Not being able to share staff which directly affected those
we support because when staff, call out or go on vacation it forces providers and families to be the
backup. Transportation as we have strict sanitation process that must be followed. Temperature
checks that must be taken at pick up to ensure that we are maintaining the health and safety of all.
Limited community resources are obstacles that our DSPs face daily. This is just to name a few of
the changes and challenges that has impacted the way we provide services.

The increased susceptibility to COVID-19, and the people we support has made providing supports
challenging. However, EPIC still thrives to do our very best in these troubling times. We have stated
or phased out re-opening plan that has been extremely successful thus far. My management team and
I have worked rigorously to ensure we meet the needs of those that we support and reopen safely. We
ask for your continued support as we continue to move forward in a safe direction for all.

Christina Wilson, Day Services Director, has been working in the human services field for 16 years.
She started at EPIC in May 2016 and works daily to help lead, educate, motivate, and encourage her
team to help the people they support to gain independence and enhance their quality of life.

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