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True North Organizing Network has established hotline connecting those most at risk of illness to volunteers to help with essential needs and wellness checks during the COVID-19 emergency.

Those calling (707) 948-6999 will be connected to the organization’s volunteer project, Neighbors Together For Good, organizer Amy Campbell-Blair told the Wild Rivers Outpost  on Thursday. The project will focus on those who have a limited support system and need to quarantine or self-isolate to stay safe, she said.

“This can include sick individuals, elders 60 and older, immuno-compromised individuals, those who are pregnant, anyone with a lung condition, etc.,” Campbell-Blair said.

True North has also deployed an online registration survey for volunteers, noting that the organization is using SafeScreener to perform criminal background checks on potential volunteers.

According to Campbell-Blair, True North is working with the local Community Emergency Response Team on figuring out how to do wellness checks. The organization is also collaborating with the Del Norte Senior Center on grocery and essential needs shopping as well as pickup and delivery, Campbell-Blair said.

The senior center is working with True North to develop policies and procedures for how volunteers will handle the shopping needs for its clients, Executive Director Charlaine Mazzei said. This also includes maintaining both physical safety and making sure any money is handled safely, protecting both the client and the volunteer, she said.

“Their wheelhouse is community organizing and getting volunteers,” Mazzei said of True North. “Ours is providing direct service to seniors. We figured it was a good fit to try to partner up and we’re really still working out the details of who’s going to do what and how it’s all going to work out.”

Though some clients have called the senior center asking if shopping services are available, Mazzei said she doesn’t know yet how many actually need help. True North’s hotline and questionnaire will help both organizations determine the level of need, she said.

The Del Norte Senior Center suspended its dine-in meal service on March 16. Between then and April 17, 132 clients picked up 1,329 meals from the senior center while staff delivered 3,889 meals to 178 clients, Mazzei said.

In that roughly one-month period, the number of clients the senior center serves has dropped off a bit, she said, but they’re serving “significantly more meals.”

“What it looks like is people who are coming and who are getting home delivery are getting them every day,” Mazzei said, adding that the meal hasn’t changed much. “I think, for one thing, there aren’t as many options.”

Though there haven’t been many changes to the senior center’s menu, Mazzei said getting meat delivery has become something of a challenge. She pointed to issues major processing plants across the country are having.

On Wednesday, Tyson Foods announced it was idling its largest pork plant, Bloomberg reported. It’s one of at least six U.S. meat facilities to shut down in the last few weeks with about 15 percent of hog-slaughtering capacity completely offline nationwide, according to Bloomberg.

On Thursday, Mazzei said if the slowdown in meat processing continues, the senior center may need to figure out a “Plan B.”

“We’re going to have to start talking to our dietician about maybe doing more plant-based meals and possibly just ordering enough ahead of time,” she said. “We don’t hav eany local processing plant for meat. Even our local producers have to send it out of the area to get it processed.”

Mazzei said she would likely bring those concerns up with the Community Food Council.

Even though the senior center itself is closed to the public, it is still offering services in addition to its meal program, Mazzei said. This includes home-heating fuel assistance, whether it’s via electricity, wood, propane and oil, Mazzei said. An application packet is available at the senior center’s website.

The Del Norte Senior Center is also working on being able to provide some of its programs, like its exercise classes, online. But one of the challenges is “having enough bodies to do some of this stuff,” Mazzei said, adding that a tech-savvy volunteer would be awesome.

“Right now the capacity to gather up all those resources and actually get them online and get them to a place where people can access them is what we’re lacking,” she said. “It’s just a matter of having someone who has time to find all that stuff, get it on our website and be available to help our seniors actually access it.”

In Del Norte County, two patients tested positive for COVID-19 and have since recovered, according to the Public Health Branch. Meanwhile of 266 total tests administered in the community, 257 had negative results and seven are still pending, according to the agency.

According to Campbell-Blair, True North’s Neighbors Together For Good has about 25 volunteers and is still recruiting. Those who volunteer will be trained on how to do wellness checks as well as helping people stay virtually connected with the community, she said.

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