Safety Guidelines
Empower Cherokee wants to remind all persons who enter our campus to follow CDC guidance around Covid-19. In addition the Empower Team will remain diligent in providing the safest possible supports to each person who attends our program.
Maintaining a safe and healthy environment requires caregivers and staff work together and maintain open communication. Empower would like to remind caregivers, staff, and people supported of the following:
Empower Cherokee screens everyone who enters the program. A person who arrives experiencing any symptoms of illness will be asked to return home with the caregiver and not permitted to enter the building. (Persons arriving on CATS with any symptoms of illness will be quarantined until they can be picked up by a caregiver.
Empower Cherokee will not provide transportation to any participant who has symptoms of an illness.
Covid-19 can look like many different illnesses, because of this any person who has any symptom of illness will be sent home. This includes staff and people who use services.
Persons with symptoms of illness must be released by a doctor to return to program or follow the quarantine guidelines from the CDC.
If anyone in your household is positive for COVID-19 (staff or people supported) then no one in your household can return to Empower Cherokee without a doctor's note or following the quarantine guidelines from the CDC.
Virtual Services
We look forward to continuing to provide services during this time, and we recognize that in person services may not be practical for some people we support for a number of reasons right now and we are increasing our virtual services offerings. Please click below to to take the virtual services survey to help us better serve your needs. We would appreciate all responses by Monday January 25th. An Empower Cherokee Staff member will follow up to answer questions and provide support around this service option next week.
Covid-19 Vaccine
Consider getting vaccinated for COVID-19. All people over 65 and their caregivers are now eligible for the COVID vaccine. Currently people under 65 with IDD are not, however you may be able to be put on a waiting list. If there are extra doses at the end of the day, anyone (eligible or not may access the vaccine if called upon to take it).
Cherokee Area Transit (CATS)
CATS has suspended transportation for 2 weeks starting Monday January 25th due to COVID-19 effecting their operations. All people supported using this service have/will be contacted by an Empower Cherokee Employee by close of business today. For more information please contact kay.reece@empowercherokee.org