As Alternatives For Girls (AFG) continues to monitor the rapidly changing coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, we are also mindful of its potential impact on our participants, staff, donors, sponsors and community partners.
Our first priority is everyone’s health and wellbeing. We are taking all reasonable steps to continue to serve and protect our participants, who may be more vulnerable now than ever, and also to protect our staff, volunteers, and all from this virus.
We appreciate the many donors who have reached out to us out of concern for our participants and our overall community. Because of your commitment and investment in AFG as a donor, volunteer, and/or supporter, we intend to keep you apprised of our plans and actions as we cope with these challenging circumstances.
A few things of note:
- We are committed to both continuing to serve the homeless and high-risk girls and women who depend upon us, and also to minimize the risk of the coronavirus to all in our care, and on our team. To that end, we are taking many precautions (see below) but our critically important services—shelter, outreach, prevention—are sustained, with modifications as needed as the situation evolves. We are also working together with our partner organizations throughout Detroit and beyond to collectively develop and implement best practices for serving all of our participants in the safest possible ways.
- After discussion with the AFG Leadership Team as well as the AFG Board of Directors, and a number of our event corporate partners, along with considering the increasing precautions many Michigan companies and organizations are taking, we made the difficult decision to CANCEL our 31st annual Role Model Dinner scheduled for Thursday, March 26, 2020, at the Renaissance Center Marriott Hotel. Our decision is based on our commitment to contribute to the safety and well-being of our honorees, participants, donors, sponsors, and staff. While this cancellation puts a serious dent in our fundraising for the year, we remain committed to doing what it takes to sustain our critical services and will reach out to all in our supportive community as needed in the coming months.
- Concrete precautions we are currently taking include following the recommendations of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services:
- Cleaning all surfaces: We are instructing all staff and participants to be even more diligent about cleanliness than usual.
- Hand Sanitizing and Washing: We have and will continue to have hand sanitizer stations throughout our agency. We are asking all staff, participants, and guests to please use upon arrival and exit of our agency. We are also asking that we refrain from handshaking and consider “elbow bumps” when meeting/greeting others.
- Coughing/ Sneezing Etiquette: To help stop the spread of germs, we are advising all staff, participants, volunteers, and guests to cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or with the upper part of your sleeve.
- Staying Home if Sick: We are asking all staff, participants, volunteers, and guests to please stay home if you are experiencing any of the COVID-19 symptoms like fever, cough or shortness of breath. We have provided our staff with specific instructions on the updates to our sick leave policy during this time, designed to provide them with a safety net as needed. We will do everything we can to ensure our employees are supported to stay home and see a doctor if needed.
- AFG Community Events: At this time we are canceling or postponing large gatherings and conferences (i.e. greater than 50 people in a shared space).
If you have any questions or concerns about any of AFG’s actions or needs during this time, or about ways to help, please feel free to reach out to me directly at agood@alternativesforgirls.org or at313-361-4000.
If you have any immediate questions regarding the 2020 Role Model Dinner, please feel free to reach out to Dawn Barrack directly at 313-361-4000, ext. 230 or dbarrack@alternativesforgirls.org.
Resources and Additional Information: For additional information and resources about COVID-19 please refer to the following:
We appreciate your support and caring during this unprecedented health crisis.
Wishing you
good health,
Amanda (Amy) Good, CEO
