ARTICLE
Dear Friends of Hope, We are writing to express our continued gratitude for your support and to let you know about some exciting changes that are in store for Hope Connections for Cancer Support. In order to respond to COVID-19, we were forced to close our doors in March due to social distancing restrictions from the government. We immediately pivoted to an online format using ZOOM. We were up and running in a week and have been able to offer all our programs using this format with a great response from our participants. Recently, we conducted a survey of our participants and discovered that many of them are not going to feel comfortable about being in enclosed spaces with a group, even when it is legally possible. This is no surprise, since many of our participants are by definition immunocompromised, and thus one of the most susceptible groups to COVID-19. In addition, we know that enforcing social distancing restrictions in our spaces even for those who felt comfortable coming back would mean, for example reducing our class sizes in the Mind/Body studios from about 20 people to approximately 7 per class. This, at a time when more people need us more than ever! For these reasons, we have decided to continue with fully on-line delivery of services, at least until the end of the year. We will not be doing any live programming at either of our locations. When we open in the new year, we will return to our Landover location in Prince George’s County. In Bethesda however, we will be moving to 10100 Laureate Way, which is a three-minute drive from Beaumont House, off Grosvenor Lane. As the photograph shows, it has the perfect layout for a Mind/Body Studio, support group rooms, a room for educational programming, the Boutique, room to grow and beautiful grounds. The house will require some remodeling and the previous owners have retained the right to continue to rent the property until November. However, they have agreed to let us begin renovation during this period and we expect to be onsite at the beginning of 2021. Since we will only require minimal office space until next year, we have given notice to the new owners of Beaumont House, that we will be leaving the premises by June 30th. The Laureate property has a Carriage House that we will use for the staff only in the
Dear Friends of Hope,
We are writing to express our continued gratitude for your support and to let you know about some exciting changes that are in store for Hope Connections for Cancer Support.
In order to respond to COVID-19, we were forced to close our doors in March due to social distancing restrictions from the government. We immediately pivoted to an online format using ZOOM. We were up and running in a week and have been able to offer all our programs using this format with a great response from our participants.
Recently, we conducted a survey of our participants and discovered that many of them are not going to feel comfortable about being in enclosed spaces with a group, even when it is legally possible. This is no surprise, since many of our participants are by definition immunocompromised, and thus one of the most susceptible groups to COVID-19. In addition, we know that enforcing social distancing restrictions in our spaces even for those who felt comfortable coming back would mean, for example reducing our class sizes in the Mind/Body studios from about 20 people to approximately 7 per class. This, at a time when more people need us more than ever! For these reasons, we have decided to continue with fully on-line delivery of services, at least until the end of the year. We will not be doing any live programming at either of our locations.
When we open in the new year, we will return to our Landover location in Prince George’s
County. In Bethesda however, we will be moving to 10100 Laureate Way, which is a three-minute drive from Beaumont House, off Grosvenor Lane. As the photograph shows, it has the perfect layout for a Mind/Body Studio, support group rooms, a room for educational programming, the Boutique, room to grow and beautiful grounds. The house will require some remodeling and the previous owners have retained the right to continue to rent the property until November. However, they have agreed to let us begin renovation during this period and we expect to be onsite at the beginning of 2021. Since we will only require minimal office space until next year, we have given notice to the new owners of Beaumont House, that we will be leaving the premises by June 30th. The Laureate property has a Carriage House that we will use for the staff only in the