Health Outreach Foundation COVID-19 statement
As the coronavirus pandemic grows worldwide, we have had to make some very difficult choices in the Foundation. We hold the health and safety of our patients, volunteers, staff, donors, friends and neighbors as our number one priority. This has implications for our delivery of services as well as for organized events that are scheduled in the upcoming weeks and months.
To that end we have made the difficult decision to postpone our annual fundraiser, Dancing with a Mission 2020, that was scheduled for April 11th2020. We are very aware of, and thankful for, the work that many people have put into this event, but we have consulted widely with physicians and public health experts, as well as consulting local health authorities and advice from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and this is the only reasonable course of action to help ensure the wellbeing of our attendees, volunteers, vendors, dancers, hotel staff and anyone else planning to be part of the event. We are working closely with everyone concerned in the running of DWAM 2020 to reschedule for later in the year.
The Foundation is committed to fighting the spread of COVID-19. Currently we are working with our partners in Kansas City to ensure that a healthcare service is provided to the vulnerable populations we serve, whilst minimizing the risk to our volunteer providers and those very populations who are likely to be particularly susceptible to COVID-19 complications. We are continuing to provide a prescription service for the homeless, and are actively working to accelerate plans to implement a telehealth service for the homeless to provide access to physician advice during this outbreak. We have a solution identified and will be working in the coming days to implement the service and bring it online as soon as possible. We have been forced to suspend our dental service also, and are looking at all our options to resume the service as soon as possible, and safe to do so.
Our international operations will be suspended in the light of international travel restrictions and concern for our volunteers. We do not have any medical service trips currently operating in the Philippines, Dominican Republic or Mexico. A planned trip to Mexico in April has been postponed until later in the year, date to be decided. Trips to the Dominican Republic in June and August will be reviewed as to their operation on an ongoing basis depending on developments with the pandemic.
We enormously appreciate the support of our donors at all times, but particularly as we all struggle to work through this. Our services will continue, although they will be delivered in a different way throughout the course of this outbreak as we endeavor to co-ordinate service provision with protecting our volunteers, patients and partners, and adhering to the current “social distancing” policies as recommended by the CDC. Thank you for your support in these troubling times, we will continue to update you as we all work through this crisis.
As the coronavirus pandemic grows worldwide, we have had to make some very difficult choices in the Foundation. We hold the health and safety of our patients, volunteers, staff, donors, friends and neighbors as our number one priority. This has implications for our delivery of services as well as for organized events that are scheduled in the upcoming weeks and months.
To that end we have made the difficult decision to postpone our annual fundraiser, Dancing with a Mission 2020, that was scheduled for April 11th2020. We are very aware of, and thankful for, the work that many people have put into this event, but we have consulted widely with physicians and public health experts, as well as consulting local health authorities and advice from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and this is the only reasonable course of action to help ensure the wellbeing of our attendees, volunteers, vendors, dancers, hotel staff and anyone else planning to be part of the event. We are working closely with everyone concerned in the running of DWAM 2020 to reschedule for later in the year.
The Foundation is committed to fighting the spread of COVID-19. Currently we are working with our partners in Kansas City to ensure that a healthcare service is provided to the vulnerable populations we serve, whilst minimizing the risk to our volunteer providers and those very populations who are likely to be particularly susceptible to COVID-19 complications. We are continuing to provide a prescription service for the homeless, and are actively working to accelerate plans to implement a telehealth service for the homeless to provide access to physician advice during this outbreak. We have a solution identified and will be working in the coming days to implement the service and bring it online as soon as possible. We have been forced to suspend our dental service also, and are looking at all our options to resume the service as soon as possible, and safe to do so.
Our international operations will be suspended in the light of international travel restrictions and concern for our volunteers. We do not have any medical service trips currently operating in the Philippines, Dominican Republic or Mexico. A planned trip to Mexico in April has been postponed until later in the year, date to be decided. Trips to the Dominican Republic in June and August will be reviewed as to their operation on an ongoing basis depending on developments with the pandemic.
We enormously appreciate the support of our donors at all times, but particularly as we all struggle to work through this. Our services will continue, although they will be delivered in a different way throughout the course of this outbreak as we endeavor to co-ordinate service provision with protecting our volunteers, patients and partners, and adhering to the current “social distancing” policies as recommended by the CDC. Thank you for your support in these troubling times, we will continue to update you as we all work through this crisis.
Healthcare for those in Need
Health Outreach Foundation (formally World Outreach Foundation Kansas City) is dedicated to bringing free healthcare resources to the homeless in Kansas City, and to underserved populations in the Philippines, Mexico and Dominican Republic
