September 20 – When COVID-19 made its way to Canada, Alberta, and then Edmonton, we were all asked to take the necessary steps to be sure that we kept not only ourselves safe, but our neighbours, our families, our friends, and our co-workers. As an agency we implemented policies to keep our doors open and all of you as safe as possible, which meant adapting our working arrangements to reduce exposure for those of us who are required on site to take care of each other and our youth – that because of all the closures had no where else to go. Out of our responsibility to our community and our youth we made the decision to keep our doors open 24/7 – and we will continue to do so permanently.

At this time we will continue to remain closed to public donations. We will continue to work with our amazing community partners to ensure we continue to meet the needs of our youth.

The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 as a pandemic. YESS is deeply concerned that the effects of this virus adds another risk to our staff and our clients who we know are individuals that are among those most vulnerable to health concerns like COVID-19, as some may have compromised immune systems and pre-existing health conditions, along with precarious living situations and urgent basic needs.

We are proactively planning to assist our staff to support our youth, educate and provide the safest environment we can within our control. Our YESS family is among some of the most dedicated and passionate front-line social service providers we know. We will do all that we can to protect them, our clients and our citizens.

How are we helping protect the safety of our community? At this time, YESS is implementing the following:

Sharing information with staff, volunteers and people accessing our services on how to prevent and recognize COVID-19 and connect them with appropriate health supports
Taking extra sanitation measures to clean all surfaces thoroughly and more frequently within our YESS facilities
Regularly updating and implementing measures under our Health & Safety Manual and Agency Operations Plan
Under the direction of our Executive team we are empowering our staff with an udpated Pandemic Response Plan to coordinate our actions
Coordinating with partner agencies, government and health authorities to establish a proactive and collective COVID-19 strategy

YESS has been and will continue to carefully monitor and follow the guidance set out by the Public Health Authorities both provincially and federally to facilitate the prevention, early detection and containment of the virus.

In the coming weeks, we recognize that we may need to equip our staff and community members with extra support, supplies and resources. Your continued support and encouragement are greatly appreciated as we navigate this uncertain time.