Current HRC Updates on COVID-19
All Los Angeles County residents with COVID-19 symptoms can now book a same or next day appointment. If you are experiencing severe symptoms such as extreme shortness of breath, contact your physician. If it is an emergency, dial 911. To find out if you’re eligible for a test and to schedule an appointment at a drive-up mobile testing site in Los Angeles County, please click here. For more questions about testing, please visit the City of Los Angeles’ FAQ for answers to frequently asked questions. Testing is also available for any workers in the following categories, with or without symptoms of COVID-19:
· First responders
· Critical government personnel
· Health care professionals
· Grocery workers
· Delivery, ride-share and public transit drivers
· Credentialed members of the media
If you are a critical worker in one of these categories, please CLICK HERE to schedule an appointment. If you are not sure whether you qualify, ask your employer for further information.
LONG BEACH RESIDENTS NOW HAVE AN OPTION TO WALK-UP OR DRIVE THROUGH AT THE TESTING SITES
LISTED BELOW
Testing in Long Beach is available for people with symptoms, such as fever, cough, and shortness of breath. Same or next day appointments are available from 10:00 a.m to 1:00 p.m., 7 days a week, unless otherwise noted.
The City is adding non-vehicle based testing at its three existing testing sites. This testing is meant to accommodate those who do not have access to a vehicle. Individuals are encouraged to schedule an appointment prior to walking up to the testing location, or visit the Rapid Assessment Clinic (RAC) for assistance.
Appointments will be provided between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. daily through the Health Department’s mobile testing booths at these sites:
Long Beach City College Pacific Coast Campus, 1305 Pacific Coast Highway (entrance at parking lot near Orange Avenue) – The RAC is adjacent to this testing site.
Jordan High School, 6500 Atlantic Avenue (entrance on Atlantic Avenue)
Cabrillo High School, 2001 Santa Fe Avenue (entrance on Santa Fe Avenue at W. Willard Street)
For both non-vehicle and drive-through testing, same- or next-day testing appointments are available for all who are symptomatic. While testing is prioritized for individuals who are over 65 years of age or have underlying chronic health conditions, it is available to anyone who has COVID-19 symptoms. Interested individuals should visit the City’s COVID-19 testing page to answer several pre-screening questions and schedule an appointment.
http://www.longbeach.gov/press-releases/covid-19-testing-options-expand-in-city-of-long-beach/
You can use your Cal Fresh EBT card online at Amazon!
¡BUENAS NOTICIAS! ¡Beneficios de emergencia de CalFresh ya vienen! Los hogares elegibles recibirán beneficios de CalFresh de emergencia en las siguientes fechas:
Domingo 12 de abril (para beneficios de marzo)
Domingo 10 de mayo (para beneficios de abril)
Verifique su saldo EBT en línea en o en la aplicación móvil DPSS.
Great news! The state of California has authorized an emergency CalFresh benefit allotment for eligible households.
Emergency CalFresh benefits for March will be issued on:
Sunday, April 12 and for April on
Sunday, May 10
You may check your benefit balance online or on the DPSS Mobile App.
Special Pandemic EBT Benefits Coming for Children
Children who are eligible for free or reduced-price meals at school will get extra food benefits. The benefits are meant to help families in CA buy food when schools are closed due to coronavirus emergency. This will not affect your “grab n go” meals or emergency food at COVID-19 emergency feeding sites offered by schools and community locations. Read more
TELL YOUR HOUSING STORY - Have you had trouble getting affordable housing?
California does not have enough affordable, accessible and inclusive housing. With the closing of developmental centers and decrease in the number of congregate settings, California needs to invest in community-based integrated housing for people with disabilities.
The Multifamily Housing Program (MHP) is one of the largest funding sources in California for affordable housing. Despite the intention to include people with disabilities, there are no specific incentives for developers to include housing for people with disabilities in their projects.
The MHP Public Comment period is open now until May 5th at 5pm, and SCDD has made it easy for you to tell your housing story: https://bit.ly/housingcomments.
Tell the Department of Housing and Community Development that MHP guidelines should reflect the unmet housing needs of people with disabilities and support housing developments that serve people with disabilities.
ATTENTION SSI RECIPIENTS: ECONOMIC IMPACT PAYMENTS UPDATE
If you are a Social Security Income (SSI) recipient and have dependents under age 17, go to www.irs.gov/coronavirus/non-filers-enter-payment-info-here
Click the “Enter your information” button to fill out the form before Tuesday, May 5. By taking this proactive step to enter information on the IRS website about you and your qualifying children, you will receive the $500 per dependent child payment in addition to your $1,200 individual payment.
If you are an SSI recipient who doesn’t need to claim dependents and doesn’t file tax returns, you will start receiving your automatic Economic Impact Payments directly from the Treasury Department in early May.
Watch out for scams related to Economic Impact Payments
Watch out for scams using email, phone calls or texts related to the payments. Learn more
Letter to Harbor Regional Center Community
April 30, 2020
Dear Harbor Regional Center Community,
Our world has changed dramatically over the past six weeks, but through it all we have developed new and creative ways to maintain frequent communication with HRC clients/families and service providers and to provide essential services and supports. While we remain “safer at home” we have found we are still strong and we are resilient. So today I am taking this opportunity to share with you not only an update on the status of our HRC services, but also some stories of the resourceful, heartwarming and generous deeds of those individuals and organizations in our greater HRC community.
HRC Service Coordinators have reached out and are continuing to connect with virtually all of our 15,000+ clients and their families to let you know we remain here for you, and to understand how you are managing in these new circumstances and how we can be of assistance. We have found new ways to serve you by phone, email, mail, and even “face to face” using Zoom, FaceTime, and Skype. We want you to know we are here for you.
Even though our non-residential service providers have been challenged to find new ways to engage with you they have stepped up to the task and are actively involved with you or your family member – some within a matter of days and virtually all within the first two weeks of the “safer at home” order. Our child developmental specialists, speech and language pathologists, behaviorists, and so many more of our clinical specialists, in addition to our day service providers, are using the internet to ensure that needed skill development activities are still available to you.
Our service provider relations and health services teams are distributing masks and other personal protective equipment, and providing technical support for our direct care service providers who are working diligently to ensure the health and safety of our clients. Thankfully we have not experienced any ‘outbreaks’ in our community, but we are monitoring 11 individuals who have tested positive and are self-isolating in different home settings. Sadly, two of our clients who had underlying health conditions have passed away.
As we have prepared for the worst (and have hoped for the best) HRC has been in building housing capacity, to provide temporary care for clients who have been exposed or tested positive for COVID-19, or who may otherwise need a quarantine site for their safety. So today we want to recognize and thank our many HRC service providers and local hotels, who together have helped us to set aside up to 331 rooms for this purpose.
HRC has posted on our website a long list of resources. You can find everything you might need from food banks to how to get help with your utilities or your rent; from financial assistance to how to access low or no cost media resources; from information about COVID-19 for children or people with developmental disabilities to at-home activities and educational resources for families. Nearly every day, new information is provided via our e-news bulletin. You can refer back to these electronic newsletters in the News Tab of our website.
Remember you can also follow us on social media (click on the icons below) to receive daily resource updates.
HRC has been privileged to know some of the kindest and most generous people and organizations over the course of our nearly half century of service to those with developmental disabilities and their families. So we have not been surprised, but we are always grateful, when they consistently come forward to offer help in times of crisis. These friends of HRC have contributed thousands of dollars in just the past few weeks, providing us with the resources necessary to purchase grocery store gift cards for our neediest families. You can help us to support more families experiencing unemployment and food insecurity due to the COVID-19 crisis with an online donation to the Harbor Help Fund, on our website Get Involved Tab.
We know we have not yet arrived at the end of this health crisis, but we are nonetheless optimistic about the future. We have seen the progress that is being made in our state to test more and more of us, to treat those who have been hospitalized, to distribute personal protective equipment and other supplies to first responders and care givers, to build capacity to shelter those in need and to provide food for those who have lost their jobs. And we are grateful to participate, even in a small way, to assist those with developmental disabilities in the communities we serve. We look forward to returning our services to a “new normal” as soon as possible. Until then, please stay safe and healthy.
Sincerely,
Patricia Del Monico
Executive Director
COVID-19 Safety Tips Videos
Made by fantastic self-advocates are now available. Thank you for following us this week to watch and share these videos.
The videos will continue to be available on our website, Facebook, and Twitter. These videos were made safely and without violating any health guidance from the state.
Episode 1 – How to Stay Healthy: https://youtu.be/pUZgWtRqN_U
Episode 2 – What Should I Do If I Think I’m Sick?: https://youtu.be/FpPlTIV3qTk
Episode 3 – What I Should Do If I Get Sick: https://youtu.be/rteP5FMraog
Episode 4 – What To Do If a Caregiver or a Family Member Gets Sick: https://youtu.be/UWcQSWHb8O8
Bonus! – Bloopers and extra clips: https://youtu.be/azvvNKnsj0Q
Once again, a huge thank you to the self-advocates who shared their precious time and talent during this challenging time for the videos:
Isabel Babcock - Robert Balderama - Sydney Cooper - Reggie Davis - Michael Esquibel - Marisol Guerrero - Qamdhyn Hale - Charles Nutt
Rachel Osterbach - Michelle Padilla
Caregivers May Be Eligible For Paid Leave Under COVID-19 Relief Law
Parents who must stay home from work to care for their adult children with disabilities due to coronavirus-related closures may qualify for paid leave, federal official say.
In a rule published Monday in the Federal Register, the Labor Department determined that the definition of “son or daughter” for the new program should be consistent with that of the existing Family and Medical Leave Act, which “expressly includes children 18 years of age or older and incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability.”
Food Banks
Due to high demand, it is advisable to check with the individual resources listed below to make sure they are open and stocked before you go.
Long Beach Food Banks
Long Beach Rescue Mission
1430 Pacific Ave.
Long Beach, CA. 90813
(562)591-1292
Beginning Friday, March 13th, 2020 LBRM Food Services will begin providing sack lunches and dinners to the community as a proactive and precautionary measure. These meals will be given at the front outside entrance of
SamaritanHouse. Regular meals for in-house residents will continue to be served.
https://lbrm.org/covid-19-current-updates/
Christian Outreach in Action
515 East Third Street,
Long Beach, CA 90802
(562) 432-1440
DUE to public health recommendations regarding the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), Christian Outreach in Action and its employees are taking EXTRA precautions to keep our staff, volunteers and clients safe during this time. Starting March 14, 2020, the following changes were implemented:
§ Hot Meals: All meals will be distributed in brown bags, to-go. Clients will not be allowed in the chapel. Meals will be distributed outside of the Linden Avenue side gate at the start of our regular meal times and end at its normal time.
o Breakfast: Every Day – 7 a.m. to 8 a.m.
o Lunch: Saturdays & last Sunday of the month – 11 a.m. to noon
o Dinner: Monday to Friday – 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.
§ Food Bank: Food items will be assembled in grab-and-go bags. They will be distributed outside of the metal gates on Linden Avenue. Service hours will remain the same.
o Tuesdays & Thursdays – 9 a.m. to noon
§ Diapers: Will be distributed outside our Third Street doors. Service hours remain the same. Documentation is still enforced.
o Fridays – 10 a.m. to noon
§ Clothing & Household Bank: Our weekly clothing and household items giveaway is suspended until further notice. There will be no clothing bank available for the rest of March. We will provide an update for April as further information becomes available.
o Fridays – 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. – SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
http://www.coalongbeach.org/coa-service-changes-covid-19-novel-coronavirus/
Crossroads Church
1900 E South St
Long Beach 90805
(562) 428-4611
ARMS Reaching Out To The Community
6160 Atlantic Ave
Long Beach 90805
(562) 528-9385
Beacon For Him
454 W Anaheim St
Long Beach 90813
(562) 537-6327
Catholic Charities
123 E 14th St
Long Beach 90813
(213) 251-3432
Christ Second Baptist Church
1471 Martin Luther King Jr Ave
Long Beach 90813
(562) 599-3421
Emmanuel Presbyterian Church
4017 E 6th St
Long Beach 90814
(562) 439-8946
First Baptist Church
1000 Pine Ave
Long Beach 90813
(562) 432-8447
Harbor Baptist Church
2300 W Wardlow Rd
Long Beach 90810
(562) 427-8046
Houghton Park Senior Center (must be a senior)
3301 E 65th St
Long Beach 90805
(562) 428-6538
Jenny Oropeza Community Center (must be a senior)
401 Golden Ave.
Long Beach 90802
(562) 570-8890
Long Beach Senior Center (must be a senior)
1150 E 4th St, Rm117
Long Beach 90802
(562) 570-3500
Lutheran Social Services
1611 Pine Ave
Long Beach 90813
(562) 599-1321
Marian Outreach Center @St. Lucy Church
1721 W 23rd St
Long Beach 90810
(562) 989-1954
New Generations
2426 Santa Fe Ave
Long Beach 90810
(562) 363-6457
Parkcrest Christian Church
3936 Woodruff Ave
Long Beach 90808
(562-421-9374
Salvation Army Citadel
3092 Long Beach Blvd
Long Beach 90807
(562) 426-7637
St. Cyprian’s Church
4714 Clark Ave
Long Beach 90808
(562) 421-9487
St. Gregory’s Episcopal Church
6201 E Willow St
Long Beach 90815
(562) 420-1311
St. Mary Medical Center CARE Program
1045 Atlantic Ave, Suite 1016
Long Beach 90813
(562) 624-4996
Temple Baptist Church
2825 E 10th St
Long Beach 90804
(562) 434-3217
Urban Community Outreach
241 Cedar Ave
Long Beach 90802
(562) 582-1000
Women In Action Reaching Out
851 E Via Carmelitos
Long Beach 90805
(562) 253-8078
Wilmington Food Banks
St. Peter and Paul’s Poverty Program
943 Lagoon Ave
Wilmington 90744
(310) 952-0144
Norwalk/ Lakewood/ Cerritos/ Hawaiian Gardens Food Banks
Hawaiian Garden Food Bank Inc
22121 Norwalk Blvd,
Hawaiian Gardens, CA 90716
Broken Loaf Food Pantry @Lakewood First United Methodist Church
4300 Bellflower Blvd
Lakewood 90713
(562) 425-1219
SSS Good Samaritan Assoc
5035 Hedda St
Lakewood 90712
562-467-8926
Torrance Food Banks
New Challenge Ministries Fresh Rescue Food Bank
21804 Halldale Ave.
Torrance, CA 90501
310.320.4171
https://www.newchallengeministries.com/
Harbor City/San Pedro Food Banks
Harbor Interfaith Services
670 W. 9th, St.
San Pedro, CA
The Family Resource Center (FRC) is the point of entry for all of Harbor Interfaith’s services. To be eligible for services, you must be either homeless or working poor. The services of the FRC follow below.
Providing Food:
Food Pantry: Through the Pantry, clients can receive a three-day supply of groceries, donated clothing, personal hygiene items; shampoo, deodorant, diapers, toothbrush and toothpaste. The Pantry operates with the help of more than 75 volunteers.
https://www.harborinterfaith.org/services/find-help/
Salvation Army Stillman Sawyer Center
820 Lomita Blvd
Harbor City 90710
(310) 835-1986
Salvation Army San Pedro
138 Bandini
San Pedro 90731
(310) 832-7228
Toberman Neighborhood Center
131 N Grand Ave
San Pedro 90731
(310) 832-1145 x106
Trinity Lutheran Church
1450 W 7th St
San Pedro 90732
(310) 832-1189
The Power Of The Potter’s Christian Center
627 S Pacific Ave
San Pedro 90731
(310) 957-2994
Bellflower Food Banks
Salvation Army Bellflower
9644 Cedar St
Bellflower 90706
Phone (562) 804-0808
https://bellflower.salvationarmy.org/
St. Bernard’s Food Pantry/Parish
9647 Beach St
Bellflower 90706
Phone (562) 867-2337
https://www.saintbernardcc.org/
Holy Redeemer Lutheran Church
14515 Blaine Ave
Bellflower 90706
(562) 867-0714
A Message from the Joint Information Center on COVID-19 What You Can Do:
Self-management and personal responsibility are empowering. Staying healthy and safe from contagion is within your control. You can do this by:
Following the “Safer at Home” Public Health Officer Order. This enforces a simple fact during this crisis: you are safer at home. By staying at home as much as possible you are not only protecting your health, you are making it safer for the people we are depending on (first responders, healthcare workers, grocery and restaurant workers) to continue working.
Remaining calm, practicing kindness, and looking out for your neighbors;
For those with children, they will remember how you reacted and how their family home felt during this time. They are watching us and learning how to respond to stress and uncertainty.
Offering help to others, especially those who have been identified as those who are considered to be high risk;
If you suspect you may have been exposed or are symptomatic, please contact your local health provider first. If you do not have a healthcare provider, please Los Angeles County Department of Public Health by dialing 2-1-1 to get assistance.
