Independent Perspective #1609

Guest:  Daniel Colpoys

Topic:  WNYIL limited reopening

Duration:  05:53

Published:  August 4, 2020

Host:  Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL). Our guest today is Dan Colpoys, Chief Community Engagement Officer of WNYIL, and your host is yours truly, Ernie Churchwell. Welcome to the program, Dan.

Guest:  Hi Ernie, thanks for having me on.

Host:  It's our pleasure. We've heard a lot from you lately because you are the man who's got his hand on a lot of the things that are happening in these unusual times with the agency. But now you've got a bit of good news to share with people here, that is the limited reopening. Where all does this include, and what percentage of the staff is going to be coming back?

Guest:  Yes, it is good news. While we've been serving our consumers, even throughout the pandemic, we're now in a position to be able to reopen at a limited capacity, all of our physical locations. And that includes our main office on Main Street in Buffalo but also our centers in Niagara Falls and Batavia, as well as their satellite offices, as well as the Renewal Center in downtown Buffalo and Niagara Frontier Radio Reading Service in Cheektowaga. So we're open for business at a limited capacity, we've invited 50% of the staff back into our offices. We've invited consumers to come into our physical locations as well, with some stipulations on that. And that we are asking our consumers to call their staff members to set up an appointment. Please don't just drop in unannounced, it's important to set up that appointment with your staff person, and make sure they're here when you're here because while we are open, we don't want people in the building unnecessarily.

Host:  Yes, I dare say if you're only having 50% of the staff here at any one time, you really are well advised to make sure the person you want to talk to happens to be there on the day you want to be there.

Guest:  Yes, we don’t need to have our consumers make an unnecessary trip when they don’t have to.

Host:  Because of various limitations, I believe that people are called upon to do an over the telephone screening questionnaire, the day before the appointment?

Guest:  Yes, the staff member will call our consumers and do a brief, very brief questionnaire with them, one to make sure they're feeling good and are able to come and meet with the staff member. We do some background checks to make sure they haven't traveled to any hotspots that are seeing increases in COVID cases, to make sure they're physically feeling well. And to make sure that it's safe for the consumer and staff member to meet.

Host:  I believe that when someone comes in, they'll find some additional procedures in place to protect themselves and others?

Guest:  Yes, the staff will certainly be wearing a face covering or a face shield and we do ask that our consumers wear a face covering upon entering the building. If they don't happen to have one, we will provide one for them. We are also following social distancing guidelines, so we don't want two people to be closer than six feet from each other. We will ask them to either wash their hands in the restroom or use the hand sanitizer stations as soon as they enter our physical location. And we also have plexiglass partitions set up on staff members desks so there's another added layer of safety when the two are meeting.

Host:  Well, it sounds like they really got a lot of territory covered to try to be as safe as possible in this circumstance, but I'm sure that some people are likely to have questions about just how this is going to work. And if they want to know even before they talk to their service provider whom should they call to get more information?

Guest:  Sure, their staff member is the best person to call. If they don't happen to have the exact extension of their staff member, they can just call our main office number at 716-836-0822 and ask for their respective staff member.

Host:  A lot of very good information. That's a step on the way toward normalcy and we're glad to hear it. Thank you so much for being with us, Dan.

Guest:  My pleasure, Ernie, thank you.

Host:  You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a Public Affairs presentation of WNYIL. Our guest today was Daniel Colpoys, Chief Community Engagement Officer with WNYIL, and your host was yours truly, Ernie Churchwell.