Throughout the last six months, Eden Autism’s staff, board members, and families have worked to ensure that the individuals we support remain safe, healthy, and engaged throughout the coronavirus crisis.
“We are extremely proud of our staff for showing compassion, courage, and dedication to the individuals we support throughout this difficult time, said Eden Autism President & CEO Michael Decker. “We know that this has been a challenging time for our entire Eden community, and we all look forward to returning to some sense of normalcy in our delivery of services.”
Substantial health and safety measures have been put in place across all our programs to protect participants, students, staff, and family members. Staff are required to follow protocols for wearing masks, practicing social distancing, hand washing, monitoring for temperature and other possible
symptoms, and following guidelines for disinfecting surfaces in classrooms, day centers, and residences. Professional cleaning and disinfecting will also continue to take place regularly and frequently in all locations.
Eden’s residential program continued to operate throughout the coronavirus crisis, offering 24/7 support for the men and women who live in our group homes and apartments. Staff kept the participants active through a variety of activities and games, including dance parties, fashion shows, and gardening. Recently, staff have been taking participants to safe socially distant locations, such as parks, to further their exercise routines.
Earlier this week, we were happy to welcome students returning to the Eden School through a hybrid model of in-school instruction twice a week and remote instruction the other three days.
We are looking forward to reopening our day centers in late September for participants who do have a residential placement. Day centers throughout New Jersey have been closed since March, but we continued to offer programming for residential participants at their Eden residence. Day services will continue in the residences to comply with DDD’s reduced day center census guidelines and allow adults who do not have a residential placement to return to the centers.
Lastly, we continue to remain in contact with State and Federal agencies and organizations to stay apprised of and implement additional recommended courses of action.
We have received overwhelming support and understanding from the Eden community over these last six months. As we now look to the days ahead, we not only have a better understanding of these extraordinary times, but we have a deeper appreciation for our incredible community of family, friends, and neighbors.
