During the black-out, some staff had traveled on foot, carrying nothing but a flashlight and large meal packages in tow. Three meal packages were delivered to each senior client and each meal package consisted of canned food, beverages such as water, coffee and tea, nuts, bread, cookies, and candies.
In addition to Meals-on-Wheels, Project Open Door Senior Center staff also provided friendly visiting and counseling to the seniors who had experienced great distress from Hurricane Sandy. Face-to-face counseling is essential; many of the elderly clients suffer from a host of chronic illnesses, particularly heart disease, hypertension, and disabilities and require warm care and support to meet their needs. Project Open Door Senior Center also provided meals for all hungry seniors within the vicinity of the center who had walked in.
Ms. Ng noted: "We were very prepared for the storm. I would like the opportunity to thank all of my staff. They did very well in serving those in need. It was a dangerous situation and they have a wonderful heart. I would also like to thank the Dept. for the Aging for checking up on us. Our seniors' safety is our goal. We were very lucky."
Great thanks to the Meals-on-Wheels staff: Moy Gar Seun, Kwan Tit Tsang, Huang Hua Jing, Lee Shu Huen, Hui Kong Shing, Yung Fook Tie Fung, Ma Man Nam, Liu Yan Shan, Ma Lee, Shu Ying, Heh Chao Hua, Yeung Tak Wing, Ma Yan Ling Huang, and Mak Shek Fu.
Jacob Riis Childcare Center
When the East River flooded 1.5ft of the flood surge seeped into the Jacob Riis Child Care Center located in "Zone A" of the Lower East Side. After the storm had passed and limited public transportation was restored 4 dedicated Jacob Riis Center staff members came in to assess the damage done to the center and begin the clean up process. The staff members came in that Friday, November 2nd, and Saturday at 7:30am with their families in tow ready to work. It was due to their hard work and long hours that Jacob Riis was able to serve the children of the Lower East Side on Wednesday, November 7th with limited capacity.
"I would like to thank Maria Flores, Rosita Nieves, Iliana Quinones, and Magdalena Rivera for their dedication to CPC Jacob Riis Child Care Center. They took the initiative to come into the day care center and began cleaning up the center on Friday. With their help the CPC Jacob Riis Child Care Center was able to open their doors to the community sooner than expected." says Jacob Riis Child Care Center Director Ms. Helen Cooperman.
Although the Jacob Riis Center is now open and running at full student capacity, they are still operating under harsh circumstances and need resources to make their classrooms fully functional again. The costs of repair to the entire center has climbed to $76,000. Recovery help is still needed; to donate materials directly to the center please visit bit.ly/amazoncpc.
Home Attendant Program
Many of CPC's staff live in storm affected areas, however, despite personal circumstances the days after the storm, many of our employees continued to respond to their call of duty. One story can be found in CPC's Home Attendant Program. One particular employee (who wishes to remain annonomous) was assigned to a client every Monday and Tuesday. The day of the hurricane was no different for her. On October 30th, when most of lower Manhattan had their electricity shut off, she found herself delivering much needed water to her client at Confucius Plaza. While this action itself seems trivial, in actuality, she had to carry buckets of water up 32 flights of stairs in complete darkness. Her actions that day, as well as those of many other CPC employees, serves as an inspiration to us all.
