Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

NOC’s Protocol for Safety and Good Health

 Following South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster announcement of March 15, 2020, to close all schools in the state effective, Monday, March 16, through March 31, 2020, we have closed NOC centers at all locations in Beaufort County until March 31, 2020.  We told the field staff that we will monitor the situation closely for further instructions. All the teachers, volunteers, and staff have been informed of NOC’s decision. The field staff used WhatsApp to inform children and families about NOC’s decision to close.

• The Program Managers  (PMs) and Neighborhood Liaisons (NLs)spent Monday, March 16, as regular day at their respective centers in the event that any children or parents came to the center; They took this opportunity also to deep clean and disinfect  the center  and have it ready for opening.
• The NOC Office will be closed during this period, March 17 to March 31, 2020. Every effort will be made to ensure that all business matters are addressed and completed as required.
• NOC is communicating with the local schools to ensure that the children and families receive pertinent information relating to learning materials and food (breakfast and lunch) distribution schedule and locations. Since the parents of these children are working, it will be difficult for these families to receive materials and food. Many of these children do not access to computers and internet connections; therefore, eLearning activities will not work for these children. Many parents are also not equipped to help these children with their homework and building learning skills in math, reading, and language arts.
• We feel for the children and parents as they deal with this difficult situation. The next two weeks will be trying for many people, including the people we serve. I hope that this unprecedented calamity will be short-lived. Unfortunately, the schools will most likely not open until the end of April; we may also lose the remaining period of this academic year, 2019-2020.
• For additional information please visit https://bit.ly/3aGWvHs  for information from the CDC and DHEC.  You can also visit the Beaufort County School District website: www. https://www.beaufortschools.net/. You can also listen to Governor McMaster’s recent  press conferences at https://scemd.org/. 

Additional helpful sites:

Beaufort County Alliance for Human Services: https://www.beaufortcountysc.gov/topics/coronavirus/index.html.

https://www.beaufortcountysc.gov/human-services/help.html

Beaufort Memorial Hospital:

www.bmhcareanywhere.org.

 South Carolina

www.scdhec.gov/covid19

South Carolina Department of Health

https://www.scdhec.gov/infectious-diseases/viruses/coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19

Beaufort County School District Food Distribution Schedule

http://beaufortschools.net/cms/One.aspx?portalId=170925&pageId=23614099

Neighborhood Outreach Connection will be hosting free healthcare screenings in partnership with the Beaufort Memorial C HiP Mobile Wellness Unit and the Beaufort Housing Authority on March 14, 2019 from 4 PM to 6 PM in the Parkview Apartments located at 2500 Duke Street, Beaufort, SC 29902.

This is the first of 6 screenings Neighborhood Outreach Connection has planned over the next 3 months for Beaufort County residents. 

Dr. Sharma, NOC Founder and Chair, recently met with senior nursing students from USC-Beaufort to explore areas of common interest and the scope for a partnership. In keeping with USCB’s strategic priorities, special attention is given to experiential learning or service learning.  The Nursing School, under the leadership of Dr. Chesanny Butler, will work with NOC at the Oaks location on Hilton Head and in downtown Beaufort.  Nursing students will select project topics ranging from community health needs assessment to health screening and health and wellness. Their final project will be presented at USCB, as well as to each respective community. This exciting initiative paves the way for further collaboration between NOC and USCB involving students from other disciplines and schools.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In the past several weeks, NOC together with its partners – Beaufort Memorial Hospital, VIM, and DEHEC – completed health screenings at Simmons Cay in Bluffton and at Cordillo and the Oaks in Hilton Head Island. About 150 adults were screened for hypertension, diabetes, breast cancer for women, prostate cancer for men, and HIVAIDS. In all of these neighborhoods, poverty is widespread and a majority of the families do not have health insurance or access to affordable health care.

NOC’s health screenings — working in conjunction with the Lions Club, Ronald McDonald, and local volunteers with health care expertise and experience – have benefited more than 1,500 people over the past seven years. NOC plans to hold additional health screenings in 2015 at Parkview and Marsh Pointe Apartments in downtown Beaufort. People in these neighborhoods appreciate the convenience and ease of these screenings. Scheduling screenings between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. allows many workers to participate. Also, having these screenings in their neighborhoods enables women to take advantage of this essential service.