Newsletters

Updated October 28, 2022

This week there has been an uptick in positive Covid cases in our Thompson and Woodstock community. We ask anyone who attends to diligently self-monitor for any cold or flu-like symptoms. If you have symptoms or have been exposed to a positive case in the past 5 days, please wait to return to the Thompson. Masks are recommended for group activities.

It is our goal to remain open to serve our community while doing our best to prevent illness and limit exposures. We need everyone’s help and cooperation to realize this goal. Symptoms of can be as mild as a runny nose, a headache, or fatigue. If you have any potential COVID-19 symptoms, please stay home and test negative before returning to The Thompson.

At The Thompson:

Masks are currently recommended.
People with symptoms, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID-19 should wear a mask and not return to The Thompson until symptoms are resolved and they have negative test results.
Opening windows is encouraged for ventilation during exercise classes & programs; please make sure to close windows after class.
Make sure to practice social distancing – avoid congregating or crowding together.
Commonly touched surfaces are regularly disinfected, and you should frequently wash or sanitize your hands while visiting.
Reservations are required for all meals and programs. Sign up for dining room meals by 10:30 am (sooner if you’re able, as we are filling up regularly, and meals are on a first-come-first-serve basis).

Exposure or symptoms:

If you have been in close contact or exposed to someone who is confirmed positive for COVID-19, please avoid coming to the Center until you have been tested 3-5 days after exposure, even if you do not have any symptoms.
Follow Vermont Health Department’s recommendations after exposure.
No one should come to the Center if they have tested positive for COVID-19 within 5 days, are feeling sick, or have any symptoms of respiratory illness. Please stay home and get well – if you let us know, we can help arrange delivery of meals, groceries or other necessities.
If you have been at The Thompson and come down with any symptoms, test positive for COVID-19, or learn about a confirmed positive exposure, please let Deanna Jones, Executive Director, know right away so that our exposure contingency planning can begin. Confidentiality will be maintained but we need to know so that we can work to keep other guests and staff safe and aware if they were potentially exposed.
We strongly encourage you to keep up-to-date with your booster shots to provide maximum protection against infection. If you have not been vaccinated, we encourage you to contact your health provider to schedule a free vaccine appointment, or consult the state Health Department’s website for information. If you have any questions or need assistance, let us know! 802-457-3277

Testing

The Vermont Health Department maintains information on testing and local sites on their website. We can help you find test sites. If you are concerned about a recent Covid exposure, or are feeling sick, we may have home testing rapid kits available for participants, staff, and volunteers. Local Pharmacies also have test kits and can bill Medicare or Medicaid to provide them to you for free.

Vaccination

Vaccines are the best tool to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Vaccines help your body fight off the virus. When you are vaccinated you are much less likely to get sick and less likely to transmit the virus to others. Anyone who is not vaccinated is still vulnerable to experiencing the worst of COVID-19. The more people who get vaccinated, the fewer chances for transmission and mutations, and the faster we can end the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about COVID-19 vaccines >>

Find COVID-19 Vaccines

Questions

If you have any questions or concerns, please give us a call. Below are some helpful links related to the ongoing pandemic from our local health departments. We recommend using these resources to verify other information you may encounter online or through other media outlets.

5/14/21 Update

We are very excited to be able to host in-person small group gatherings at the Thompson beginning June 1^st. With adherence to the Vermont Forward Guidelines from the Department of Health (below) and following guidance for Senior Centers, we will begin having programs outside under our tent and serving meals by reservation only and in small groups in the dining room.

We do require that anyone entering our building must sanitize hands and wear a mask inside when not eating or exercising. Here are our plans:

All participants entering the building must wear masks, sanitize hands, then sign into My Senior Center at the Kiosk to complete the health screening before entering activities for the day.
We will continue to serve Curbside lunches available for pickup at Noon, which can be taken home or eaten at our picnic tables on the front lawn or out back under the tent. We will provide plastic ware and water.
In June, we can host up to 20 participants inside for lunch each day, by reservation only. We will have one volunteer wait staff, serving café-style in our dining room with more self-serve options and on a rolling schedule. The dining room is open for lunch between 11:45 am – 1:00 pm, Monday through Thursday. Fridays will be curbside/outside only.
Reservations for all meals and programs must be made by 9 am the day of, or in advance. Please be sure to cancel if you aren’t going to be able to make a reservation for Curbside, Dining-in meals, or programs.

July will bring more opportunities to be together — please review Step 3 (June) of the Vermont Forward plan and help us all stay safe.

Thompson Re-opening Update 4/8/21

We’re very happy to be getting closer to being together in person again. While the Governor has recently announced that Senior Centers may re-open for group activities, there are still guidelines in place at this time that recommend only 1 person per 100 square feet, mask-wearing, 6 foot distancing, and other safety procedures. For the month of May, The Thompson plans to continue as we have been with our Meals on Wheels, Curbside pick-up, one-on-one services, and virtual programs. Senior Center staff were not prioritized for vaccination so our younger staff has only just become eligible to get their vaccinations. With this in mind, we are tentatively planning that the first week of June could be the right timing for our tent and group activities to resume. We will also be monitoring the current, active cases in Vermont and our area. We hope the update in our next newsletter will bring more concrete plans. Please let Deanna know if you have any questions or concerns. 802-457-3277 or djones@thompsonseniorcenter.org

Update on Thompson Services:

With the new state guidelines, all group activities are on hold. Curbside meals and home-delivered meals will continue. One-to-one services like foot clinic and Medicare counseling are able to continue with the established precautions. Please call with any questions.

6/19/20 Community Update

The Governor has just announced that Senior Centers could begin the process of re-opening. While we’re so excited to hear this news, there are many safety measures that must be implemented before we can actually re-open. Although we had already begun planning for this day, we only received the official state guidance for this process on the day of the Governor’s announcement. Senior Centers must individually assess their readiness, develop their re-opening plan based on the guidance received from the state, and safely implement this plan before they can re-open. We are at step one of that process and are currently assessing our readiness and continuing to develop our plan. We plan to thoughtfully move forward and intend to re-open for limited phase 1 programming on Monday, July 13^th.

To read about the starting point to safely and slowly re-open The Thompson building in compliance with the state guidelines, click here.

5/21/20 Community Update

“WHEN will The Thompson be able to re-open?” is the question on all of our minds. As of this printing, the official word from the State is that senior-focused community services are not authorized to re-open for anything beyond essential services and cannot host any programs (even outside). The Governor’s order continues to recommend that older adults age 65 and older “shelter in place.” We are working on our re-opening plan that includes required staff training, new safety procedures, and social distancing rules for when we are able to open. We have also purchased a tent that will be used for outdoor space, and we’ll be ready to greet you all as soon as we’re able to. We can’t wait!

If you are interested in receiving our weekly e-Newsletter for updates and resources, click here

Eleanor Roosevelt Virtual Program, Understanding Dementia Webinar, Drive-In Ice Cream Social and more … eNews 8/14/20

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Chuck Gundersen book reading under the tent, August virtual programs, new foot care available at home and more … eNews7/31/20

NEW! Your Virtual Senior Center, Make Tie-Dye Masks in our New Tent, Sign-up for Legal Aid Clinic … eNews7/24/20

Administrative Staff Spotlight, New Foot Care at Home, Sign-up for your individual, in Person Benefit Assistance … eNews7/17/20

Virtual Biking Class, Online ArtisTree Painting Class, VHC First Wednesday Talks… eNews 7/10/20

Play Virtual Jeopardy, Take an Online Biking Class, Updates and More…eNews 7/3/20

Staff Spotlight, Updates on Taxes, Transportation, and More…eNews 6/26/20

Senior centers to re-open, DHMC Aging Resource Center virtual programs, get free legal advice… eNews6/19/20

Stay connected during COVID-19, online driver safety course available, free legal advice clinic by phone, and more…eNews 6/12/20

Sign-up for virtual legal advice on COVID-19, play online games, paint tulips with ArtisTree via Zoom… eNews 6/5/20

Read interviews from our kitchen staff , view scenes of isolation amid the pandemic, see our new June menu and more… eNews 5/29/20

Learn about fun things to do from home, local food assistance programs, updates and more…. eNews 5/22/20

Participate in the 2020 Census, learn about DHMC telehealth appts, Zoom art & cooking classes and more!… eNews 5/15/20

Updates from AARP Fraud Watch Networks on recent scams, learn about backyard composting, BINGO from home and more… eNews 5/8/20

May is Older Americans Month, AARP Smart Driver Safety Course online, zoom exercise classes continue and more… eNews 5/1/20

Read update on AARP tax preparation, check out our May menu, learn about local supplemental food programs and more…. eNews 4/24/20

Learn about the Woodstock Area Relief Fund, VT Legal Aid Town Halls, free online health and wellness programs and more…. eNews 4/17/20

Looking for suggestions on a good book, options for local grocery shopping/assistance, a way to enjoy the offerings of the Hop at home, plus more… read eNews 4/10/20

For current information on stimulus payments for people on Social Security, stimulus check scams, and other relevant topics, read our weekly eNews 4/3/20

Woodstock Area Relief Fund COVID-19

For more information and to apply, click here.

3/19/2020, What’s happening at The Thompson:

Home-delivered meals and grocery necessities for our older community members
“Drive-by” meal pick-up at The Thompson, 12:00pm, M-F
Providing daily phone chats and check-in calls
Aging at Home support services with medical equipment, referrals to vetted service providers
Online classes and programs coming soon!

3/13/2020, Community Update letter

Call us at 457-3277

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

The Coronavirus COVID-19 situation is changing daily. The Thompson Board and staff have decided that it is in the best interest of our community to discontinue dining room meal service and programs inside our Center.

Effective Monday, March 16, 2020, for a two-week period, The Thompson will not be open for lunch, programs, meetings, rentals, or transportation.

We feel this is the best decision at this time and must be done to protect our ability to deliver critical Meals on Wheels to homebound and/or isolated older community members.

The Thompson staff will continue to serve our patrons at home by:

Delivering meals and grocery necessities
Offering “drive-by” meal pick-up at The Thompson
Providing daily phone chats
Coordinating regular programs online or via conference call
Continuing our Aging at Home support services with medical equipment, referrals to vetted service providers, and more

Throughout this process, The Thompson staff will be at the Center to arrange for any support our patrons may need. Nothing changes for our existing Meals on Wheels participants, but if you would like to arrange for pick-up or delivery of meals, or have any other questions or concerns, please call us at (802) 457-3277.

With care and concern for our community, Sincerely,

Deanna Jones, Executive Director
Liza Deignan, President, Board of Directors

Vermont Department of Health Daily Updates
Centers for Disease Control
State Information & Resources Dial 2-1-1

Additional Emergency Resources

Should a member of the community find themselves in a self-quarantine or mandated quarantine situation, there are resources and plans in place to assist them or their families during their time of need. In the event of needing more support (Food/Water/Medicine), please see the emergency phone numbers below for the surrounding towns:

Woodstock Emergency Management hotline (June 12th Update):

Woodstock has closed the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) that was opened due to COVID-19. Emergency response and assistance is still available as is the hotline number 802-457-7516. If the need arises anytime moving forward, the EOC will reopen.

Bridgewater Emergency Mgmt Coordinator, Josh Maxham: 802-299-8428

Barnard Emergency Management Coordinator, Mike Manning: 802-234-5263

Pomfret Emergency Management Director, Kevin Rice: 802-356-7643

For state information & resources dial 2-1-1

For online information visit cdc.gov

Update from Carla Kamel and the Community Health Team

Community Care Coordinator, Carla Kamel, is available for support in navigating resources and services and discussing community-based services. Carla wants our readers to know that she is available at the Ottauquechee Health Center (OHC) for a health and social wellness phone visit at 457-5414 or at carla.kamel@mahhc.org.

Anne and Carla continue to reach out to Caregiver Support group members. OHC is grateful to all patrons who donated cloth masks (PPE). They remain in need of PPE-masks which can be dropped off at the main entrance to OHC. Thank you for helping us keep our patients healthy and safe in our community!

Update from Ottauquechee Health Foundation (OHF)

OHF will continue to offer financial assistance for health and wellness needs through grants to those living in any of their nine service towns which include Woodstock, Barnard, Bridgewater, and Pomfret. If you or someone you know is experiencing financial stress in light of COVID-19 or other health reasons, please contact OHF. They will continue to serve the community by being available via email at info@ohfvt.org or by calling 457-4188, Monday-Thursday, 9am-4pm. Applications for financial assistance can be found on their website at www.ohfvt.org or by calling The Thompson Center.