As conditions around the COVID-19 pandemic continue to evolve, we are making an effort as an organization to put in place the best possible practices to ensure the health and safety of our participants, volunteers, customers, and staff, based on the recommendations of public health officials.
Inspiration Corporation is implementing the following programming alterations as of Monday, March 16:
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All employees who are able to conduct their work remotely will do so for the foreseeable future.
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The Inspiration Cafe in Uptown will not serve breakfast or dinner through March 30 in accordance with guidelines for restaurants issued by Governor Pritzker. In lieu of meals services, we will be distributing food boxes to participants over the lunch hour to support their nutritional needs.
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All volunteer shifts are canceled until March 30.
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Participants may access our site outside of meal times only by appointment.
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The public computer lab at Inspiration Cafe is closed indefinitely.
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We have suspended curriculum for our Foodservice Training program at Inspiration Kitchens in East Garfield Park. Currently enrolled students will maintain their level of progress in the course and be invited to continue curriculum as soon as we are able to restart classes.
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Inspiration Kitchens is closed to the public until March 30. We are not accepting catering orders at this time.
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Case managers across all programs will interact with participants by phone or email as much as possible to reduce the possibility of transmitting the virus. Staff will remain available to directly assist participants in the case of emergencies.
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Inspiration Corporation staff have been advised to cease in-person meetings and reschedule or conduct internal and external meetings by conference call or virtual meeting.
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We are stepping up cleaning procedures at all our sites (Inspiration Cafe and Inspiration Kitchens) in accordance with CDC guidelines to support staff who must work on-site during this period.
We encourage all participants, volunteers, and customers to reach out to us directly with any questions or concerns about the impacts of these changes.
We will continue to make safety the highest priority for everyone in our network, and we move forward with the understanding that we may be required to make additional adjustments to our programming as conditions change. We understand that many of our participants rely on Inspiration Corporation to fulfill their basic needs for nutrition and housing, and we will work as hard as we can to balance those needs with our duty to ensure the safety of our participants and staff.
Thank you for your support and understanding during this difficult time.