(907)586-1090 - Confidential Careline 24/7

COVID-19

AWARE is open

If you are in a dangerous home situation right now, isolated with someone who abuses you or your children, please call us at (907)586-1090, if you can. Even if you don’t come into the shelter, we can help you safety plan over the phone.

If you can’t talk on the phone, text LOVEIS to 22522 or do an online chat at www.thehotline.org

If hunkering down in isolation is causing you panic attacks or severe anxiety because of previous abuse, call us. Your mental health is important.

(907)586-1090 is our 24/7 careline.

Staying Safe

At AWARE, our main focus is always on helping folks to stay safe. Because that is our top priority, we are doing things a bit differently right now. We want to keep the most medically vulnerable people in our community safe from the new coronavirus making its way around the world. We are asking folks seeking shelter to answer questions about their health, and asking them to participate in measures to protect community health both inside and outside the shelter.

Being sick or having been sick recently, doesn’t mean we won’t shelter you! And if you were to get sick with coronavirus or anything else while staying here, we won’t ask you to leave just because of it.

If someone staying at AWARE comes down with symptoms or a fever, we will require that they receive a medical consult before continuing to stay at AWARE. We will support them to get to the hospital, Front Street Clinic, or another medical provider for consult and possible virus testing. They would be asked to wear a face mask. They would be offered sleeping space in a isolation room, and asked to stay isolated in that room at all times except to go to the designated bathroom. While they are in isolation, staff will support them with meals, garbage removal, laundry, etc. Anyone that is determined to have the Covid-19 virus through a medical assessment may be expected to comply with this isolation for at least three weeks! This is to minimize the chances of it spreading to medically vulnerable folks.

Donations are Welcome!

If you have any extra bleach, rubbing alcohol, rubber gloves, face masks, etc. we would be very grateful for donations. (Home made masks are welcome!)

Take care of Each other

Isolation protects us from COVID-19 but this isolation further puts people at risk for domestic violence and child abuse. Victims may not be able to make a phone call, text, or online chat to reach out for help.

Here are some things you can do to help:

1. Safely check in on a regular basis.
2. Ask yes or no questions.
3. Call AWARE and speak with an advocate about the situation.
4. Set up a code word in case that person needs immediate help.

All calls to AWARE are free and confidential.
(907)586-1090

Last but not least, don’t judge. Abuse is complex – and it just got a whole lot more complicated.

Safely check in with your family, friends, elders, neighbors, and co-workers by phone, text, or distance. If you have questions about how to help, CLICK HERE or give us a call to speak with an advocate.

HOW we get through this matters.

We must make our way through this situation in unity. There have been many attempts to offer reassurance by naming communities that are vulnerable to the virus (such as older adults), as if this is somehow reassuring. It is not. Regardless of any one person’s level of risk, it is up to all of us to take steps to stop the virus from travelling through our communities to reduce the likelihood that the virus will find its way to those who are most vulnerable. 
It is also important to not allow harmful stereotypes and racist messages to go unchecked. Dehumanizing people is at the root of sexual violence, and it’s part of our work to push back against oppression in all its forms.
People already dealing with many challenges and barriers often face the greatest risk in times like this, and statistics are already beginning to bear this out. Our communities are only as strong as our most vulnerable.

New Processes in Shelter

As the COVID-19, or Coronavirus, gets more widespread in Juneau, we all need to work together to stay safe. Here’s what we are doing:

Everyone entering the shelter will now be asked to check their temperature before coming in. Residents will be asked to check their temperature at least once a day.

  1. Cleaning our common spaces, doorknobs, surfaces, bathrooms with BLEACH or AMMONIA solutions. These two chemicals are effective for killing viruses. We suggest you clean your room regularly too- as an advocate for a spray bottle.
  1. We aren’t putting out self-serve meals. Common spoons or big pots of food increase the risk of passing germs around from person to person. You will be responsible for breakfast, and sometimes lunch, but we are going to do our best to prep lunch and dinner for service by staff, or plated individually.
  1. We’re going to check in with you about your health:
    1. If staff or other residents notice you have symptoms- we will ask you to check in.
    2. Staff will help you take your temperature and inventory symptoms and other illnesses/conditions in order to make some decisions about safety.
    3. If you have symptoms, including fever, staff will ask you to make a call together to your provider or Front Street Clinic if you don’t have a regular provider. You will be given a mask to wear to keep from spreading germs.
    4. If the provider recommends hospital or other medical treatment, staff will get you to that service, including testing for COVID-19.
    5. If you turn out to be positive for COVID-19, other treatment options outside shelter may be available to you. That said, we are not asking anyone to leave shelter simply because they are unwell. Please make sure you are communicating with staff so we can get you the right treatment at the right time.
    6. If the provider recommends home/isolation, staff will set you up in a special bedroom so you are not around common spaces and other people.
    7. In isolation, you will have meals provided to you, and staff will check on you regularly.
    8. We will ask you not to go into common areas, particularly the kitchen, until after you are better and we consult with the doctor. You are free to leave any time you’d like, however, you are not free to disregard staff instructions that are meant to keep us all safer.
    9. If you find that you are getting sicker, call 586-6623 and we will get emergency services to you. The same protocol applies to children and their parent.

 

  1. Please ask advocates or other staff about any questions you have from this notice. You are also welcome to us about our health! If you notice a staff person who appears symptomatic, please ask us about it. We are all in this together, and we can only slow the spread of this illness by talking to each other, respectfully and with compassion.