Lawrence Business Magazine 2020 Q3 by Lawrence Business Magazine

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2020 Q3

Publisher:

Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC Ann Frame Hertzog & Steven Hertzog Editor-in-Chief:

Ann Frame Hertzog Chief Photographer:

LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHERS The “Essential Worker” was never a huge part of our vernacular until the pandemic called Covid-19 raised its pernicious head and began to ravage and divide our country. Now, like the first responders after 9-11, essential workers are being upgraded to hero status. Several of us have placed lawn signs on our property, thanking those essential individuals such as health care and public health workers. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security defines essential workers as those who conduct a range of operations and services that are typically essential to continue critical infrastructure operations.

Steven Hertzog Featured Writers:

Anne Brockhoff Bob Luder Cody Marshall Patricia A. Michaelis, Ph.D. Emily Mulligan Sarah Ngoh Tara Trenary Copy Editor:

Tara Trenary

While many of us are shuttering in our homes with loved ones or working from home so as not to pick up Covid-19 and risk the health of our families, there are sectors of workers called essential who bravely go to work and take care of the needs of the rest of us. The third quarter issue is always our Impact Issue. And we couldn’t think of anyone making more of a positive impact on our community right now than Essential Workers. They are the ones in our local community who make the sacrifices during our ongoing Covid-19 pandemic keeping our community running safely. Although we cannot cover everyone who is essential, we hope that by highlighting some of these dedicated local workers, we get an appreciation of their commitment to our community. Maybe we are beginning to appreciate our friends, our neighbors, and even total strangers who do these jobs and contribute to our lives in ways we may have taken for granted up until now.

L-R Sarah Burtch, Bart Yost, Renee Kuhl, James Fly, Kathy Richardson, Chad Voigt, Stephanie Duncan Photo by: Steven Hertzog

Contributing Writers:

Courtney Bernard

Contributing Photographer:

Gaskins Photography Collections, LLC Special thanks to Kathy Richardson and the Department of Public Works for working with us so we could use the trash truck for our cover shoot.

If we are to survive Covid-19 and future pandemics, it is paramount that we recognize that we are dependent on one another, and we need to support one another.

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Lawrence Business Magazine, is published quarterly by Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC and is distributed by direct mail to businesses in the Lawrence & Douglas County Community. It is also distributed at key retail locations throughout the area and mailed to individual subscribers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reprinted or reproduced without the publisher’s permission. Lawrence Business Magazine, LLC assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Statements and opinions printed in the Lawrence Business Magazine are the those of the author or advertiser and are not necessarily the opinion of Lawrence Business Magazine.

2020 Q3

Contents Features: 9

Lawrence in Perspective:

The Pandemic Generation

by Tara Trenary

Who Are Our Essential Workers? by Emily Mulligan

Behind the Scene

by Cody Marshall

A High Tourch Profession

Breaking Bread

Taking Care of Business

With Courage & Commitment

Does History Repeat Itself? by Patricia Michaelis, Ph.D.

by Bob Luder by Sarah Ngoh by Bob Luder by Anne Brockhof

Departments: 7

Letter From the Publishers

LMH Health

Leadership Academy

16 Non-Profit: Lawrence Community Shelter 20

Professional Spotlight

Chad Voigt, Douglas County, Public Works

Local Scene: Taking Care of Local

770 Newsmakers 78

Whose Desk?

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LAWRENCE & DOUGLAS CO [IN PERSPECTIVE]

Does History Repeat Itself?

Looking back at the last pandemic in the United States, the Spanish flu, reveals just how devastating an uncontrolled virus spreading through a community can be. by Patricia A. Michaelis, Ph.D., Historical Research & Archival Consulting photo credit Library of Congress

Wash your hands. Stay at home. Close the schools. Statewide shutdown order issued. Do these admonitions sound familiar? They were part of the effort to combat the Spanish flu in 1918, but these safety efforts heard today are to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The Spanish flu epidemic, which had no established connection with Spain, was also known as the 1918 flu pandemic. It was a deadly strain of the H1N1 influenza A virus. There were four waves, but the second wave was the deadliest. It reached its peak in Kansas in October 1918, with more than 292,000 deaths nationally between September and December 1918. The pandemic may have started in Kansas, when one of the first cases reported was at Camp Funston, Fort Riley, Kansas. The U.S. was still fighting World War I, and Camp Funston trained thousands of new soldiers who traveled through Kansas. Obviously, Lawrence was impacted by the pandemic. On Oct. 8, 1918, schools and theaters were closed. The story on Page 1 of the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for 9

October announced: University And Schools Ordered Closed Today by State Health Authorities Theaters, Churches, And Clubs of Lawrence Follow Suit And Go Into Voluntary Quarantine Against The Spread Of The Spanish Influenza Which Now Threatens The Population And The Student Body Ninety-Two Cases Reported On “The Hill” W. W. Holyfield, acting mayor of Lawrence, issued a proclamation that also appeared on the front page of the Oct. 8 newspaper. It stated, in part: Now, Therefore, I hereby order and direct that all public and private schools, church services, lodge meetings, theaters, picture shows, and all public assemblages of people be suspended until further notice and that there be no gatherings of more than 20 people in one place. One of the complicating factors was that approximately 3,000 young men were undergoing military training as part of the Student Army Training Corps (SATC). Barracks were built near campus and, because of living in close quarters, the trainees were the victims of most of the cases of the flu in Douglas County. On Oct. 12, Kansas Gov. Arthur Capper issued a statewide closing order for one week to try to stop the spread of the virus; and on Oct. 18, the order was extended for one week. The closings were announced following a long-distance telephone discussion with Dr. S. J. Crumbine, director of the State Department of Health, Governor Capper and Chancellor Frank Strong. Students were warned that travel by train (which was the primary form of transportation for college students) “is one of the most sure ways of spreading and becoming infected with the influenza, and the students are advised to remain in Lawrence until school is reopened.” Crumbine acknowledged that if “crowds again are permitted to congregate, one bad case in a school, church or theater would be sufficient to affect every person susceptible.” Sound familiar? Public schools in Lawrence and Douglas County were also impacted. County Superintendent of Public Schools O. J. Lane and the City Superintendent of Public Schools Raymond A. Kent ordered local schools to be closed to implement the statewide closure order. Finally, on Nov. 11, the ban was lifted, but local governments were encouraged to develop their own restrictions and precautions. The 1918 pandemic included the closure of billiard and pool halls “except for the sale of cigars and simi10

lar articles. The following conditions were required if drinks were served: All glasses, spoons and other utensils served to the public shall be thoroughly sterilized by boiling water or live steam; of that in lieu thereof paper cups and dishes should be used. Health officials, police officials and sheriffs are called upon to see that this order is obeyed.” A. W. Clark, the Lawrence City Health Officer, also addressed concerns about barber shops. He believed that “the dangers of barbers conveying to or taking from their clients the influenza infection is probably greater than any other profession. Until further orders, all barbers while actually at work are required to wear gauze masks closely covering mouth and nostrils. At least four thicknesses of gauze about 5 inches square should be used with a tape at each of the four corners to tie at the back of the head and back of the neck. Shops not complying with this order will be closed.” Sound familiar? Other impacts of the pandemic were described by the newspaper. Patrons of the public library were assured that all books returned to the library would be fumigated before they were put back in circulation. It was noted that train traffic was down, with only two people leaving Lawrence on the morning trains. Mail delivery was slowed because two of the mail carriers had contracted influenza. Local florists had difficulty filling the “abnormal demand for flowers resulting from the influenza epidemic because greenhouses had to abide by U.S. fuel administrations restrictions because of World War I.” When a local druggist had trouble receiving orders of antiseptics, atomisers and other articles needed to fight the flu, he found a creative way to combat his shortages. The druggist was Walter Varnum, of the Round Corner Drug Store. He “turned his pleasure automobile into an automobile express car and with it has been relieving the emergency created by the influenza epidemic.” He made two trips to Kansas City and brought back a large number of supplies needed by the medical community. In early November, Crumbine reported that there were about 50 cases in Lawrence hospitals, and another 200 convalescents would be unable to attend classes. Crumbine also stated “that conditions in many localities were not as favorable as they are here, and if some thousand or more students were brought back here from all parts of the state, the condition of about a week ago would be repeated.” In 1918, Lawrence did not have a public hospital. Several doctors provided beds for patients in their clinics/home, and the Social Service League Hospital operated a charity health clinic located at 546 Vermont St. These facilities were filled with influenza patients. The Lawrence Daily Journal-World reported on a Black man who had become seriously ill on an Atchison, Topeka

and Santa Fe train. Paul W. Conners, of Prescott, Arizona, was removed from the train. The Social Service League Hospital was full, so he was kept at the police station overnight. The next day, “local colored Masons” arranged for him to be cared for in a private home. At the urging of Mayor George L. Kreeck, the Lawrence Red Cross quickly set up an emergency ward at 826 Mississippi St., courtesy of the Bullene estate. Furniture, beds and other linens were donated by private families. Dr. A. W. Clarke, the city health officer, was appointed superintendent of the hospital, and Mrs. Ruth Seaman was named head nurse. A call was made for additional nurses, but most of them were already involved in treating influenza cases. Other women were encouraged to volunteer, even if they did not have medical training. In some homes, everyone in the family was ill, and neighbors were urged to check on each other and help, as needed. As indicated earlier, many of the young men undergoing training as part of the SATC had the flu. The Lawrence Chapter of the Red Cross answered the call for assistance. It helped recruit 10 graduate nurses, 12 practical nurses and 55 nurses’ aides. The Red Cross also reported it had provided the following supplies: 496 suits of pajamas, some 1,800 gauze masks, 155 bed slippers, 260 sleeping helmets, all manufactured in their work rooms. The chapter also furnished 340 bed sheets, 347 pillowcases, 294 pillows, 420 towels and 155 washcloths, all gathered from house-to-house campaigns. While the influenza pandemic reached its height in October 1918, additional cases were reported into 1919. It is difficult to locate statistics about the number of cases in the state of Kansas and its communities. In Kansas, 12,000 had died from influenza by 1919. However, impact of the Spanish flu was immense. It is estimated that the disease killed between 16 and 30 million people worldwide, and was responsible for 675,000 deaths in the United States alone. The Spanish influenza was responsible for twice the number of casualties (both killed and wounded) of the United States in World War I, which totaled near 323,000.

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There was a little bird, its name was ENZA I opened the window And in-flu-enza. p

LEADERSHIP ACADEMY

Second-annual summer leadership academy continues carefully amid pandemic

by Courtney Bernard, LMH Health Foundation, photos by Gaskins Photography Collection, LLC

The LMH Health Summer Leadership Academy, a mentoring program for local high school juniors and seniors, proceeded carefully during the COVID-19 pandemic by offering a hybrid experience of virtual and in-person activities. 13

In collaboration with USD 497, LMH Health hosted the second-annual Summer Leadership Academy from June 15 through July 31. The Academy is a six-week introduction to careers in health care and has a focus on students from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds in health care, including people of color. Erica Hill, finance and operations manager for LMH Health Foundation, designed the Summer Leadership Academy in 2019 and oversees the program each year with support from Verdell Taylor, diversity and inclusion manager at LMH Health, and LMH Health Human Resources.

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“The Leadership Academy is a comprehensive program that creates a learning culture and promotes personal and professional development for our scholars, all while being surrounded by caring adults who want to see them succeed,” said Hill. “The purpose of the Academy is to provide an opportunity for students to learn and explore. Often, it’s a lack of opportunity that is the barrier to success.” Hill and the Academy planning team prioritized the students’ safety this summer. To protect the students, changes to the program included virtual tours and meetings, workspaces that were safe distances apart, and mandatory use of personal protective equipment (PPE) while on location at LMH Health. Whether virtual or in-person, the students received job training, mentorship from executive leaders, and networking opportunities. At the conclusion of the program, the students received a $1,000 scholarship, funded by community donations to LMH Health Foundation, toward their college education. “Providing paid internships to students from underrepresented groups is the kind of measurable action steps we want to see as a product of our equity work,” said USD 497 Superintendent Anthony Lewis. “The benefits of this partnership with LMH Health extend beyond these students and their families to the community-at-large as we create a leadership development pipeline from our schools to the workforce.” Four students participated in the 2020 mentorship program. Arie’Auna “Auna” Childress, Thayu Kimori, and Fiona Swaggerty of Free State High School and Kirk Johnson of Lawrence High School were selected this year. “Inclusion, diversity, and equity should be woven into the fabric of who we are as an organization,” said Russ Johnson, President and CEO of LMH Health. “We want to help our community’s youth

experience opportunities they may not know exist, and to experience them in a low-pressure environment where they can freely explore those options.” Hill believes that mentoring in the workplace makes a positive impact on employees, especially women and minorities. She recalls a past mentor who had an important influence on her career. “I had a mentor that created an opportunity for me to leverage my strengths, so I personally understand the value of mentorships and how they can change the trajectory of your life,” said Hill. “It’s important to understand that mentors and internships don’t make people successful - they create opportunities for people that already have promise. Sometimes an opportunity is all you need to flourish.” Fiona Swaggerty, a 2020 academy intern, said the program was the greatest opportunity she has been given as a student. She said she learned skills that benefit her in both her personal and professional life, such as assertiveness, effective communication, and professionalism. “The Academy provided me with so many new learning experiences, introductions to wonderful people, and led me to discover what I truly want to do with my future,” said Swaggerty. “The Academy has allowed me to become a better person and leader in all aspects of my life, and was definitely one of the most incredible things I have ever done.” After completing the Academy, Swaggerty accepted a position at LMH Health as an admissions representative and will continue working for the hospital as she attends college this fall. Both Hill and Lewis believe that the LMH Health Summer Leadership Academy has been a success. “I enjoyed hearing from our scholars about the leadership, mentorship, and career exploration opportunities afforded them through their participation in the inaugural academy,” said Lewis. “With obvious excitement and appreciation, they shared that this experience proved pivotal as they transitioned from high school and began their pursuit of college, careers, and dreams for the future.” p

NON [ PROFIT ]

Renee Kuhl Executive Director LCS.

SHELTERING DURING

A PANDEMIC

The Lawrence Community Shelter is working toward placing the homeless in permanent housing situations to protect them from COVID-19 and keep them off the streets for good. by Emily Mulligan, photos by Steven Hertzog

When the coronavirus pandemic hit in March, the Lawrence Community Shelter worked hardest at sending people out of the shelter instead of bringing people in to be safe, as is its usual mission. The shelter was trying not to shelter. The congregate living configuration at the shelter was not conducive to containing the virus. People were sent away after a shortened stay—but not back out on the streets. Instead, many were placed in housing and apartments in the community that could become their permanent housing. 16

“You can’t stay home if you don’t have a home,” says Renee Kuhl, the shelter’s executive director. “Homelessness is a public health crisis, and it was before COVID. The virus has provided more opportunities for us to continue to reframe our focus on housing.” Kuhl’s focus since her arrival as executive director in August 2019, long before a pandemic was on the horizon, has been to move people more quickly out of the shelter and into housing in the community. The shelter is now an adherent to “rapid rehousing,” a movement championed by the National Alliance to End Homelessness. The philosophy of rapid rehousing, Kuhl says, is to make people’s

bout with homelessness a brief, one-time occurrence so that it minimizes the emotional trauma and health consequences, and allows them to reenter the community quickly. “The issue of homelessness is man-made, and there are solutions. We, as a community, need to look to solve this whole thing,” she says. “The shelter is not the place where the journey toward stability ends; it’s where it starts. It ends in a home.” When the pandemic hit, and the stay-at-home order was issued, Kuhl says she quickly partnered with other agencies such as The Willow Domestic Violence Center and Family Promise, which were also faced with people living in congregate situations. Together, they connected with landlords and provided people with funds for security deposits and the first month’s rent so they could move into their own space. Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center is now running the program, which provides up to six months’ rent and is intended to be a permanent situation.

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“In March, my focus was getting people out to apartments. We were able to get all of our families out within six weeks,” Kuhl says. As rapid rehousing continues, Kuhl is embarking on a special new project with a $500,000 donation and in-kind fund-raising campaign to address the shared living space on-site in the shelter. Studio 804, a University of Kansas architecture design-build nonprofit, approached Kuhl and the shelter this summer with the concept of constructing tiny homes on the shelter grounds. Even with the emphasis on permanent housing, there are still those who will need to stay while awaiting their housing, and for those who are not eligible for rapid rehousing, they will need a place while addressing other needs such as employment or substance abuse. Dan Rockhill, the architecture professor who leads Studio 804, drew up plans this summer to construct the tiny homes out of shipping containers. Each home will have plumbing, with a bathroom and a kitchenette, Kuhl says, and can house two adults or one adult and two or three children. With separate bathrooms and kitchens, the homes will be ideal for isolating or quarantining, while residents benefit from the shelter’s resources. Construction began in September, and Kuhl says she hopes to have all 12 homes sheltering people by March. “Studio 804 is finding donations for materials and the shipping containers, and we’re fund-raising to complete the infrastructure,” Kuhl says. “Everyone is excited to partner with us, because this is a hard time, and this is one way to tangibly make a real difference right now.”

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The tiny homes are called Monarch Village, because they surround a butterfly waystation. The shelter is also building an ADA-compliant (Americans With Disabilities) deck in the back of the shelter so all residents can more easily access the outdoor shelter grounds during their stay. CARES Act funding, which the shelter secured this fall, will provide hotel vouchers, allowing families to continue to stay off-site in a more private setting than the shelter. The money for those vouchers must be spent before the end of the year. The CARES Act is also funding a legal campsite that the city will establish, in which Kuhl anticipates the shelter will play a role. The pandemic sped up many of the initiatives Kuhl already was pursuing as executive director. Also, with more funding available from the federal government through both Housing and Urban Development grants and the CARES Act, she has already initiated ideas in the community. She says she is watching the economy closely, because she doesn’t think the full impact has landed in Lawrence just yet. “There might be a surge of people homeless this winter, so we’re trying to develop solutions. Our primary goal is getting a housing outcome. We already have a lot of people in their second or third instance of homelessness [previous to COVID]. This is a tough time to be chronically homeless,” Kuhl says. Affordability of rent, a common complaint and refrain in Lawrence elections, continues to be a challenge for the shelter, as well. Kuhl says because of new connections with landlords forged during the pandemic, she is hoping to find solutions for people who are on disability or have criminal records that limit their employment and income prospects. Already, people have been approved for federal programs such as Section 8 more quickly than before the pandemic. “Prior to COVID, Douglas County didn’t have near enough rental assistance,” she says. The coronavirus outbreak likely will have a lasting impact on the Lawrence Community Shelter, and it may look more like a silver lining than anything. “Long-term, this outbreak will have changed how we address homelessness,” Kuhl says. “It’s amazing to be part of the community shift of how we deal with homelessness.” p

Monarch Village renderings, courtesy Dan Rockhill/Studio 804

PROFESSIONAL [ SPOTLIGHT ]

Photo by Steven Hertzog

Chad Voigt, P.E.

PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR

DOUGLAS COUNTY

What is Douglas County Public Worksâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; most important commodity or service? In contrast to a city public works department, which might be responsible for streets, sidewalks, sewers, traffic lights or solid waste collection, our county Public Works department is primarily responsible for higher-speed rural roadways, including the many bridges that carry those roads. We also maintain all county-owned vehicles, including sheriff department vehicles. 20

What is Public Works most important priority? Road safety is our top priority. Pavement condition, bridge capacities, proper signage, roadside mowing, storm drainage and snow removal are all important to maintaining safe roadways. We also have an aggressive capital improvement plan to rebuild and improve roads and bridges.

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What have been some of the most important aspects of your success? Road maintenance typically receives strong public support. Our county commission has been committed for many years to providing funding for maintenance and improvements. Stable funding in our capital improvement plan has made it possible to respond quickly to evolving needs.

How many people do you work with, serve, interact with on a daily basis and are responsible to? Or for? I manage 56 full-time employees and report directly to the county administrator. I interact with dozens of other agencies on a regular basis. I interact with landowners and residents daily.

How do you and your department make a positive impact on the Lawrence community? We always seek to provide great service to Lawrence residents, businesses and agencies, and we’re proud to have been a part of Lawrence for over 100 years.

What do you see as your personal responsibility and the department’s responsibility to the community? We’re always concerned that we’re spending funds responsibly and efficiently. We work very hard to target our work to the most critical needs and to find the most cost-effective solutions to problems.

What inspires you personally? Is there a specific thing, person or incident? I was lucky to work for George Williams for several years at the City of Lawrence. George was kind, respon22

sible, practical and so many other qualities that made him an amazing leader. He’s been an inspiration to me and many others.

What is the biggest challenge you feel your department is facing now? We’ve fallen behind on several important projects recently as a result of the 2019 tornado, several flood events and COVID-19. We’re working to restore schedules and get those projects moving.

What do you foresee as being the biggest challenge for the future for your department? And how are you addressing or preparing for it? The county has a large number of bridges that are 50 to 80 years old, which raises the concern that we may see a wave of replacement projects in a future year. To avoid that, we’ve been working to replace one or two of the most critical bridges each year. You may have heard of ASCE’s (American Society of Civil Engineers) national infrastructure report card, which lists bridges as Grade C or D in most communities. Douglas County’s 157 bridges would rate much higher than average, and we hope to sustain that for the next generation.

How has the COVID-19 crisis affected the Public Works staff, and how are you accommodating them? Our field personnel are all essential staff, as they must be available to maintain roadways and provide support to emergency services. We’ve modified operations to keep everyone as safe as possible. Many of our office staff have been able to work from home at times.p

Student watches through a fence from the playground at Googols of Learning

The Pandemic Generation During this unprecedented time, child-care operations have taken a hit not only financially but also in enrollment, and our kids may pay the price. by Tara Trenary, photos by Steven Hertzog

My head is spinning. My friends’ heads are spinning. Parents’ heads all over the country are spinning. And they’re exhausted from playing multiple roles on a daily basis during this monthslong pandemic: teacher, playmate, wage earner, line cook, therapist, coach. And now, parents are faced with a situation not fathomed since 1918: How do we safely send our kids back out into a world still plagued by a virus we don’t fully understand? For some of us, the answer is clear: We do it because we have to. We have to put food on the table. We have to qualify for health insurance. We have to pay the bills. Already a challenge for some, quality, affordable child care has become more of a challenge in the face of COVID-19. 24

“Without a doubt, this [pandemic] has presented challenges for families trying to determine not only child care but transportation and homework assistance during these unprecedented times,” explains Reva Wywadis, executive director, Child Care Aware of Eastern Kansas. This agency serves as the sole parent resource center for the state of Kansas, providing families from throughout the state child-care referrals and education about how to choose high-quality child care. She says the child-care industry operates on a shoestring budget, and the majority of child care across the country is provided by small businesses. “Many experts predict that as many as half of the current child-care facilities will not survive this pandemic financially and will not stay in business.”

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Students play outdoors at Mary Beth Karlin Daycare

IN-HOME CARE

have a son with asthma, and we have been very cautious.”

Mary Beth Karlin, owner of Mary Beth Karlin Daycare, an in-home child-care operation, says her budget went from having a steady income to nothing at all when she had to close. “Even when I was able to open back up, I had very few kids come back to day care, and I totally understood that and supported each and every family who chose to keep their kids home.”

She says what she’s learned most throughout this pandemic and running a home-based child-care operation is that most parents are second-guessing their decisions. “Do they keep the kids home? Do they attempt to get back to work? If they have a runny nose, could it be a COVID symptom? … We take care of each other and our families,” she explains. “We all respect each other’s level of anxiety and hold no judgement on anyone’s decisions.”

Karlin, like many child-care operators, both in-home and brick and mortar, applied for assistance to keep her business afloat. Assistance offerings at the time included grants, small business loans, unemployment, Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans, Cares Act assistance, Hero Relief Program funding, Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL) and other options. “Since COVID, I feel like I’m even more protective of my day-care children,” Karlin explains. “I take their temperature as soon as they arrive and literally hold my breath each and every time, praying they aren’t running a fever. I’ve always felt a huge responsibility to every child I’ve cared for, but COVID has taken that to another level. Now I feel like if I’m not picking up on a sign or symptom of the virus, I not only am putting each and every child in my home at risk, but my mom and my family, as well.” Melissa Daggett, owner and operator of Melissa’s Play School, agrees. “The fear of getting this virus and not knowing how it could affect my family is pretty scary. I 26

And most importantly, “We practice a lot of patience and kindness with the kids, who are more cooped up than ever and know something is scary out in the world, but don’t have the capability to understand it,” Daggett adds.

CHILD CARE PRESCHOOL Lawrence Community Nursery School (LCNS), one of the oldest cooperative preschools in the United States, follows the USD 497 schedule and will be closed when those schools are closed. LCNS was open for a short time this summer and, when not open, provided families videos and Zoom calls to keep kids engaged. When Lawrence schools go online Sept. 8, LCNS will offer its families an all-virtual-learning option or an option that allows virtual learning with small play groups meeting on the side.

“We are a small school, so it’s easier to try and follow guidelines, like we do not have to worry about sharing our playground with another group where we would have to clean the playground,” says Stephanie Duncan, LCNS director and lead teacher. Those guidelines, put out by the Lawrence/Douglas County Health Department and Kansas Department of Health and Environment, advise the community and child-care facilities how best to keep COVID at bay in the classroom. “They put out guidelines, but they are just guidelines. We had to figure out what that looked like in the classroom,” she continues. With help from its Board of Directors, Duncan and the other LCNS teachers came up with an in-classroom plan, which was implemented when the school was open this summer and will continue when children return to school. Enrollment was reduced from 18 to 20 kids per class (one a.m. and one p.m. class per day) to 10 per class. Teachers must wear masks full time, and children are encouraged to, as well, but not required. Temperatures are checked on adults and kids at check-in each day. Any adults entering the building must remove their shoes and put on a mask. Any rugs and soft materials have been put in storage. Teachers clean every toy every day. The community water jug was eliminated, and each child now has his or her own water bottle. Children no longer share materials in the classroom, and tables that once had five children only have two, and they are distanced. Familystyle snack time is now served individually and must come packaged. Common areas are cleaned every hour, and teachers stay longer at the end of each day to clean for the next day. Potty seats and handles are washed after each child or adult uses the bathroom. More hand-washing stations are provided, including outdoors, and kids are washing more often. More outdoor playtime is encouraged. Child-care facilities in Lawrence have implemented their own sets of guidelines similar to what LCNS has done to protect the health and well-being of their employees, families and children. Duncan explains that LCNS had less money coming in after it closed even though some families chose to keep paying tuition. “We did receive a small grant of $500 and then the PPP loan to help us get through the months we are in now,” she says. The preschool also had a large unemployment pool to draw from when forced to put teachers on unemployment for a time. Extra costs included gloves, masks and cleaning items used during June and July for the small, inperson classes held then. Amy Gottschamer, Googols of Learning Child Development Center executive director and owner, explains that early childhood is a low-income industry,

Thanks for 50 Growing Years!

Amy Gottschamer, Executive Director of Googols of Learning

and there are very few resources or reserve accounts her operation can immediately draw upon during this kind of crisis. Googols, with few reserves to fall back on, also had to put staff on unemployment for a time when this pandemic began while she searched for funding to keep the operation running. “It’s really more of a lack of income than increased expenses,” Gottschamer explains. “While we are paying staff for tasks such as extra cleaning and health assessments, and temperature checks every day, which wasn’t needed before, the bigger problem is that our enrollment dropped significantly.” She says when Googols reopened, it had about one-third of its usual enrollment, not enough to pay expenses. PPP and EIDL loans have helped to keep the bills paid, and today, the facility is back over 60% of prepandemic enrollment. Googols also implemented new guidelines to impede COVID, including temperature checks, mandatory masks for adults and school-aged kids, extra cleaning and sanitizing, social distancing, allowing no one in the building except teachers and students, and installing new HEPA filters in all the air systems. Hilltop Child Development Center, a predominantly University of Kansas child-care center that also serves the greater Lawrence community, has lost more than $500,000 since the pandemic began. “We are 91% funded by student tuition,” explains Jeremy Fite, Hilltop executive director. “There were obvious concerns for families as they had to determine the best path for their children. With lower enrollment, our revenue took a substantial hit. Couple loss of revenue with additional costs of PPE, and it is incredibly concerning financially.” But Hilltop is fortunate to have had reserves to absorb 28

some of those losses. “Our large-scale financial planning will allow us not to make any drastic changes to make up for our losses, [but] our recovery period will likely take years to account for the dollars lost.” Hilltop was able to continue to pay all full- and part-time staff during closure, and will continue with its regular billing and tuition rates. It may, however, face some budget cuts this year, including staff raises, travel and transportation. Another change as fall semester begins at Hilltop is in how the building will be staffed to minimize the movement of part-time staff from room to room. “We have to minimize the potential exposures that can occur in case there is a positive case in our facility,” Fite explains. “This will likely increase our staffing costs this year.” Hilltop has not had to put any limits on classroom size or staff, however. The biggest change (minus cleaning, masking and drop-off/pickup routines) has been the implementation of “cohorting.” “Meaning that they do not mix with other classrooms,” Fite says. “They are on the playground one classroom at a time. This creates a scenario in which we can contact-trace quickly and minimize any large closure.”

AT-RISK YOUTH Positive Bright Start (PBS) provides services to highly vulnerable young children and their families. It operates two preschool classrooms in collaboration with the Lawrence Douglas County Housing Authority and provides children with highly qualified mental-health therapists who provide age-appropriate therapeutic interventions to children up to 5 years of age. “Most of the children we work with have experienced some type of trauma,” explains Anna Jenny,

Students play and read at Hilltop Child Development Center. Jeremy Fite, Executive Director stands by a Jayhawk statue

Stephanie Duncan, Lawrence Community Nursery School (LCNS) Director and Lead Teacher reads to students

Positive Bright Start executive director. “Because trauma is intergenerational, we also provide therapy for parents around parenting issues, emphasizing attachment and relationship-building, and processing their own trauma.” In addition, PBS administers early-education tuition scholarship programs to ensure children in low-income families have access to a quality early-childhood education. It also sponsors home-care providers participation in the Federal Child and Adult Care Food Program, which reimburses providers for meals served to children in their care. After reopening in May to a limited number of children to maintain social distancing, PBS has slowly added back more children and teachers, and is now again at full capacity. It relied on teletherapy during the time it was closed and now schedules clients so they don’t overlap in the waiting room. Therapists pick children up at their parents’ cars and walk them in. “One of the biggest challenges we have faced is the chaos and uncertainty the pandemic has created,” Jenny explains. “When we closed in March, we expected nine children to graduate in August and had a waiting list of children to start when they left. The pandemic caused some parents to keep their children home. Others became uneasy as transition to kindergarten in the public schools approached and wanted to keep their child at PBS. Some parents on our waiting list decided not to enroll their child in August. What we thought was a certain class roster became very dynamic with removing children and subbing others.” 30

AN ESSENTIAL SERVICE The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation recently published a report demonstrating why a strong child-care system is a vital piece of the country’s ability to rebuild its economy. It explained the impact of child care (or the lack thereof) on working parents was essential, allowing them to enter, reenter or remain in the workforce. But affordable child care is hard to come by for many and even harder during a pandemic such as COVID. With families now burdened by their child-care needs and facing tough decisions on employment (leave the workforce to stay home with kids, work from home, suffer unemployment), businesses are sure to encounter difficulty with return-towork plans and recruiting and retaining employees, the report states. “In March and April, we saw a decline in families seeking child-care referrals. As more families are returning to the workplace, and employers are reengaging their workforces throughout the region, referral requests are now beginning to steadily increase,” Child Care Aware’s Wywadis says. “Now, as schools have announced their plans, we are experiencing calls from families trying to navigate the hybrid schedules without many viable options.” She says some communities have more options for care, and community partners are coming together to develop new services to serve children during the hours and

The kitchen at Hilltop Center prepares meals for students

days they may not be in school but still need supervision and support. The agency has also seen an increase in parents seeking part-time child-care options, including those who need care for out-ofclassroom learning days for school-aged children. Googols of Learning is one of those facilities embracing the older children in its community. Teachers and staff have developed a plan to help families who need help not only with preschool-aged kids but also school-aged children who are either out of school because of closure or attending schools using a hybrid model. They created a Distance Learning Program, into which the center has accepted K through third-grade siblings of preschool enrollees. Googols teachers will facilitate distance learning through USD 497 within school-aged classrooms, supporting district teachers by providing time and space conducive to learning. “We’ll help them stay on task and on time, and provide one-on-one assistance as they need it,” Executive Director Gottschamer explains. 32

The center will also offer a hot lunch and two snacks, daily outdoor play, free play and additional learning activities outside of the six-hour school day. And teachers will teach the children strong social-emotional skills that are essential, Gottschamer believes, in a crisis like this.

A HELPFUL TOOL Many child-care facilities’ personnel have been anxious to get hold of additional guidance and support as they attempt to balance public-health guidelines with what they know about how children learn through the context of relationships and interactions, Wywadis explains. Child Care Aware worked collaboratively with health department officials to publish the Preparedness and Planning Guide for Child Care Programs to help mold child-care providers’ policies and practices to meet both the needs of children and families, as well as the health and safety of staff and clients. That guide has been broadly adopted as a useful tool by many regional health departments and is published on the agency’s website at east.ks.childcareaware. org/child-care-providers/preparedness-and-planningguidelines. “Research clearly shows that what happens in the first five years of a child’s life lays the foundation for all later learning,” she says. “High-quality child care is a critical part of the infrastructure needed for healthy communities and a healthy economy. It is an issue that everyone should be invested in, not just parents. Business and community leaders have to be creative in supporting their workforce with young children.” p

Who Are Our Essential Workers? During this historic time of pandemic, Lawrence and Douglas County employees were resolute in working to maintain some sense of normalcy for local residents. by Emily Mulligan

During the first couple of months of the COVID-19 outbreak, Gov. Laura Kelly’s words and executive orders were the guiding lights for Kansans. So when she signed Executive Order No. 20-16 on March 28, 2020, calling for a statewide “stay-home” order, she also defined which types of businesses across the state were exceptions for remaining operational. The governor’s order listed the following as “essential businesses” at that time: hospitals, child-care facilities, government operations, food and beverage sales and manufacturing, liquor stores, utility companies and lawncare services. Schools already were shut down across the state at the time of the order, so they were not included on the list. 34

According to the database of The Chamber in Lawrence, using the governor’s definition, about 22,000 workers in Douglas County are considered essential workers. That is a substantial proportion of the approximately 80,000-person workforce in a population of about 112,000. Both the City of Lawrence and the government of Douglas County have remained operating—with some modifications, of course—throughout the year. Their workforces handle a wide range of jobs, from first responders and law enforcement to information technology and parks. How many people work which types of essential jobs in Douglas County? What are the highest-paying job sectors for essential workers? Who comprises the city and county workforces? Local databases and numbers shed some light on those questions and more.

Overall Essential Workforce

13,000

About two-thirds of essential jobs in Lawrence are held by workers in food services, food retail, alcohol and beverage retail, and accommodations. More than 13,000 jobs fall into those categories. That includes grocery store workers, liquor store workers, cafeteria workers and hotel employees. Notable for the COVID era, it also includes dining and drinking establishments, many of which were forced to close their dining rooms and bars because of the governorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s executive order and, subsequently, Douglas County Health authorities. So the workforce in those categories that stayed intact and employed during the shutdown would have been much smaller, but there was no official measure in place.

1,900

The second-largest category of essential workers in Douglas County is local government, which employs almost 1,900 people. More details about local

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government workers in both the City of Lawrence and Douglas County government will follow in the next sections.

800

After government, the next-largest essential workforce is in child care and child and youth services, which employs about 800 workers in the county. Child-care

centers were deemed essential during the â&#x20AC;&#x153;stay-homeâ&#x20AC;? time in order to care for the children of essential workers. Because school was not in session, child care became critical for essential workers to be able to leave home and work their jobs.

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There are more than 500 hospital workers in Douglas County (pre-

COVID). At the beginning of the shutdown, LMH Health pared back its services to exclude elective surgeries and nonurgent procedures to prepare the hospital for accommodating and isolating virus patients. That led to declining revenues of about $1 million per week and, ultimately, temporary furloughs of about 220 hospital employees until the summer, when those surgeries and procedures were reinstated.

300

Utilities employ about 300 people in Douglas County. That includes the

cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s water and wastewater operations, as well as local employees of Evergy electrical utility and Black Hills Energy natural gas utility. Those employees have remained on the job to maintain and respond to outages and emergenciesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;with virus-related safety precautions in placeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;throughout the shutdown.

Pre-COVID Salary Ranges for Essential Work Categories

Utility

workers have the highest annual wages per worker,

according to The Chamber database, ranging from $58,000 to $94,000. Those wages have risen more than 14 percent in the past five years, the database indicates.

Animal

food manufacturing, wholesale alcoholic beverages and (people) food manufacturing have the next-highest annual salaries per essential worker. Animal food manufacturing,

which employs just under 200 people, averages $75,000, while food processing and manufacturing ranges from $54,000 to $62,000 annually. Wholesale alcoholic beverage sales and distribution, which employs about 250 people, averages between $47,000 and $66,000 annually.

Hospital annual salaries

workers, per The Chamber database have

at about $49,000 per year and wastewater and sewage workers, about 25 people, at $43,000 to $46,000 annually.

City of Lawrence

LAWRENCE’S PREMIER

WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT COMPANY

860

The City of Lawrence employs about 860 full-time and part-time permanent workers, according to information

provided by Communications and Creative Resources Director Porter Arneill. (That number does not include part-time seasonal or temporary workers.)

300

The biggest city department is the Municipal Services and Operations division, formerly Public Works and Utilities, which employs more than 300 people to maintain

More than 300 also comprise the first responder force and support for police and Fire Medical. About 78 people work in Parks and Recreation. Most of the rest of the city’s the city’s various types of infrastructure.

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workforce is part of the city administration, including the City Manager’s office, Finance, Planning and Development, and legal and information technology.

City employees are about 72 percent male and 22 percent female as of this fall. That number does not total 100 percent because of job vacancies at the time it was tallied. About 463, or 54 percent, of City of Lawrence employees live in the city. Another 12 percent live in Douglas County, including Baldwin City, Eudora and Lecompton. The remaining 27 percent commute to their jobs from outside of Douglas County. Again, job vacancies account for the remainder. The City’s essential workers continued to report for work throughout the “stay-home” order and all reopening phases, Arneill explains—some shifting their workspaces to home—while others continued to report to work sites around the city.

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One essential worker for the city says, “I appreciate how all city employees worked together and rallied during these tough times to make sure essential services were delivered consistently to help everyone through the crisis.”

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With schools suddenly closed, and partners or spouses having to work from home, “It’s also important to remember that many of our families made sacrifices so we could keep working,” another worker adds.

Douglas County Government

462

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The government of Douglas County employs 462 permanent employees,

both full-time and part-time, says Karrey Britt, communications specialist. County workers tend to be loyal: As an overall group, they average nine years of service. The average age is 43, with 42 percent of them are under 40 years of age.

161 Public Works, is the next-largest county 56 department with 56 employees, The Sheriff’s Office is the largest department with 161 employees,

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overseeing both law enforcement and the jail.

and Criminal Justice Services is a close third, with 53 employees. The rest of the 16 total departments range from four to 33 employees, including treasurer, district attorney, maintenance and district court.

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Britt says the responsibilities within the jobs for the county are important because the county’s services affect residents’ everyday lives, from the roads they drive on to the safety standards of the buildings in which they live and work. Most people readily understand why services such as law enforcement are essential during the pandemic, but equally essential to business and safety are things like building permits, road maintenance and land records. County Administrator Sarah Plinsky explains, “While I was in college, I thought I wanted to work for the state because I thought local government was mostly about roads and sewers. It is about roads and sewers, but it’s also about people. That’s when I decided that I wanted to work for local government.” Sixty-four Douglas County employees have worked for the county for more than 21 years. Britt says employees tell her they stay working for the county because they “enjoy helping people and making a difference in the community.” Pam Weigand, director of Criminal Justice Services, has worked for the county since 1992. “When you think back over your life, you really remember moments in time. Everybody here hopes to make a connection with a person in one way or another. You hope that somehow that one moment in time connects with that person and helps make the difference for them, or helps them feel supported,” she says. p

HEATING & COOLING

Sales

Sevice

Installation

BEHIND by Cody Marshall, photos by Steven Hertzog

City workers are there to make sure all residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; lives continue to run seamlessly, and even during a global pandemic, their jobs get done. 40

THE

SCENE

DPW crews paving and repairing sidewalks

Too often we take modern conveniences for granted. In our busy lives, we don’t always take time to appreciate the marvel of turning on a faucet and water pouring out, or flipping a switch and a light turning on, or putting the trash out and someone coming to take it away. Most often, these conveniences go unrecognized until something goes wrong: a storm knocks out the electricity, or a water pipe bursts and your morning shower is interrupted. Behind each of these amenities, which allow our community to run smoothly, are hundreds of essential workers. Essential workers are those who go beyond the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday schedule and are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. “Water and wastewater doesn’t stop,” says Mike Lawless, deputy director of municipal services and operations (MSO) for the City of Lawrence. The MSO is a large umbrella that covers many areas for the city, including solid waste, street maintenance, traffic signals, water distribution, budget and finance, household hazardous waste, yard waste collection and many more. Lawless, who oversees field operations and inspections, says of his workers, “They’re essential first-line staff; it doesn’t matter if there is a pandemic or not, the employees are here to keep doing work no matter what.” Back in early March, when the new realities of what a COVID-19 pandemic world would look like—mandatory wearing of masks, curbside pickup for goods and food, limiting gatherings of people—those working within inherently hazardous divisions of municipal services needed to make safety adjustments to ensure their services continued uninterrupted. Discussing the challenges faced to safeguard his workers, Lawless explains the importance of being more flexible with projects, getting masks and hand sanitizer out to workers, and developing strategies to keep work crews from intermingling on field operations. “We created different work areas for different crews, staggered start times and lunch times, and scheduled people Sunday through Wednesday and Wednesday through Saturday.” As in any other business or industry, if an MSO employee is exposed to COVID-19, “people have to stay home and quarantine.” 42

City of Lawrence Solid Waste Manager Kathy Richardson

Staggering work crews acts a preventative measure to limit contact among employees to safeguard that essential work continues without interruption. Given the already hazardous nature of wastewater collection and clean-water distribution, Lawless explains, “There aren’t really any additional concerns from wastewater employees, but everybody is more cautious.” Patrick Bartlett, an MSO field operator who works specifically on water main pipe issues, says of his challenges since the pandemic started, “We have to work with changing schedules to accommodate work crews socially distancing and to make sure there are always work crews scheduled every day of the week. We’re pretty well-off in that we stay out and about, and don’t have to worry about seeing too many people. But if we have to go door-to-door to inform people about a water main break, we always wear a mask and keep 6 feet apart.”

A Major Shift Like other cities around the world, starting in mid-March, much of Lawrence’s population began to quarantine and work mainly from home, and students began to attend school virtually. This change of environment brought with it many adjustments and some consequences, such as everyone getting a basic education in the distribution of toilet paper. People working from home meant household water usage went up, as did the amount of household trash and recycling put on the curbside. When Kansas started issuing new mandates on bar, restaurant and other business closures, people’s daily routines shifted rapidly. “In March, we had no idea that we would come to a place where they would be shutting down businesses,” says City of Lawrence solid waste manager Kathy Richardson. “We knew there would be a shift in trash being generated [by shutting down businesses], but we didn’t know for how long. But it caught us by surprise that it changed so quickly, like the flip of a switch.” With people working from home and eating all of their meals there, food waste such as leftovers and food packaging that might normally get more widely distributed through the workplace and restaurant trash and recy43

City of Lawrence crews at work in East Lawrence

cling was now concentrated in residential disposal. Richardson, who started working for the City of Lawrence as a waste reduction and recycling specialist in 2002, has been a solid waste manager since 2013. She says her workers immediately recognized this big change in waste. “You know you have to switch quickly when workers looking at the numbers of tonnage of trash and recycling picked up is shifting from commercial to residential; you quickly adjust your resources,” she says. This meant shifting commercial trash truck crews over to residential use. The uptick in the amount of trash and recycling is not only attributed to people eating more meals at home but also other factors connected to people being stuck inside. As a result of the pandemic, the American population accidentally found itself in a mass, self-imposed KonMari Method of decluttering, asking themselves if that old worn-out chair in the corner of their living room still “sparked joy.” With no choice but to stay home, people began changing their living environments. These changes included renovation projects people suddenly saw as a necessity to make their homes more comfortable while in quarantine and creating spaces in their homes to carry out work normally done at a desk in an office. Nearly all of these changes generated more trash and recycling. “Move-out week is the time of year [end of July, beginning of August] when we see mountains of furniture and trash when college students’ leases are ending. We have experience with that, but we were seeing move-out piles in March. This was people cleaning out their homes,” Richardson says. With Goodwill, Salvation Army and other thrift and consignment stores not accepting donations during the first months of the pandemic, what that meant to the waste industry “was a lot more trash instead of another more useful life for those items,” she continues.

Safety First Solid waste collection is the fifth most dangerous job in America, and given the inherently hazardous work under normal circumstances, the safety of Richardson’s workers during the pandemic meant increasing protocols to protect their health. She emphasized the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for work crews, which includes gloves, safety glasses, masks and hard hats, among other items. “While employees can wear their own cloth masks, the City has also provided disposable masks and cloth masks to employees,” she explains. Ryan McPhail, a City of Lawrence solid waste loader, says of the new safety implementations: “Everyone bought into doing the right thing immediately. Everyone has had a mask on since mid-March, and there has been no wavering on that.” Trying to distance crews away from each other as much as possible is one of the main safety protocols immediately implemented during the pandemic. Crews start their morning shifts in 15-minute increments to avoid directly interacting with one other. Regular, efficient removal of trash is critical to the health and safety of communities, and that is only possible by ensuring the health and safety of public works employees. Richardson says that in the beginning of the pandemic, “workers were definitely concerned and worried, because we weren’t sure what

City solid waste collectors picking up trash of all kinds

was going to happen, and there were a lot of unknowns. The City did a great job of sending information to staff to push the idea of preventing the spread of COVID-19. Employees all have their temperature taken when they arrive to work and at the end of their shift. These steps calmed a lot of worried employees.” Because of individual work crews not having the option to socially distance when they are working on the same trash truck, instituting other sanitary measures was critical. This includes ensuring workers always have access to hand sanitizer as well as soap and water for washing their hands on their routes. Prior to the pandemic, workers normally washed their hands in the restrooms of restaurants and businesses on their routes, no longer a readily available option. Workers also spray their trucks with disinfectant in the morning and throughout the day. Among the daily challenges, there were many basic logistics that needed to be worked on in the MSO, such as limiting employees punching a time clock to avoid the spread of germs and instead having their supervisors clock them in. Richardson adds that one way citizens of Lawrence can assist in the safety of solid waste workers is to ensure all disposable masks and gloves are bagged and put into their trash cans, not recycling bins. Are solid waste workers worried about greater exposure to COVID-19 than the average citizen? “Yeah, we are because we touch and deal with all sorts of stuff,” McPhail says. “The type of material you deal with on a day-to-day basis causes concern, and I’m subject to dealing with citizens on a daily basis.” When considering the great upheaval of daily life as a result of the pandemic, regular amenities afforded the people of Lawrence by the City’s Municipal Services and Operations department continues nearly seamlessly as a result of hardworking, dedicated essential workers not always seen by the average citizen. “One thing that happened for solid waste, when Kansas and other states started shutting down, was citizens started seeing our workers now that they were at home, and it reminds us that we are all one community,” Richardson says.

Watering and caring for flowerbeds along Mass St

“We’re trying our best, we all have families, and we all have loved ones; and we want to keep up the same great type of service that we want to provide to them,” McPhail adds. p

A High-Touch Profession Lawrence’s two revered funeral homes, with 220 years of service between them, have weathered the COVID-19 storm by staying true to their purpose and to the families they serve. by Bob Luder, photos by Steven Hertzog

The role of funeral director can be challenging, even during the most typical of times. It involves nearly daily interaction, counseling and planning with families going through one of the most difficult and heart-wrenching phases of life: grieving and coming to terms with the loss of a loved one. Oftentimes, family members come into a funeral home not knowing what to expect, what to ask for, what it is they want. Other times, there are disagreements within families about what arrangements they want. A good, capable funeral director aids these families by wearing a variety of proverbial hats—event planner, counselor, arbitrator and then some. Now throw in a global pandemic of a highly infectious and potentially deadly disease, one which has forced state governments to impose strict restrictions, banning large gatherings of people and setting forth guidelines for social distancing and mask wearing, and well, it makes the function of the funeral home all the more interesting. The novel coronavirus—officially tabbed COVID-19—has thrown Lawrence, the state, the country and the world into a tailspin, and like any other business, funeral homes have been affected.

“It’s a difficult time already,” says Audrey Bell, funeral director at Warren-McElwain Mortuary & Cremation Services. “To put COVID-19 on top of that, it just adds to the difficulty. There are just a lot of what-ifs right now that make it all more difficult.”

Background: A Local church streams a Rumsey-Yost Funeral service to those who cannot attend in person due to capacity guidelines at the funeral home. Left: Rumsey-Yost funeral director Todd Miller helps a guest with his tie. Below: Bart Yost hands out programs to arriving guests, as Todd sets up his camera to stream the service to the church.

Mourners listen to the eulogy at Warren-McElwain Mortuary & Cremation Services

Fortunately for the city of Lawrence, it has two funeral home/mortuaries that stand amongst the most venerable and long-standing businesses in the area. Rumsey-Yost Funeral Home & Crematory Inc. and Warren-McElwain Mortuary & Cremation Services have a combined 220 years of service in the Lawrence area between them. Rumsey-Yost began doing business in Lawrence in 1920, when Charles Rumsey and two of his brothers moved the Rumsey Brothers Funeral Home from its home of the previous four years, Tonganoxie. Warren-McElwain also traces its roots back to the early 1900s with the Schubert Funeral Home in Eudora (founded in 1904) and the Funk Mortuary in Lawrence (1909). The two merged into what would become Warren-McElwain in 1953. It adds up to more than two centuries of experience and service leading families through grieving and end-of-life processes. Funeral homes offer services that most might not ever consider until they need it. But most families do require it at some point in their lives. And the combined experience of the ownership and staff at Rumsey-Yost and Warren-McElwain, both companies of long and rich family lineage, ensures customers that they know how to do the job right—pandemic or no pandemic. “I’d say (the COVID-19 pandemic) has affected business 50

negatively,” says Bart Yost, owner of Rumsey-Yost. “A lot of people are doing less, or postponing. And realistically, probably 80 percent of those who postpone will end up doing nothing.” “But so far, everybody’s been great about it,” Yost says of his customers adjusting to the age of the new coronavirus and all the extra safety protocols that come with it. “They understand. In that way, we’ve been very lucky about it.” And Lawrence is lucky to have Rumsey-Yost and WarrenMcElwain to produce and coordinate funeral services and burials.

Veteran Businesses at Work After Charles Rumsey sold his interest in Tonganoxie and went into business with his two sons, what would become Rumsey-Yost moved to its current location at 601 Indiana St. in 1931. The sons took over the funeral home in 1951 upon Charles’ death and operated it until 1978, when they sold it to Alfred and Freda Ann “Shorty” Yost and Fred and Virginia Thompson. The Yost family became sole owners in 1986 and, today, Al’s and Shorty’s son, Bart, owns the business with his wife, Georgette.

“I worked at the funeral home since I was a boy,” Yost says. “Back in 1980, I was working nights there. I’ve seen the business go through a lot of changes over the years.” Warren-McElwain also has weathered changes in the funeral business and, like Rumsey-Yost, has weathered them well. The original merger between the Schubert and Funk mortuaries formed Cooper & Warren until 1968, when Bill Warren purchased Fred Cooper’s interest. Around that time, a young University of Kansas student by the name of Larry McElwain began working as a night attendant. Three years after the business moved to its current location of 120 West 13th St. in 1971, McElwain and his father bought the funeral home. McElwain sold Warren-McElwain to Jim Larkin in 2013 but remains with the business to this day as a funeral director. “Larry McElwain always said, ‘We’re in a high-touch profession’,” says Lisa Manley, funeral director who’s been with Warren-McElwain the last 19 years. “That’s how we treat everything we do here.”

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Both funeral homes provide a full range of services, including funeral services adapted to wide varieties of religions, burial, in-house cremation facilities, entombment, body donation and monuments. They also sell wide varieties of caskets, urns and cremation jewelry.

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Each has the facilities and means to give attention to the smallest of details and craft clients’ ideas and visions into fitting life tributes. As Larry McElwain’s favorite phrase alludes, however, funeral homes are all about working with and understanding people. “Families come in and don’t really know what they want,” Yost says. “Most of my job is to just sit and listen. I give them ideas, options. Eventually, we settle on something and go with that.”

Lisa Manley & Audrey Bell, Funeral Directors at Warren-McElwain. A sitting area and mourners standing at Warren-McElwain

He explains that about 75 percent of services are done at Rumsey-Yost. That number is less at Warren-McElwain, where the chapels (one in Lawrence, another in Eudora) are smaller and used mostly for visitations. Otherwise, both funeral homes coordinate with churches or private homes should families want them to host services. Both Yost and Warren-McElwain’s Bell agree the greatest change in the business in recent years is a sharp rise in requests for cremation. What used to be a relatively small percentage of cremations today is far above the U.S. average of 50 percent, they say. “We put in our own crematory in 1997,” Yost says. We were making six to seven trips a week to Kansas City. And once we dropped off a body, we didn’t know what happens after that. For our own liability purposes and peace of mind, we put in our own crematorium.” Warren-McElwain has its crematorium in Eudora at its own location.

Altered States While an increase in cremations might be the most prominent change in the funeral home business over the last several years, there have been many more alterations to the way business is conducted during the past several months. COVID-19 began changing the way the world’s human behavior patterns back in midMarch, and things haven’t been the same since for most businesses, funeral homes included. “We’ve been doing more live funerals online,” Yost says. “Today, with all the restrictions … it just makes more sense to set up a service online.” 52

That, Yost says, puts an even greater premium on the creation of pictorial or moving slide shows commemorating the lives of lost loved ones, as well as choreography of favorite pieces of music. “We’ve just been going with the state’s recommended guidelines,” he continues. “At first, there could only be 10 people in the chapel at once. So there were services where even not all family could attend. We’ve just been working with families. Most have been understanding. The online services have helped a lot. “Now, the number is up to 45. We go in and sanitize everything before families come in. Everyone wears masks. For arrangements, we’ve moved into a much bigger room to accommodate social distancing.” Though Warren-McElwain’s building has been limited to 45 people at a time, and visitations have had to be spaced out over a greater time window to allow more guests to come through, Bell says the mortuary’s business has remained steady over the course of the pandemic. “There have been a lot of differences,” Warren-McElwain’s Manley says. “A lot of people are putting off services or waiting until family can gather safely. We’ve been doing a lot more graveside services with social distancing.” Warren-McElwain also has installed an FM transmitter so visitors can sit in their cars in the parking lot and listen live as a service is conducted. A speaker has been mounted outside the building so people can adequately social distance and listen outside should they choose. Warren-McElwain and Rumsey-Yost have thus far weathered the coronavirus storm by being creative and adaptive, and using existing technologies to continue servicing their clientele as only they can. That’s not to say recent months haven’t been difficult. But perseverance and continued commitment to excellence will win out in the long run.

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“Some of the saddest things I’ve heard have been about people wanting to make videos or other types of memorials, but they couldn’t even get into nursing homes to collect photos or other mementos,” Bell says. “People just haven’t been able to be with their loved ones at the end, and that’s sad. “Some of our part-time staff are retired, and a lot of them have been staying home,” she continues. “We’ve been running the business with full-time staff and some of our younger part-timers. One thing I’m most proud of is that, since the coronavirus hit, we’ve reported to work every day. We never closed. We’ve just kept working with families however they’ve felt most comfortable.” p

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BREAKING Lawrence bakeries have earned the title of “ essential essential”” by providing not only bread to grocery stores and customers, but also a feeling of comfort and support to local residents. by Sarah Ngoh, photos by Steven Hertzog

As a staple food across the globe, bread, in all its various forms, provides quick, easy and inexpensive sustenance for people everywhere. It is not surprising, then, that businesses that make, bake and sell bread are considered “essential” during the current global pandemic. This label makes sense for large grocery stores responsible for meeting the needs of a huge range of customers, but what does it mean for the smaller Lawrence bakery? Three downtown bakeries, 1900 Barker Bakery and Café, Great Harvest Bread Company and WheatFields Bakery Café, have learned just what it means to be an “essential business” during this global pandemic. COVID-19 quickly clarified for each of these bakeries just how essential they are. WheatFields has noticed an uptick in orders from grocery stores, who turn to them when they run out of bread and cannot get more from large, national distributers quickly. Max Watson, bakery manager, explains: “WheatFields offers these grocery stores a more direct process (fewer calls, steps and channels to go through) and a faster response time, which enables them to meet their customers’ needs by getting bread back on their shelves more quickly.” Without bakeries like WheatFields, many local grocery stores would have a difficult time meeting customer demands for bread and other bakery items. These bakeries are not only essential to local grocery stores, they are essential to individuals. As the pandemic persists, and people are urged to keep their distance from one another, Sarah Burtch, owner at Great Harvest Bread Company, has noticed an increase in customers who come to her bakery not only for the convenience it offers them but because it allows them to get what they need without having to go into 54

BREAD

The Wheatfield staff hard at work in the early hours getting ready for their morning customers

crowded grocery stores. For those who are immunocompromised or are just anxious about contracting or passing the virus, local bakeries offer these individuals a reliable place to purchase what they need without having to encounter too many others. And because more people are without work, grocery bills have gone up for families with children who are no longer attending school in-person, and COVID-19 has made acquiring resources and help more difficult, bakeries such as Great Harvest are vital to the community because they provide resources to those most challenged by the pandemic. Great Harvest supports the community by donating to local food banks, various organizations and health-care workers, and by providing access to food and water for the homeless. These bakeries are not essential merely because they provide a staple food product for community businesses and individuals. As it turns out, bread is only the beginning of what makes them so important to our community. In fact, what COVID-19 has really helped highlight is how these bakeries provide a sense of consistency and stability during a time that is so inconsistent and unstable. Taylor Petrehn, owner of 1900 Barker Bakery and Café, notes that although “there was definitely a moment when we had to decide if the product we serve was truly something people couldn’t live without,” the defining moment was in realizing that “we also were serving one of the only feelings of normalcy during a really scary time for a lot of people …Beyond the staple product that we’re creating, we’re also creating a positive atmosphere, safety, hope and a place for community to happen, even if it’s in a socially distant way.” Burtch agrees. “There are times when coming [to Great Harvest] and getting a fresh loaf of bread or a cinnamon roll is just what our guests need to feel like everything is going to be OK.” It is evident that, like the bread they sell, these local bakeries do more than simply fill the stomach; they offer a sense of comfort in a time when the world feels overwhelming and unsteady.

PLANNING & FLEXIBILITY Despite offering so much to the community seemingly with ease, each of these bakeries has had to deal with difficulties because of COVID-19. Each one has experienced an increase in workload. In some cases, social-distancing guidelines have meant having fewer employees working during each shift. That means there are fewer people responsible for completing more work. Adapting to the increase in work is compounded by the need to adapt to the constant changes that both businesses and individuals face as the pandemic persists. For instance, COVID-19 has demanded these bakeries plan ahead to anticipate any potential problems in the supply chain. Though each bakery has experienced few supply-chain issues, the owners and managers understand how some larger distributors are feeling the strain of the pandemic and noted the necessity of planning ahead and being

Above: Sarah Burtch, owner of Great Harvest Bread Company making her pies Right: Great Harvest storefront, Sarah making bread, and the local mailman delivering mail and ordering goods

flexible when certain items are unavailable. Each bakery has developed unique solutions that enable them to continue to serve the community even when they are unable to acquire the ingredients they need from their normal suppliers. For example, in the same way local grocery stores rely on WheatFields for bread, Petrehn notes that working primarily with smaller, local suppliers for most of their raw materials has given 1900 Barker a better chance of keeping up with customer demand. Similarly, Burtch relies on her community relationships when she is unable to acquire a vital ingredient. Buying supplies from local grocery or bulk stores, or borrowing an item from the Great Harvest in Kansas City enables her to consistently supply customers with the products they want and need. And in an effort to provide the most consistent menu and service possible, Watson notes that during the pandemic, WheatFields has occasionally pared back the many varieties of breads offered. In this way, it can provide a more consistent and reliable menu for long-term customers who have come to depend on them. While change can be challenging, each of these bakeries has worked tirelessly to implement necessary changes as smoothly as possible. Anticipating change and quickly adapting to it when it occurs has enabled them to meet the needs of the community more effectively. Yet each bakery’s ability to provide products, sustenance and a feeling of normalcy, as well as to overcome supplychain challenges, hinges on the support and commitment of their employees. WheatFields’ Watson notes that bakeries like his employ individuals with specialized skills to do specialized work. These individuals are not easily replaced, so it is crucial to the success of the business to protect their safety and health, especially during a pandemic. Making sure employees’ health concerns are taken seriously is critical. Petrehn explains that 1900 Barker has extended to its employees the option to stay home if they ever feel unsafe. Beyond physical health, considering employee emotional health is also important, especially as this pandemic has no end in sight. Watson emphasizes the importance of recognizing employees as “human beings with their own experiences and lives, which are being deeply affected by COVID-19 and our quickly changing world.” It is no doubt this empathetic insight on the part of Burtch, Petrehn and Watson informs their business culture and motivates their employees to return to work each day. In fact, despite offering employees the option to stay home, Petrehn notes that at 1900 Barker, “most people opted to keep coming back day after day because of the value they place on their work here” and describes his staff of 12 as “passionate about the work we do.” Watson describes the work culture at WheatFields as one that was consciously constructed to create trust, inclusiv57

Above: 1900 Barker Bakery Café storefront and owner Taylor Petrehn gathering cinnamon rolls for a customer\ Right: Owner Petrehn in the 1900 Barker Bakery with staff. LBM and Food Writer Anne Brockhoff is a fan of 1900 Barker Bakery

ity, friendship, support and accountability, and says bakery employees are not only passionate about their work but also proud of it. Burtch describes her six-person staff as a family that has “a lot of love for each other, for our customers and for baking.” Though COVID-19 has deeply impacted their businesses in a number of ways, 1900 Barker Bakery and Café, Great Harvest Bread Company and Wheatfields Bakery Café each have earned the label “essential.” Not only do they supply the community with the sustenance and stability difficult to find elsewhere, they do so in an environment committed to sustaining and supporting their employees. p

by Bob Luder, photos by LMH Health Team

The jobs of essential health-care workers, from doctors and nurses to first responders to facilities workers, have become even more vital because of the COVID pandemic. James Fly is happy to discuss and tout the essential work he and his Surgical Services department undertake on a daily basis at LMH Health. He’s just as quick to point out areas of the hospital’s operations that might not be as obvious as medical personnel performing surgery but are just as critical to its effectiveness as one of the top medical and health centers in the Lawrence and Douglas County area. “When people talk about essential health workers, I think they often only think of doctors and nurses,” says Fly, RN, MSN, MBA, director of Surgical Services at LMH. “When I think of essential workers, I think of (emergency medical services), dietary specialists, aides, facilities workers, first- responders, maintenance workers. They really run 60

the gamut of all the many different areas and operations of the hospital, and they’re all essential.” All those departments and jobs working in unison became even more vital with the arrival of the novel coronavirus— officially dubbed COVID-19—in March. In the six months since, the virus, believed to have originated in Wuhan, China, has infected more than 25 million worldwide, resulting in nearly 850,000 deaths. In the U.S., as of August 31, 2020, there have been almost 6 million cases reported and more than 182,000 deaths. Lawrence and LMH haven’t been hit as hard as many other areas of the U.S.—and the world—but it has been hit. As of August 30, Lawrence-Douglas County Public Health had reported 1,303 total cases and eight deaths in the county. An infection rate that was spiking dramati-

L to R: James Fly, director of Surgical Services at LMH speaks with Russ Johnson, President and CEO. James goes over daily schedule with a co-worker. Scrubbing up and communicating with co-workers is essential at LMH.

cally toward the end of June began decreasing in early July once the wearing of masks became a requirement in public spaces and bars were ordered closed. But it has increased in August with the return of college students. Telling, however, was that in that same time frame, not a single staff member at LMH tested positive because of contact with a positive patient or employee in the facility. “We’ve had some staff that had to be quarantined,” Fly says. “I, myself, was quarantined for a week because I came in contact with somebody.” But, as Fly points out, instances of positive cases occurring within the LMH confines have been avoided, not only because of the care and professionalism of doctors and nurses, but also that of all the various areas of the hospital, from techs and aides to housekeeping and administrators. Everyone plays, has played and will continue to play a role, he explains. “The pandemic has presented unique and difficult circumstances that make it challenging to keep frontline providers safe, even under the best of cases,” Fly says. “Ensuring the safety of clinicians, employees and patients is our top priority.”

A Vital Role

Actually, Fly’s Surgical Services department was one of the few areas of the hospital that saw business slacken during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. As the entire country locked down in mid-March, elective surgeries were prohibited as a way to ensure hospitals and medical centers had the available capacity for what was expected to be an onslaught of COVID patients. A department that averaged 450 to 500 surgeries per month suddenly dropped by about 75 percent. “When we stopped elective surgery, it greatly affected our surgery schedule,” Fly says. What was 343 cases in March became 162 in April. He says he was forced to furlough some staff, but most were put back into a labor pool and reassigned to other positions, such as a phone bank, the Respiratory Evaluation Clinic or screening incoming patients. By the end of May, after the initial lockdown had eased, the number of cases rebounded to 355 and bounced all the way back to 513 in June. 61

Left: James discussing supply needs with the staff. Right: Summer Oakson, registered respiratory therapist

“We’re slowly climbing our way back to pre-COVID numbers,” Fly says. When it comes to the pandemic, he believes the most essential function he performs at LMH is being in charge of the Sterile Processing Department. Most vital to that role has been procuring and sterilizing N95 masks—a face piece for use and reuse by all staff that meets national standards and filters at least 95 percent of airborne particles. Early on in the pandemic, personal protection equipment (PPE) was in short supply at many medical centers throughout the U.S., including LMH. A major breakthrough came later in the spring, however, in the form of a white paper out of the University of Nebraska that detailed how to process and sterilize N95 masks for reuse. A nonprofit company named Battelle, Columbus, Ohio, dedicated itself to processing and sterilizing thousands upon thousands of N95 masks daily. LMH adopted this system, where it took thousands of N95 masks, sent them to Topeka for sterilization then had them returned for reuse. This system can process up to 80,000 masks per day and went a long way toward solving the PPE shortages LMH was experiencing. Sterilized N95 masks can be used up to 20 times. As for the Surgical Services part of his job, Fly says its processes haven’t changed that much. All surgery staff are required to wear N95s, goggles and a face shield, as well as gowns and gloves. The Respiratory Evaluation Clinic tests all patients 48 hours before surgery. If the test is negative, the surgery proceeds as scheduled. If not, there’s the option to cancel. “As it relates to the (operating room), we clean everything as we always have,” he says.

The Cloud of COVID

Although the novel coronavirus is now known to adversely affect multiple parts of the body, it originally was considered a respiratory disease. That effectively made an already-vital role of the hospital—respiratory therapist—all the more essential. When a COVID-positive, fully symptomatic patient reaches the hospital, he or she is likely having difficulty breathing. It’s the job of the respiratory therapist to help ease those symptoms and administer treatments to improve the patient’s condition. “We use universal precautions for every patient we encounter to protect the patient, and ourselves, from unknown exposure to any infectious disease,” says Summer Oakson, registered respiratory therapist. “I’ve seen people with bad coughs and fever. It runs the gamut. Much of how we treat patients depends upon preexisting health conditions.” Oakson says she typically works nights, usually in the emergency room. She sees 20 to 30 patients on an av-

Jennifer Glendening, Environmental Services Technician. Cleaning is a priority at all times for LMH and even more so during the pandemic

erage night and spends most of her time administering various breathing treatments to patients and working with patients on ventilators, including assisting physicians with intubation, as well as drawing blood to test oxygenation levels. The level of care for each patient differs, she says, but everything has stepped up a level since the arrival of COVID. Oakson explains that patient rooms are divided into “clean” and “dirty” sides. Staff enters one side of a room clean and exits the other side dirty, ensuring areas in between are not contaminated. “I’ve definitely seen a change,” she says. “We learned to put on PPE the correct way and as quickly as possible. I see housekeepers working their tails off. We all recognize we’re busy. Everyone is working better as a team.” Like all LMH Health staff members, Oakson says she looks forward to a day when COVID no longer permeates everything she and her colleagues do in treating patients. “I’m mostly looking forward to seeing my colleagues’ full faces,” she says. 64

Even the cloud of COVID hasn’t completely prevented some humorous moments, says Oakson, recalling a particular “Star Wars” reference. “I had one patient who was video-chatting with their family while I was in the room,” she says. “And all they asked was that myself and the nursing team look into the camera with our masks on and say, ‘Luke, I am your father.’ That’s all they asked.”

Ensuring a Sterile Environment

Given the veracity and high contagion of the novel coronavirus, perhaps no role is more important at LMH than that of the Environmental Services team. This is the team of professionals that cleans patient areas and makes sure all surfaces are disinfected—from door knobs to telephones to call lights, anything that could be touched in

the hospital. The team did this before COVID-19 existed, and the job has only intensified during the last six months. “We want to make sure everything is disinfected,” says Jennifer Glendening, environmental services technician. “We do this daily. It’s not really related to COVID. Our cleaning hasn’t really changed. If we’re cleaning a COVID room, we’re disinfecting top to bottom in a full body suit with (ultraviolet) light.” There have been noticeable changes to some of the processes in performing environmental services, she continues. “Now we have to wear masks,” she says. “That started in March. And we’ve implemented face shields and goggles. There are temperature checks for staff every morning. “There are certain entrances staff can come in to ensure everyone is wearing masks and are compliant with all safety protocols,” she adds. For highly contagious rooms, Glendening says “negative pressure” is used, limited airflow that’s not refiltrated throughout the room. She says all the steps and protocols undertaken by her team and all other areas at LMH have made her feel, for the most part, comfortable coming to work during a highly contagious global pandemic. “Nobody in our department has gotten sick,” she says. “I know it’s there, but I kind of put it on the back burner. I know I have a job to do. I want to do that to the best of my ability. That not only includes for the safety and health of our patients, but also for myself.” Glendening says it does feel different around LMH, however. Few visitors are allowed in, so personal interaction is limited. “But I know we’re taking the right steps,” she says. “I feel safe. I know we’re doing what we’re supposed to be doing. “I want to come to work with a smile on my face. And, I still do,” she says. p 65

Sarah Randolph, Executive Director of Bridge Haven sits on a patio with a colleague while maintaining social distancing.

With Courage Commitment

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by Anne Brockhoff, photos by Steven Hertzog

Senior living employees play a vital role in the care and well-being of residents in senior housing and care facilities. 67

Sarah Randolph, Kimi Ruder & Sean Stubbs distributing new supplies to all its locations

A lot’s changed at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor since March, when senior living facilities across the country curtailed visits, canceled activities and closed common spaces because of COVID-19. What’s stayed the same? The commitment employees feel toward keeping residents in its independent-living, memory-care and long-term and skilled-care facilities safe and healthy. “These folks are my second family,” says Sharon Goger, who has worked as a dining services assistant at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor for 11 years. “I do this for the residents. I love my residents.” Long-term care and senior housing providers employ more than 40,000 people in Kansas, according to the Kansas Health Care Association, and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data shows the largest share of those are health-care professionals. Still, employees such as Goger, who otherwise support residents and their families, play similarly vital—if less visible—roles at every facility. “There’s really been attention and focus put on the clinical side of workers, and rightfully so, but the people in dining, activities, maintenance and housekeeping get overlooked a bit,” says Curtis Jones, Lawrence Presbyterian Manor sales and marketing director. “They’re just as essential as far as care and well-being as anybody.”

Forging a Path Through Crisis Theirs isn’t an easy road. The industry was already in crisis thanks to ongoing workforce and funding shortages before the pandemic began, the Kansas Health Care As68

sociation, LeadingAge Kansas and Kansas Adult Care Executives said in a joint press release in April. It’s even harder now given that older adults are particularly vulnerable to COVID-19. Kansas had 543 confirmed cases in skilled-nursing and long-term care homes, and 141 deaths through Aug. 2, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services). In Lawrence, confirmed cases had been reported at the long-term care facility at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor, Brandon Woods at Alvamar and the Pioneer Ridge Health & Rehab nursing facility as of press time. To keep the virus at bay, administrators must follow guidance not only from the Centers for Disease Control but also CMS, Kansas Department for Aging and Disability Services (a division of the Kansas Department of Health), the Lawrence-Douglas County Health Department and their own medical advisors. “(Facilities) have all these layers of regulations and requirements that they’re trying to meet and balance,” says Megan Poindexter, executive director of the Senior Resource Center (SRC) for Douglas County. That balancing act began at Bridge Haven Memory Care in February, when executive director and infection preventionist Sarah Randolph began monitoring COVID-19’s spread. When the facility went into full lockdown on March 12, she and her staff put in long hours scrutinizing every aspect of care. Randolph jokes about eating too much chocolate and not having time to even shower, but she’s serious when talking about her employees’ response.

Their effort and creativity—one even designed “bleach boxes” to clean shoes and prevent cross-contamination between buildings—and support from Bridge Haven’s owner have so far forestalled the disease. “(Robert Wilson Jr.) is committed to doing whatever needs to happen,” Randolph says of the founder and CEO of Bridge Haven, which has only the single facility. Others appreciate the benefit of larger institutions. Lawrence Presbyterian Manor is owned by Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America, a not-for-profit organization based in Wichita. It has 16 locations and two hospices in Kansas and Missouri, plus a new community under development in Colorado. They’re all in regular contact to discuss regulations and approaches, Jones says. “We are big enough that we have layers of support and infrastructure,” he explains.

Surviving Shortages Strategizing in real time as the crisis unfolded was the first hurdle for senior living facilities across the country. Next came sourcing needed supplies. Kaiser Health News reported in June that one-fifth of the country’s 15,000 nursing homes had less than one week’s supply of masks, gowns or other personal protective equipment (PPE) during the last two weeks of May. Cleaning supplies were also hard to come by, Randolph says, and she credits office manager Kimi Ruder with finding it all for Bridge Haven. “When (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) was telling us they didn’t have any PPE for us, Kimi turned into a one-woman PPE purveyor,” Randolph says. Ruder sourced hand sanitizer from Kansas City distillery J. Rieger & Co. and made the rounds of Walmart, Costco and Target stores for other supplies. “My biggest challenge, especially in the early days of this madness, were the limitations,” Ruder explains. “Even if I found a store that had what we needed, we could only buy one.” She also collaborated with health-care suppliers to stay ahead of local shortages of disposable gloves, alcohol swabs for cleaning surfaces, low-touch thermometers and isolation gowns. Community members sewed reusable cloth masks, and one Good Samaritan even delivered face shields made on his own 3-D printer. “The donations have been amazing,” says Randolph, who also notes shortages for many items have now eased. Facilities have taken a financial hit as increased use of PPE and cleaning supplies drove up costs. At the same time, new admissions slowed due to shutdowns. Staffing has also proven a challenge, but not in the way you’d

Top left: Bridge Haven resident, Ken Martinez, shares coffee with his physician, Dr. Eric Huerter, in the gazebo, one of his favorite spots on the grounds. Left and above: David Sakumura visits his dad Joe with his dog Pearl as Sarah joins in the conversation

Safety First think, Jones says. Turnover has remained normal among Lawrence Presbyterian Manor’s 100 full- and part-time employees. But day-to-day scheduling is sometimes difficult when employees must take time off unexpectedly should they be exposed to the virus outside of their job or feel unwell for any reason. Then others must fill the gap, Jones says. The director of nursing is covering shifts on the floor, maintenance workers assist with meal deliveries and Jones calls bingo via a conference call system. Exercise sessions have moved to Zoom, daily devotions to Facebook and other activities into the hallways. “We’ve had to get a little creative with what we’re doing and where we’re doing it,” activities assistant Rebecca Fasching says, who adds some group activities are now done in residents’ doorways so participants can see each other while remaining at least 6 feet apart. Practicing social distancing and other prevention protocols at home is also important, administrative assistant Ellen Williams says. Any inconvenience is minor compared to what’s at stake. “Pretty much everyone understands that we’re all taking it day-to-day and doing what we should to keep everybody safe and healthy,” Williams says.

It’s still a scary time. A survey conducted by the Service Employees International Union and released in June shows 78 percent of nursing home workers nationwide believe they are risking their lives by going to work each day. Workers in Lawrence say clear communication from administrators and defined safety protocols have helped them feel more confident. Every employee at Lawrence Presbyterian Manor completes a temperature screening and questionnaire, and washes their hands before starting a shift; and all employees were tested for COVID-19 after the first case was identified in August. Other procedures limit contact and exposure throughout the day. Kitchen workstations are outlined with blue tape to remind everyone of spacing, surfaces are regularly sanitized and meals are delivered to residents instead of being served restaurant-style. “I feel very safe here in my work environment,” says Goger, who has adopted new habits outside of work like cleaning her car’s steering wheel and changing clothes immediately upon arriving at home. In fact, the greatest concern expressed by those interviewed for this article was for residents’ well-being. Closing facilities was necessary to help prevent COVID-19’s spread, but the resulting isolation put their emotional health at risk. To offset that, Bridge Haven has imple71

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Curtis Jones of Lawrence Presbyterian Manor stands outside the main entrance with Sharon Goger and Rebecca Fashching. Ellen Williams converses with LPM client Beth.

mented a buddy system that pairs staff more directly with residents, has facilitated a letter-writing project and has used technology to connect families. Bridge Haven focuses solely on memory care, and its campus includes three homes with a dozen residents and 20 staff dedicated to each. Most are universal workers, meaning they provide direct care as well as cook, clean and otherwise engage with residents. “When I’m not interacting with residents, I’ll do anything,” says Sean Stubbs, one of three house managers who also oversees some operations. He enjoys cooking meals but is equally willing to clean, do laundry or even paint a resident’s nails. Spending time with them “is important now, especially when they aren’t able to see family,” he says. The past months have been undeniably stressful for senior care workers, and Bridge Haven strives to show appreciation for its employees. A “heroes” T-shirt proves popular, as have the relaxed dress code and quizzes, contests and giveaways held through its online scheduling system message board, Randolph says. Wilson, the CEO, also boosted morale with a “Christmas in May” bonus. The administration knows it’s a challenging time for everyone, especially those who are also caring for children or aging parents, Ruder adds.

“Sarah’s [Randolph] good about saying, ‘Take care of yourself. You matter,’” she says. No one quite knows what senior living facilities will face in the coming months. Communication and flexibility remain key, particularly as facilities gradually resume what were once considered “normal” activities, Jones explains. Recognition of the efforts being made by all workers is as essential as the employees themselves, the SRC’s Poindexter adds. “These people are part of our community, and they’re working really, really, really hard to take care of the people who are most vulnerable to the effects of COVID,” she says. “They’ve been hanging on so tight and [have] been so strong. There’s a level of courage there.” p

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FRIENDS OF THE KAW The KAW 173 Journey

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She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Northern Iowa in Biomedical Sciences with a minor in Chemistry, and her Doctor of Dental Surgery from the University of Iowa which included rotations in the areas of geriatrics and special care. As a result, upon graduation she received the Delta Dental of Iowa Award for Excellence in Geriatric and Special Needs Dentistry. Family is important to Dr. Willms and her husband, Josh, as they are the proud parents of Vince, their 16-month-old son. She enjoys many hobbies including boating, golfing, skiing, cooking, reading, and spending time with family and friends.

Good Energy Solutions Among Kansas City’s Fastest-Growing Companies As Part of Ingram’s Magazine 2020 Corporate 100 Listing Good Energy Solutions is pleased to announce that we have been named a winner in Ingram’s 35th Annual Corporate Report 100 competition which ranks KC’s 100 fastest-growing businesses. With over 75,000 businesses within the region, organizations listed rank among the top 1% in terms of growth. The report measures growth between fiscal 2016 and 2019. The listing is open to public and private for-profit companies within the 22-county metro area, with at least $200,000 in sales in 2016 and $1 million in sales in Fiscal 2019.

Good Energy Solutions: 2020 Top Solar & Energy Storage Contractor by Solar Power World Good Energy Solutions has been recognized by Solar Power World magazine for its installation efforts, achieving a rank of 202 out of 400 solar companies in the United States on the magazine’s 2020 Top Solar Contractors list, and a rank of 106 on the Energy Storage list.

Registration deadline is October 13, 2020 to be eligible to vote in the November Election.

It is with great pride that Free State Dental announces the addition of Dr. Kailah Willms to our practice. A native of Cedar Falls, Iowa, Dr. Willms comes to our practice with great experience in all phases of dentistry.

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Free State Dental Announces addition of Dr. Kailah Willms

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“The Solar Power World team is pleased to highlight more than 400 companies on the 2020 Top Solar Contractors list, especially during this unprecedented time,” said Kelsey Misbrener, senior editor of Solar Power World. 77

WHOSE DESK ? Be the first to correctly guess which local business figure works behind this desk. Winner receives a $50 gift card to 23rd Street Brewery. facebook.com/lawrencebusinessmagazine

The only local magazine dedicated to telling the stories of people and businesses making a positive impact on Lawrence & Douglas County. All of our advertisers have a stake in the local economy - we ask you to first consider them before looking to source your needs outside of the community. We believe in order to have a strong community you must be supported by businesses and people with a stake in that community.