LETTER TO THE COMMUNITY FROM CEO DICK COURCELLE

Scan to watch a video message from our CEO, Dick Courcelle.

Letter to the Community

It is with pleasure that we present the 2020 Annual Report for Community Care Network and its two agencies, Rutland Mental Health Services and Rutland Community Programs.

This has not been a normal year- by any stretch. We entered 2020 as with any new year, with plans and hopes. At no time in the early months of 2020 did I think that life would become so disrupted, so isolated, so uncertain- so fast. But on March 13, 2020, CCN had to rapidly pivot to life under COVID-19. And nothing has been “normal” since.

Both CCN organizations were working on new initiatives when the year started that then came to a screeching halt. There was, and is, no playbook for this. We made some mistakes and had some successes, as we navigated through this unprecedented time. We rapidly pivoted to remote care and work models. Our buildings became very quiet, as we directed most staff to work from home if they could; others anxiously waited for “normal” to return. As of this writing, it still hasn’t. Our residential and child care programs adopted stringent health and safety protocols and restrictions, which changed regularly based on public health directives. Some in-person services continued under strict health protocols.

Personal Protective Equipment was a phrase foreign to most of us before the pandemic. Obtaining scarce cleaning and sanitizing supplies, and retrofitting work spaces for social distancing, required great coordination, negotiation and dispatch. The pandemic forced, or accelerated, the closure of some programs such as InterAge Adult Day Services, which served the region for 30 years. Difficult choices had to be made; none were easy.

Despite this, or perhaps because of it, I have witnessed great creativity, resilience and commitment of our staff at Community Care Network. They rose to the occasion, and continue to do so. And they too were experiencing isolation and the stressors of the pandemic. Time and again, they made sure that supports and services, however they could happen, remained in place for the most vulnerable of those we serve. Nothing was easy. I am indebted to them and am in awe of their dedication.

This year our report focuses on how Community Care Network responded in this unprecedented time. Our mission is to enhance the health and well-being of our communities, individuals and families through responsive, innovative and collaborative services. We did just that.

Dick Courcelle Chief Executive Officer