Meet Cathy and Gloria.

Gloria has served as Cathy's DSP (Direct Support Professional) for over four years, and over that time they've developed a special friendship. They've weathered the storm of COVID-19 together, keeping spirits up, keeping family close, and keeping everyone safe and daily routines as normal as possible.

Next month, Cathy will celebrate her 86th birthday. You'll find these two celebrating with some of their favorite things: a breakfast of biscuits and gravy, encouraging one another through daily exercises, and listening to some music.

Here's what Cathy's niece, Renata, has to say:

"Looking back on 2020 and how COVID affected our lives in so many ways, having an aunt who is in the highly vulnerable category was yet another big concern. Fortunately, our caregivers never missed a beat and kept Cathy and themselves safe and healthy. Georgia Options was very proactive and provided daily emails during the height of the pandemic and kept everyone up to date on Georgia and CDC guidelines and exactly how Georgia Options staff would implement the advised precautions. Their proactive response was greatly appreciated and helped us get through those tough times."

We're Still Here: Clarity in Crisis

A Conversation with Executive Director, Rena Harris

As you look back over the last year, what are your reflections on Georgia Options and how its coped with a global pandemic?

We have always worked so closely and intimately with the people we serve –literally in their own homes, supporting their aspirations, hobbies, activities each and every day. Those we serve often have existing health vulnerabilities, so we had good systems in place. Because of that, in many ways, our work didn’t change. We never had to shut down programs, so our goal was to just keep showing up for people – same as always, safely and consistently.

That said, our team members were managing new challenges – partners and children at home with digital work and school, family who needed additional support – all sorts of increased responsibility and tremendous uncertainty. All of that culminates in stress and certainly impacted our staffing day to day, based on the challenges that an individual team member was facing.

Certainly, safety for all was our top priority, so we began intense monitoring very early on. We developed good systems quickly on testing, exposure, and – honestly, burn out. There were some stark days. But, we also wanted to ensure the families could stay engaged and visit their loved one. We didn’t want to have families visiting through a window, so we invested a lot of time into monitoring and trying to stay constantly informed.

As Executive Director, I never had any illusion that I was going to know exactly how to handle this. Our Administrative Team met digitally every single day, seven days a week, for many months. Sometimes folks were in pajamas, and often had a kid or dog in their lap. I knew we were going to figure it out. Everyone gave such tremendous grace to each other. It was – and continues to be – really beautiful. We trust each other and we have the people we support, families and staff at the heart of everything we do.

What are some of the big changes that Georgia Options has experienced in the last year?

We fast tracked implementing some technology that helps our Direct Service Professionals (DSPs) while they're working on-site. It was part of our overall 5-year plan, but we executed some of that work sooner. We wanted our staff to have the reliable resources they deserved while doing their work and wanted to ensure they were well-trained and confident while working in the field. This was also important to our families and our senior staff – and helped us really embrace our person-centered model even more. Quickly implementing improved technology and systems really allowed us to invest time and energy into the people we serve and ensure they – and their families – were able to continue on as normal as possible. We’ve also prioritized some other parts of our internal operations – from a new payroll system to new (smaller) office space. Now more than ever, we know we are not an “office-centered” organization, so the time was right to make some of these adjustments. Our five-year plan was accelerated and it’s been a good thing.

As you look forward, what do you see for the work and mission of Georgia Options?

Without question, I believe the last year has shined a bright light on the value of healthcare workers and what a living wage looks like. We will continue to prioritize resources being invested into our front-line staff. In fact, at one of the last in-person board meetings, prior to the shut-down, our board made a bold move to raise our base hourly rate for entry level pay to $12 an hour. This has been a priority of mine since I started at Georgia Options – five years ago next month.

Also, we continue to monitor policy changes and initiatives that impact those we support and our staff. There has been tremendous activity in this area lately, and our team will continue to advocate for those we serve.

Finally, next year, Georgia Options will celebrate its 30th year of service. We are eager to reconnect with our communities and celebrate this important milestone.

Stay tuned!