June 18, 2020
Dear Red Door Community Community,
As NYC begins Phase 2 of reopening, we wanted to update you on our plan at Red Door Community. Our timeline is based on the immunocompromised members we serve, the ability of our staff to adequately prepare the Clubhouse for re-entry and the comfort and readiness of our Gilda’s community.
The gradual ability for members to return to the Clubhouse for initial limited programming will understandably not align with the opening of other businesses. We will re-open our physical doors at a pace that is right for our members recognizing the higher risk they face.
We feel confident in our cautious timeline because our virtual program is going exceedingly well. We have had more than 3,133 virtual visits to our program, 140 individual counseling sessions, 213 support group sessions, 132 healthy lifestyle workshop sessions, and 11 educational lectures since going virtual in March. New members have been welcomed each week and we continue to expand our program based on the growing need.
However, we absolutely recognize that our wonderful community yearns for the warmth of face-to-face conversation, less technology and more direct interactions. We WILL see those days again behind our Red Door in the West Village, and at our hospital partner sites.
In the interim, please know that we miss seeing you in person and trust that we are committed to providing you with continued support during these times of great challenge.
In a few weeks, once we have a look at the data as New York City re-opens, we will have a clearer sense of the impact on cases of COVID-19 and what our timeline looks like. We will also take into consideration feedback from our virtual program member survey, which we recently shared with our member community.
Until then, be safe, be well and we’ll see you on Zoom!
Warmly,
Lily Safani Migdalia Torres
CEO Executive Director, Program & Offsite Expansion
