Letters From Leadership

Latest Communications

Letter from Chip to stakeholders and hope supporters acknowledging all the good work staff are doing despite the risks. 
Dear Friends and Stakeholders,
I would like to thank all of the frontline direct service providers, our partners, and our courageous staff who are delivering critical work, which is essential to the well-being of our clients in the six counties we provide services in. Since the shelter in place mandate, we have been providing services via the following programs:
  • Homestart (150 clients served) - helps families with infants and toddlers (up to 5 years old) with developmental disabilities and mental health needs.
  • Mental Health Services (1,366 clients served) - provides counseling, case management, and psychiatric services to those with a qualifying mental health diagnosis and a developmental disability.
  • Supported Living Services (35 clients served, some 24/7) - provides a range of services and support to enable individuals to live in their own home. Health, safety and quality of life are the main goals.
  • Independent Living Services (69 clients served)- focuses on skill acquisition and support for self-care, communication, and community membership.
  • Community Employment (121 clients served) - supports participants in achieving their career goals by helping to place them in a job and providing personalized support.
In addition to the above direct essential services being provided, staff have been performing wellness checks on all of our approximately 3,250 clients and responding to their needs on an individual basis which include food, diapers, and all other essential living items.

Thank you for your continued support: without it, we could not do the work we do.
With much appreciation,
Chip
Letter from Chip about how we are going forward — Thursday, March 26. 2020
Dear Staff,
I am pleased to offer you several options to your employment with Hope Services during this time of crisis.
The Hope Leadership team spent many hours discussing on how we could best take care of you during this time.
The intent of this measure is to reduce the requirement for use of sick leave for employees who are available to perform work from a remote (home) location and to acknowledge and reward staff with additional pay who are performing essential duties in the community setting. 
We realize this is a stressful period and this may not answer all of your questions. Please feel free to contact a District Director, or HR and we will work with you to resolve any unexpected challenges.
For employees who are willing to work and respond when work is offered/requested – no sick time will be charged, even if not fully engaged for the entire work day. 
  • Direct service staff will be provided guidance on performing phone contact wellness checks and relay recommendations to their supervisors for family assistance as appropriate.
  • Direct service staff will be provided access to training through Lawroom, CDS and webinar (Tahiya) that can be completed at home or on a phone (webinars).
  • Staff will be required to check in with their supervisor on an assigned schedule and provide appropriate documentation.
  • On a limited basis, staff may have access to Hope facilities to conduct work if appropriate protections and social distancing can be maintained.
  • Direct Service employees who are engaged to work within the community settings and/or with face to face contact with clients in direct service will be paid “essential duty pay” at the rate of 10% over regular base pay interactive hours worked such as:
  • Job Coaching at employer locations that are deemed considered essential services
  • Support staff working 1:1 with clients in essential life functions in the community or their homes.
The following situations will still require the use of personal sick leave:
  • Refusing all available work or training opportunities
  • Reporting out ill and unable to work or caring for ill family members.
  • Unavailable for working due to caring for children displaced from school (eligible for Paid Family Leave)
Hope will guarantee the use of sick leave by allowing staff to go into the negative for up to 15 days. 
Essential work assignments not covered by the regularly assigned employee will be offered first to staff within the same job classification by seniority, then to additional staff with qualifications within other job classifications most related to the duties required.
With much appreciation of your dedication to our clients.

Be healthy and safe,
Chip
Charles “Chip” Huggins, JD • President/CEO
Hope Services
Direct: 408 284-2822 • Cell: 650 730-6177 •
Main: 408 284-2850 • Fax: 408 284-2863

Alert @ Hope e-mail — Thursday, March 26, 2020

It has been reported that Microsoft Office 365 is experiencing a significant increase of coronavirus themed phishing attacks. To protect yourself and the agency, please take the following precautions:
  • Do not open an e-mail from a sender you don’t recognize
  • Double check to make sure the sender’s name and e-mail address are consistent.
  • Do not click on links you’re not familiar with. You can hover your cursor over the link to see if it’s really going where it claims to be.
  • Do not download unknown attachments without previewing them. Again, you can hover your cursor over the attachment to see if it’s truly the file type it claims to be.
  • If you receive any attachment with .exe or .zip extension, please notify IT first and we can check it out for you.
If you have any questions please reach out to helpdesk@hopeservices.org or call 408-284-2855.
Thank you,
Chip

Letter from Chip — Wednesday, March 25, 2020

March 24, 2020

Dear Stakeholders,

As we navigate through the maze of government regulations managing the current pandemic health crisis, we have continued essential services in the six Northern California counties that we normally provide services. Wellness checks are also being made in all non-essential services by a phone call to the client or their family. Below is a rundown of the services we can continue to provide to our community.

HOMESTART: Our Early Intervention Program continues to provide services to children from 0-5 years of age from Monterey to San Francisco via video conferencing. Over the last week we have provided services to 170 children. This service is normally done in the family's home, but with the CDC guidelines we must provide remote services.

MENTAL HEALTH COUNSELING CLINIC: We continue to provide these essential services both at our clinic in San Jose and in the five Northern California counties that we normally provide services in. Our behavioral health professionals will continue to be available to provide services to all Hope Services clients. Hope “virtual” outpatient clinic has been able to reach out and support 445 clients in this it’s first week. Our Case Managers have been assisting clients with resources and information. TBS coaches continue supporting our children and family at high risk. Our Clinicians have been reaching out to our clients and have provided excellent support. Psychiatrists and Nurses continue to provide Medication Support and our front desk staff have been working diligently to support, schedule, handle phone calls and all the logistic related to the clinic.

COMMUNITY LIVING (Supported & Independent Living Services): In Supported Living, we continue to provide around the clock essential services in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and San Mateo to over 65 Hope Services clients. In Independent Living, we are also providing essential services in all six counties during this time. 150 of our clients are blessed to have such a dedicated team in both of these services.

EMPLOYMENT: We continue to provide essential job coaching support to over 250 individuals who are working and receiving services in our Community Employment program. These individuals are working in essential services throughout all counties we serve in.

HopeTHRIFT: The three Thrift Stores are currently closed and not accepting donations.

DAY PROGRAMS: Day Program participants receive regular welfare checks, food, and other essential items. Within the Senior Programs, we are currently providing daily telephonic support and responding to any of the needs of our seniors.

The Leadership Team of Hope Services is in regular contact and have focused on the wellbeing of clients and staff. I am very impressed with how our staff has responded to this crisis. We are blessed to have this incredible team. No one in the Hope Services family will be forgotten or left behind.

We continue to be in awe of the generosity of the communities we serve. On March 26th is Hope Services Giving Day, we need your support more than ever. Your donation goes directly to supporting our programs and clients who are most vulnerable in our community.

Thank you for your continued support during this time of high anxiety for our Hope Services family.

With much appreciation,


Charles “Chip” Huggins, JD
President/CEO
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