Please note that coronavirus/COVID-19 updates will be posted below in chronological order.
March 30, 2020
Dear TREE House (TH) Participants, Families, Friends, Volunteers, Staff, Community Supporters:
As our thoughts continue to be with those who have been and will be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic in our community, state, country, and around the world, I hope that each of you and your families are well and stay well. We are all in this together – #THTogether!
When we suspended programming on March 12th , we committed to re-evaluating the situation at the end of March. Since this time, we have watched the waves of school and business closures, work at home adaptations, social distancing, and stay-at-home orders that have followed. As we move into April, our suspension of programming and closed access remains in effect. We will keep you informed when new information is available on when we can begin planning for a return to normal operations.
As we navigate these extraordinary times together, we are committed to staying connected with you and to exploring innovative ways we can deliver TH to you in the days and weeks ahead.
A few updates from the last couple weeks that we wanted to share with you:
– We’ve been holding Zoom staff meetings to work on important projects and capacity building efforts that have proved difficult to tackle during our year-round operations. By using remote technology, we are doing our part to help “flatten the curve” and to stay healthy so that we are ready to serve you at TH when it is safe to do so.
– As you’ve likely heard from Amy, TH Program Director, we are excited to roll out some fun ways to stay connected with you! You can virtually feed with us, go for a scavenger hunt on the Sensory Trail, or ask a veterinarian those horsey questions you’ve always wondered about, along with many more interactive activities that we will begin to share with you this week. We are also looking forward to hearing from you – whether you are a volunteer, participant, staff member, donor, community partner – you are an important part of #THTogether! We will be posting many activities on Facebook, so please like/follow our page to stay up-to-date – facebook.com/thstl
– The herd is doing well and enjoying a little additional rest and relaxation at what would normally begin our busy time of year. The grass is green, the herd is starting to lose their winter hair, and they seem to be enjoying rolling in the mud a great deal during this wet weather! We will, of course, be working individually with them in the coming weeks to make sure it’s not just all play and no work.
We shared with you above how we are working to address the programmatic impact of suspension of programming through new opportunities that we hope will not only be valuable in the coming weeks, but also something that we can continue to incorporate in many ways when we do resume our “at the facility” operations.
We’ve also been working with our many community partners on ways we can mitigate the financial impact from suspension of service delivery and working on ways to offset the cancellation of our major Derby Day Fundraising event in May. I couldn’t be more proud of the community that we live in – I’ve been on many calls over the last two weeks and time and again, although you are on the phone, you can feel it as if you were in person – there is a strong spirit to work together, think outside the box, and to do what is possible to help keep services, organizations, and communities strong as we move through this together. A big thank you to our partners at the county, state, and federal level as everyone works through how to begin patching holes that were absolutely necessary to create for the health and safety of all.
Lastly, but certainly not least, a special thank you to many of you who have called or emailed to ask how TH has been impacted and How You Can Help. My first response is to make sure you are healthy and stay healthy – take care of yourself and your family. My second response is that TH will be here long after COVID-19 has been – our 45-year history and community involvement ensures this. There will be holes that we will need to work together to fill as we do rely on special event fundraising and other community support to subsidize all programs approximately 50%. Moreover, although the horses are happy and healthy and enjoying a little extra time off right now they are not inexpensive. We also have critical operations and facility expenses that we must maintain, along with professional staff. We know that many valuable organizations are needing your help during these challenging times, as you may be or someone you know, so we ask that you consider TH if you are able to participate in giving and know that you are making a difference.
As we move forward in the next several weeks of continued social distancing and challenges that we will work together to overcome, I cannot think of a better team than #THTogether! Please take care of yourself, your loved ones, friends, and neighbors. I hope that you enjoy some of our new ways of connecting and we hope to see you sooner than later.
Should you have any questions, just want to chat, or have a video visit, please reach out to us – our contact information is on our website. As a reminder, you can always visit our website for information on our on-going COVID-19 response.
Sincerely,
Nathan Harms
Executive Director
March 16, 2020 (Facebook message)
Dear TREE House of Greater St. Louis (TH) Family & Friends,
Since our founding as Therapeutic Horsemanship in 1975, our number one priority has been the health of individuals and families whom we serve, volunteers and staff whom support service delivery, and our herd.
We’ve been giving a lot of thought to coronavirus/COVID-19 recently and its current and potential impact to TH, our shared communities within the region, and throughout the state, country, and world. We hope that you and those who you love and care for are well and that this continues to be the case; however, we also know that this is an evolving situation and that we need to continue to be prepared and take steps to slow the spread.
With the health and safety of the TREE House family on our mind, we’ve been leaning into this for a couple months now in many unseen and seen ways – those of you who are currently participating, volunteering, or staff support were already contacted last week as we announced on March 12th our temporary suspension of all TREE House of Greater St. Louis programming and activities. We will re-evaluate this situation at the end of the month.
To those of you who may not be involved with TH on a daily/weekly basis but are a stakeholder in other critical ways, you can learn more about our on-going response at our dedicated coronavirus/COVID-19 communication page that we will continue to use as we move forward: https://thstl.org/coronavirus-covid-19/
In addition to our temporary suspension of programming/activities and limitation of access to our campus, we have also cancelled our Derby Day “Afternoon at the Races” Benefit that was scheduled for Saturday, May 2nd in order to allow all of us to focus on the health and safety of our families and our shared communities, which must take absolute priority during the coming weeks ahead.
As we modify our operations to practice social distancing and “do our part”, TH horses will remain in great care. While we will regularly check and respond to voicemails, you will receive the quickest response by emailing individual team members (contact information available at thstl.org). For all general questions/information, you may also reach us at info@thstl.org.
We incredibly appreciate the trust and support that each of you in the TH community has given to us over the years. With our individual and collective efforts to slow the spread and compassion for each other, we will move forward – together – in health.
Sincerely,
Nathan Harms
Executive Director
March 16, 2020
Dear TREE House of Greater St. Louis Community:
As we continue our collective efforts to respond to the coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic and support the health and safety of all who are involved in and support TREE House of Greater St. Louis, we have cancelled our Derby Day “Afternoon at the Races” scheduled for May 2nd, 2020 so that we can all focus on priority needs of our families and shared communities. As we move forward together, please be well, stay healthy, and we will keep you updated. If you have already purchased a Derby Day ticket, we will be reaching out to you individually. If you have questions/concerns, you may reach us directly at info@thstl.org.
Sincerely,
TREE House of Greater St. Louis Derby Day 2020 Committee
March 12, 2020
Dear TREE House of Greater St. Louis Participants, Families, Caregivers, Volunteers, Staff, and Community:
Since our founding as Therapeutic Horsemanship in 1975, our number one priority has been the health of individuals and families whom we serve, volunteers and staff whom support service delivery, and our herd.
We’ve been giving a lot of thought to coronavirus (COVID-19) recently and its current and potential impact to TH, our shared communities within the region, and throughout the state, country, and world. We are grateful that so far we have not seen any cases of the virus at TH and that there are a small number of confirmed or suspected cases in the State of Missouri. We hope that this continues to be the case, but also know that this is an evolving situation, there are many unknowns, and that we need to be prepared.
With the health and safety of the TREE House family on our mind, we’ve been leaning into this for a couple months now in many unseen and seen ways – you’ve noticed communications in your email inbox, on our website, or posted at our facility with information on strategies and practices that we already have in place for reducing the spread of germs/disease prevention, as well as additional precautionary measures that we’ve taken, and coronavirus / COVID-19 resources from CDC and MO Dept. of Health that we have used as guidance and for you to keep up-to-date. We thank you for your continued vigilance as we move forward together in these unusual times.
After careful consideration, TREE House of Greater St. Louis has taken the additional precautionary measure of suspending all programming through March 31, 2020, effectively immediately. We will re-evaluate the situation at the end of the month. I assure you that this decision has not been made lightly, and we know that interrupting services that so many depend on us to deliver will cause disruption and inconvenience for many. I regret that the circumstances require such action; however, we believe this to be a prudent course of action for the hundreds of participants, families, volunteers, and staff who are involved in our operation, many of whom may fall into a higher risk population. We can’t predict how any of this will turn out; however, based on what is known now and where we think this could be headed, we feel we must err on the side of caution. These are major decisions that will impact you and they will impact us. However, we will get through this together and we cannot let uncertainty today pause our action in support of our health and safety promise.
A few other key points:
– We will also be reaching out by phone to anyone who is on our current schedule to confirm receipt of this important message.
– Our TH team will continue to monitor the situation and work through plans as we move forward. We will share new programming information with you as available.
– As we modify our typical operations in the coming weeks to support the health and safety of all, voicemails will be responded to regularly; however, you may receive the quickest response by emailing individual team members. For all general questions/concerns, you may also reach us at info@thstl.org.
We incredibly appreciate the trust that each of you and your families place in TH – we’ve been through rough waters before, and we will move through these together with our individual and collective efforts and compassion for each other. Be well and stay healthy.
Sincerely,
Nathan Harms, Executive Director
March 3, 2020
Dear TREE House of Greater St. Louis (TH) Participants, Families, Volunteers, and Staff:
With the spread of any illness, including the new coronavirus or COVID-19, we are always concerned about the welfare of participants and their families, volunteers, staff, and our herd. Obviously, the new coronavirus/COVID-19 is a very fluid situation that we must all be aware of – below are two sources of public health information that we wanted to share with you as we urge you to stay up to date and follow recommended guidance :
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html
Missouri Department of Health and Human Services – https://health.mo.gov/living/healthcondiseases/communicable/novel-coronavirus/ .
We also wanted to share with you and ask for your continued observance of the following strategies that are already in place at TH to help support a healthy environment for all and to reduce risk of infection from COVID-19, the flu or even the common cold:
– a strict emphasis on staying home when you are sick, or you think you may be sick until you are free of fever (100.4 F or greater using an oral thermometer), signs of a fever, and any other symptoms for at least 24 hours, without the use of fever-reducing or other symptom-altering medicines (e.g. cough suppressants);
– cough, sneeze, and respiratory etiquette (shield coughs and sneezes with tissue, elbow, or shoulder – not the bare hands);
– hand hygiene– clean hands often with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60-95% alcohol, or wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Soap and water should be used preferentially if hands are visibly dirty; and
– routine environmental cleaning of frequently touched surfaces.
Furthermore, as some of the individuals involved at TH may have underlying health conditions which may increase the risk of adverse health complications from any illness (including COVID-19), we are acting with abundant caution to protect the health of all involved at TH and also ask that if you have recently traveled to any area, internationally or domestically, in which there has been a significant number of cases/community spread, that you refrain from coming to TH for a period of 14 days after your return. This is an evolving situation; however, this could include travel to places such as China, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Iran, among other locations internationally as well as domestically such as the Seattle area (additional information on risk assessment is available on CDC website). If you have recently traveled to any of the places mentioned above, or anywhere else that has reported a significant number of cases and/or increased risk, please contact us so that we can make arrangements.
As always, please do not visit TH if you are experiencing any flu-like symptoms and please seek care by calling your doctor/local health officials:
- Fever
- Chills
- Cough
- Sore throat
- Headache
- Body ache
We appreciate your support and understanding during this evolving situation that we must attend to together.
In health,
Nathan Harms, Executive Director
