in addition to the funds provided by the Vadnais Heights Area Community Foundation , Greater White Bear Lake Community Foundation , and White Bear Education Foundation , along with individual donations .
“ VHEDC is a great organization regarding connecting local businesses . The excellent relationship we have with VHEDC has helped us recognize the needs in our community and the transportation gap , and helps others be aware of us and the services we provide .”
- Mike Greenbaum , Executive Director , Newtrax .
“ That program started with pilot funds from the Vadnais Heights Area Community Foundation and Greater White Bear Lake Community Foundation ,” said Mike Greenbaum , Executive Director , Newtrax .
Now that day programs have started reopening , Newtrax is shifting back to its original mission : providing transportation for seniors and those with intellectual and developmental disabilities . The company has also restarted its senior circulator bus loop , which once a week sends several buses on a fixed loop to pick up and drop off seniors in the area so they can take care of their daily chores .
“ We are hopeful that with the increase in vaccinations , we can start up even more loops soon , and continue to work on decreasing the social isolation of seniors in our community that has become even worse during this COVID time period ,” said Greenbaum .
Merrick Inc .
Coping with social isolation is an issue clients at Merrick , Inc ., one of Newtrax ’ s partners , have had to deal with during the pandemic . Merrick is a nonprofit that has been providing life enrichment services and employment support for adults with intellectual or developmental disabilities in Ramsey County since 1964 .
“ When the Governor ’ s first Executive Order was issued , our programs were suspended and the 375 clients we support could no longer come to our programs ,” said Karen Herrera , Merrick ’ s Development and Communications Director .
Early on in the pandemic , one of the major changes the company made to diminish this isolation was to begin offering remote ( online ) services . “ We hadn ’ t offered that previously so it was a new endeavor for us . We took it as an opportunity to get creative and learn new skills ,” said Herrera .
Among the remote services that were added : music therapy , self-advocacy meetings , and social interactive activities . “ A favorite activity was a one-month travel theme where clients ‘ visited ’ various countries and regions of the United States , learning about the people , culture , food , traditional dress and landmarks ,” said Herrera . Each week an activity bag , assembled by program staff , was delivered to clients ’ homes . The bags included passports , stickers and airline tickets to that week ’ s destination .
Although clients had to stay home for some time , non-essential employees were only furloughed for three-weeks and upon receipt of the Paycheck Protection Program ( PPP ) loan were called back to handle essential medical contracts that needed to be fulfilled . “ We do a lot of assembly work or packaging of items for local businesses . Due to the COVID-
19 pandemic , one of our business partners had an increased demand for x-ray bags , and another had us assembling COVID-19 testing kits ,” said Herrera .
In October , when it became clear that Merrick would not be able to host the popular annual holiday party as usual , employees once again tapped into their creativity and found a way to spread holiday cheer . “ We partnered with Jimmy ’ s Food and Drink in Vadnais Heights and Donatelli ’ s in White Bear Lake to provide family style dinners for the households of all enrolled clients . Newtrax drivers and some of our managers delivered the meals to people ’ s homes ,” said Herrera .
“ We ’ re starting to experience some glimmers of normalcy . We ’ re still abiding by our 11 page COVID preparedness plan which has kept exposures at a minimum . We have done a really good job of keeping COVID out .”
- Karen Herrera , Development and Communications Director , Merrick Inc .
Each meal was accompanied by a holiday centerpiece , and a holiday message from the “ Elves ” who raised the money for the annual holiday party . Each letter wished the families well and encouraged them to take a break and enjoy a holiday meal with the people in their home .
Herrera said it was quite an undertaking . A total of 672 people in 176 homes were served .
New clients are again being enrolled , and the majority of both employees and existing clients have been able to return to the building .
Merrick is also looking forward to the opportunity to resume fundraising . The company plans to host both its 26th Annual Golf Scramble and 3rd Empower ! Lunch in 2021 . vhedc . com 25