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2020-06-15

Connections Newsletter: How a Special Needs Community Weathers the COVID-19 Storm

Given the unique challenges presented by COVID-19, special needs programs, such as Starkey, Inc. in Wichita, Kansas, needed to make equally unique adaptations so as to safeguard an already vulnerable community. This Connections newsletter from the summer of 2020 highlights some of those adaptations from early in the pandemic. These included local food donations to the various residences, the closure of day programs, homemade mask-making drives to make up for the mask shortage, and even visits from wildlife experts from a local zoo, who brought with them a sloth, a lynx, and a penguin for the residents to enjoy. Overall, this source provides a more in-depth look into how a community like Starkey dealt with the virus's early outbreak in ways that had to be uniquely suited to the needs of those they served.