Volunteer Safety Protocol – 04/05/2022
Restricted Hours
As part of the Saint Francis Center’s (SFC) COVID-19 Response Plan, services are open to guests with restricted hours, 7am-5pm.
Screening Volunteers
Any volunteer experiencing COVID-19 symptoms (cough, shortness of breath/difficulty breathing, fever, chills, muscle pain, sore throat, and new loss of taste and smell) prior to arrival will be asked to stay home. Further, any individual who becomes sick during the day will be sent home immediately.
If a volunteer has knowingly been in physical contact with an individual who has tested positive for COVID-19, they will be asked to not return to SFC for at least 10 days since being exposed.
Screening Guests
If a guest has tested positive for COVID-19, they are not allowed into the facility. In order to return, the guest must bring official documentation indicating they have been cleared.
Due to the transient nature of our guests, SFC acknowledges there is an unavoidable challenge and inherent limitation in our ability to track a guest’s outside exposure to COVID-19. To help monitor the population being served at SFC, free COVID tests are offered on a regular basis.
Additional Safety Precautions for Volunteers
Volunteers are required to wear a face mask at all times (including volunteers who have been vaccinated). SFC has face masks, gloves, and hand sanitizer available for use. For additional protection, face shields are available for volunteers by request.
As often as possible, volunteers will maintain 6 feet distance apart from other volunteers, staff, and guests in order to practice appropriate social distancing.
Hand sanitizer and disinfectant wipes and spray are available at each volunteer station. Sanitizing products are also available in the break room.
SFC is limiting the number of staff and volunteers in the break room at any given time. The number of individuals around the large table is limited to 10 at a time. Two additional individuals can use the small table. Additionally, staff and volunteers are asked to limit time spent at either table to 45 minutes, to allow use for others.
Volunteers are asked to wash their hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Or, as an alternative, use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Key times for volunteers to wash their hands include:
- Before and after work shifts
- Before and after work breaks
- After blowing their nose, coughing, or sneezing
- After using the restroom
- Before eating or preparing food
- After putting on, touching, or removing cloth face coverings
Click here to view the COVID-19 response plan, outlining the protocol when a volunteer or staff tests positive.
Safety Precautions with Guests
Guests are required to wear face masks when walking around the Day Center, or receiving services. Masks are not required when guests are sitting in their chairs. Volunteers are asked to help enforce this policy by asking guests to wear masks (if they are not already) when they approach the mail and storage counter and clothing room counter.
To help enforce social distancing, only 115 guests are permitted in the Day Center at a time. Once capacity is reached, the front doors are locked, and guests can only enter one at a time as another guest leaves. Additionally, only 3 guests are permitted in the clothing room at a time. Showers have transitioned to appointment only, limiting the number of guests both showering and waiting for a shower at one time.
Plexiglass has been installed at each of the primary transaction areas such as mail/storage counters, clothing room counters, shower counters, and the information desk. Face shields are available for volunteers working the station where guests temperatures are taken.
Helpful Resources