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We're excited to announce that we will be opening our in-person after school programs this fall! As we're all adjusting to the new normal, we have had to change our approaches to a lot of things. Students and staff have to adjust to wearing masks and not being able to touch each other. (One of the biggest complaints from our younger students was that they couldn't hug each other or give high fives!) Parents are facing difficult decisions of whether or not to send their children to school. It's almost like we live in a different world now than we did in February.  With all of these things in mind, we've decided it is important for us to continue serving families through our after school programs, keeping with all of the regulations around corona of course. After seeing how these adaptations had to be made during the summer, we feel even more prepared to make sure that everyone has a safe experience at Noah or Nehemiah After School. This year's theme is Walk in His Authority and we will continue to focus on how God is in control and we can overcome the world because He is greater than the world. We will have to adapt how our after school programs operate to allow for social distancing, temperature checks, and other necessary safety procedures. However, this is also opening up new ways of engaging volunteers and students. We are looking into virtual mentoring for students starting this fall. We want to create an opportunity for people who don't feel comfortable (or for whom it isn't safe) to show up in person to be able to connect with students. This is a great opportunity for students to get individualized attention and develop positive, discipling relationships. We're excited to continue to move forward and provide support to families in North Hartford!
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We were able, through partnership with World Vision, to help families with some food assistance, including fruit and vegetables, milk, dairy products, and meat. This assistance is so necessary during this time where so many have lost jobs, had to adjust to changing child care needs, and so many other difficulties we are all facing.
Our staff did an outstanding job leading our campers through a Camp Noah that looked and felt very different than normal. They were able to be flexible as we adjusted to added cleaning needs, mask requirements, social distancing and more. Our leadership staff was very impressed by how well these young people not only managed themselves, but also groups of campers who had been stuck in their houses since March. Station leaders had to be creative in how to implement plans and follow all of the COVID-19 guidelines. Team leaders had to deal with giving constant mask and distancing reminders. AND they did all of it with a smile! We were so pleased with our team of staff and volunteers. While camp wasn't normal (after all, we couldn't see campers beautiful smiles or even give high-fives), campers were grateful to be out of their house and around their friends. We found ways to have fun, learn about God, and encourage each other throughout the summer. We couldn't have done this without the support of all of our donors, families, staff, volunteers, partners and supporters! Thank you for making Camp Noah possible. |
Hartford City Mission, P.O. Box 320397, Hartford, CT 06132-0397 p. 860.246.0132