Who takes care of medical staff children in the middle of a national crisis?
The YMCA of Greater Grand Rapids is providing relief childcare relief for the Metro Health – University of Michigan Health staff.
Metro Health – University of Michigan Health employs nearly 3,100 employees on its Wyoming campus. A number of them are working parents. With schools closed, a solution; the Spartan Nash YMCA is a campus neighbor leasing its space and staff who otherwise would be out of work.
“We are working hard to maintain the social distancing guidelines, so the classrooms in the Y’s facility are segregated so there are no more than 20 children in any given room.”
Jennifer Gonzalez is Chief Human Resource Officer for Metro Health.
“We are working hard to keep those apart and staff are continuously sanitizing all of the surfaces and the things that are being used within the facility with respect to that.”
The Spartan Nash YMCA can accommodate 86 children per day. Mercy Health says it has an overflow plan if there’s a need to expand.
There’s also a $1 million needs-based fund for employees struggling with COVID-19-related hardships.