Category: Coronavirus

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On track: Local athletes continue to pursue their Olympic dreams

High jumper Brenton Foster graduated from UVA this month, but plans to continue his training through next year in hopes of making it to the Olympics. PC: Subject

By Claudia Gohn

The postponement of this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo (moved to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic) has disrupted the plans of athletes around the world—including several right here in Charlottesville.   

Ella Nelson, a University of Virginia swimmer and rising second-year, is one of many UVA athletes who were competing for a spot on the Olympic team. With pools closed, she hasn’t swum in over a month—something she has never done before. “This is a first—the most time I’ve taken off is probably two or three weeks, and that even felt like a pretty long time at the time.”

Nelson placed second in the Atlantic Coast Conference championship in both the 200-yard breaststroke and 400-yard individual medley, and was seeded second in the 200 breaststroke going into the NCAA championship. (In the United States, the top two swimmers in each event at the Olympic qualifying meet go to the Olympics.) Although these were collegiate-only meets, Nelson and her coach, Todd DeSorbo, were hopeful.

But the timeline for their goals shifted in March, after the NCAA championships were canceled and Olympic qualifying events were postponed along with the games. Pools are closed, training facilities aren’t open, and the stay-at-home order prevents athletes from training together. Nonetheless, everyone is keeping their eyes on the prize. 

Athletes have had to find alternative ways to stay in shape. Paige Madden—a rising fourth-year swimmer and ACC champion in the 1,650-, 500-, and 200-yard freestyle, who was seeded second going into the NCAA championships in the 500 freestyle—is doing what she can without a pool. Rather than swimming, she’s been doing interval running and strength training, with guidance from her coaches.

“We get sent workouts every day through email, like suggested workouts,” she says. “So I try to stick to those [because] I like direction and instruction.” (Her pool back home in Alabama has since reopened.)

According to NCAA guidelines, coaches are currently prohibited from requiring athletes to train, but are allowed to send suggestions. DeSorbo, the head swimming and diving coach at UVA, sends ideas for strength training, running, and biking. But DeSorbo also focuses on “staying connected to them and keeping them all connected to each other,” he says.

“Our goal has just been to…communicate a lot, just keep in touch, check in and see how they’re doing,” DeSorbo adds.

Vin Lananna, the head track and field coach at UVA, has similar intentions. “We’re trying to keep our athletes motivated [and] excited, but we aren’t training them,” he says. “Most importantly, we want to make sure every student-athlete is safe, families are safe.”

In interviews with five Olympic hopefuls, all said they are planning to continue training and hold onto the goal of making it to the games.

Alum Kristin O’Brien, who rowed for the UVA women’s team before graduating in 2013, was hoping to punch her ticket to Tokyo this summer, and had won the women’s two in the National Section Regatta in February.

After hearing that the Olympics were postponed, O’Brien’s former UVA coach, Kevin Sauer, reached out to her. “He said ‘Hey O’B, how are you doing? What are you going to do?’” she says. “I said, ‘well, I’m going to keep going. I made it this far.’”

Kristin O’Brien refuses to let the postponed Tokyo Olympics deter her from her dream of making the U.S. rowing team. PC: US Rowing

Madden was originally going to end her swimming career after her final collegiate season next winter, but now she wants to continue through graduation in 2021, in the hopes of swimming in Tokyo next summer. That will also impact her post-graduation plans to prepare for a career as a physician’s assistant. “I was planning on taking the GRE next summer and finding some sort of job in health care,” she says. But, she adds, “I was definitely planning on taking a gap year regardless, before PA school, so that’s good that it provides me some flexibility.”

Brenton Foster, a high jumper on the UVA track and field team who graduated this month, says he plans to continue his training through next year while working towards his masters in education. He was in Australia trying to make the Olympic team there when he found out that the games were postponed.

Despite the temporary hold placed on international competition, some athletes are choosing to look on the bright side.

Katherine Douglass—a rising second-year swimmer who captured first in the 200-yard individual medley and 100-yard butterfly at the ACC championships, and was seeded first going into the NCAA championships in the 200 individual medley—says she will be able to focus more on the Olympic trials during her training next year.

“This year I wasn’t really focusing on the Olympics very much until the end of the season, when I started to think I could place very well at Olympic trials,” she says. “So now, going into next year, I think I have more of the correct mindset going into it and I can focus more of my energy on Olympic trials throughout the whole year.”

While Douglass is stressed about being out of the water, she is also excited. “The first couple months of training are probably going to be very difficult for all of us,” she says. “But it’s just more motivation to work hard, and I’m excited to get back into it.”

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Fighting insomnia in the age of COVID

Trouble sleeping lately? You’re not alone. Since the onset of the pandemic, many people who used to drift off the second their heads hit the pillow are now struggling to fall—and stay—asleep, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

For advice on how to get better rest during this stressful time, we spoke with Joanna Ajex, a licensed professional counselor at The Women’s Initiative, which offers free and low-cost mental health care to women. (Ajex’s responses have been edited for length and clarity.)

C-VILLE: Clearly this is an anxious time for all of us. How does that play out in our sleep patterns?

Joanna Ajex: The pandemic makes us all feel fear, as well as uncertainty about the future, health, careers, childcare, and isolation. These are some of the reasons it is impacting sleep.

Also, people are finding themselves in a spectrum. Some are probably taking this time to do unfinished projects, get some rest, etc. But some are really experiencing it in a very stressful way, and are constantly triggered by the news, among other things. That can easily lead to insomnia.

One more reason is that some people may find themselves having more free time. That means an increase in screen time, less productivity, and less movement. Whatever helped people before to take care of themselves—that may not apply anymore. The gyms are closed. People are not going outside as freely. All of these things are impacting sleep.

What can people do to help get a full night’s sleep?

Find where you are on that spectrum: How is the pandemic affecting me? Allow yourself to see what you’re feeling, without comparing yourself to how other people are experiencing it. It’s important to recognize that you are struggling.

You can then identify some of the changes that you can make. It’s beneficial to have a regular sleep-wake pattern, and there are apps—some already built into your phone—that can help with that. Moving is also helpful. People are concerned about going out to get exercise, but there are so many ways to do it at home now. Places are offering classes online and through apps.

Around the time you go to bed, decrease screen time. Find a more calming activity, such as reading or knitting, to do instead.

However, if you are not able to improve your sleep with behavioral changes, that’s a sign that you should call your medical provider to ask for recommendations.

And if you are finding yourself having intense feelings of hopelessness, loneliness, and other signs of depression, please seek help from a mental health professional.

How can you help support a friend or family member who is struggling with insomnia?

The most important thing is to empathize. Just because you are doing well, doesn’t mean the next person is. You have to recognize that people are finding themselves in different places.

It’s also helpful to make changes together as a household. That can make the person struggling with insomnia feel more supported. For example, you can go on a walk together. You can set up a sleep schedule and do mindful activities together before going to sleep. You can have dinner and cut the lights off earlier, so there is more time for everyone to wind down.

However, if the person is severely struggling with mental health as well, it may be necessary to reach out to a counselor.

For more information on how to access The Women’s Initiative’s free call-in clinic, go to thewomensinitiative.org

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In brief: Masked melons, summertime sadness, and more

Cooling off in the city’s splash gardens is a thing of the past, thanks to a recent announcement that all Charlottesville pools and spraygrounds will be closed this summer. PC: Ron Paris

Goodbye, summer

Monday is Memorial Day, the traditional start to summer, but this year, much of the city’s outdoor recreation space will be off limits. Last week, Charlottesville Parks & Recreation closed all city pools and spraygrounds for the summer, and canceled camps. In addition, other outdoor facilities, including basketball and tennis courts, picnic shelters, and the Sugar Hollow Reservoir, will remain shuttered until further notice. In Albemarle County, all swimming lakes will be closed, along with playgrounds and ball fields.

“Our decision at this point is based on public safety and health, and our staff and keeping our staff safe,” says Todd Brown, Charlottesville Parks & Rec’s interim director. Where parks are open, both the city and county will employ monitors to ensure visitors are social distancing.

Under Phase One of Governor Northam’s reopening plan, which began May 15, pools are allowed to open for lap swimming, and private facilities like ACAC and Fry’s Spring have done so. But city and county officials say the decision to keep public pools closed has to do with staffing.

“We don’t have a year-round staff for lifeguarding, and so it’s really difficult to recruit seasonal lifeguards when we don’t know when they would be able to start work,” says Emily Kilroy, the director of communications and public engagement for Albemarle County. Brown noted that the city did not start training lifeguards in March, as it usually does, and that carried weight in the decision.

“With things being delayed in terms of the different phases…that uncertainty, it goes against being able to plan on how to open and operate pools so that you’re keeping people safe,” says Brown.

Amy Smith, assistant director of the county’s Parks & Recreation department, says “park ambassadors” will be stationed at the county’s swimming lakes this summer, to make sure no children make their way into the water. But how to keep kids with no other options for cooling off away from other, unguarded bodies of water—like the Rivanna River—is less clear.

“We know that there is going to be a reaction to this action, and that could also cause negative impacts elsewhere,” says Brown. “And we are concerned about that, too.”

______________________

Quote of the Week

“I am hopeful that our students will be back in the classroom this fall.”

—Governor Ralph Northam, at a press conference on Monday. (So are we, Ralph. So are we.)

______________________ 

In brief

Sour grapes

Listening to the President these days, you’d think the pandemic is over. But don’t tell that to Charlottesville’s Trump Winery, which soft-opened this week behind a set of complicated social-distancing requirements. While Trump has famously declined to wear a mask in public, they’re mandatory for servers at his winery, and recommended for guests.

Budget bristles

City budget officials have their work cut out for them, as staff projects a $5.4 million loss in revenue this year. That’s made some in City Hall grumpy: This week, The Daily Progress wrote a story about the city-county revenue sharing agreement, but City Manager Tarron Richardson (whose job is to talk about the budget) didn’t like the coverage, and said at Monday’s council meeting that he was “too upset to talk about it right now.”   

Seedy suspects

On the evening of May 6, two people walked into a Louisa Sheetz wearing unusual face masks: hollowed-out watermelons with holes cut out for their eyes. According to the Louisa Police Department, the pair committed larceny, though it’s unclear exactly what they took. Police arrested one of the suspects—20-year-old Justin Rogers—on May 16, and charged him with wearing a mask in public while committing larceny, underage possession of alcohol, and petit larceny of alcohol. The second melonhead is still on the loose.

Major makeover

After many years of residents protesting against its dilapidated conditions, Crescent Halls will undergo major renovations starting this fall—but not without a huge price tag. At a May 18 meeting, the Charlottesville Redevelopment and Housing Authority announced that the project—which also includes the redevelopment and construction of new units on South First Street—would cost $26.94 million for construction, about $4.3 million more than last year’s estimates. To pay the bill, CRHA plans to secure additional funding from the Virginia Housing Development Authority, as well as private donors.

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Tough call: Some local businesses reopen, while others hold off

Three Notch’d Brewing Company was one of the area establishments that welcomed back customers May 15, under Phase One of Virginia’s reopening. “We’ve really been preparing to do this for eight weeks,” says Scott Roth, the brewery’s president. PC: Sanjay Suchak

On Friday, May 15, a number of Virginia businesses got the green light to reopen (with restrictions), as part of Phase One of Governor Ralph Northam’s plan. But locally, response has been mixed, with some establishments instituting new safety measures to bring in badly needed customers, while others stay shut for now. Though the number of positive COVID-19 tests and hospitalizations in the state have declined over the past two weeks, there has been at least one new reported case of the virus almost every day for the past two weeks in the Charlottesville area.

Under Northam’s plan, restaurants with outdoor seating (along with places of worship) can reopen at 50 percent capacity. With its ample outdoor space, Three Notch’d Brewing Company is in a position to be a “leader in the community in setting a really high standard for what [reopening] should look like in our industry,” says president Scott Roth.

“We’ve really been preparing to do this for eight weeks. We’ve had a gloves-and-mask policy since March, and have required that our employees do daily wellness checks and screenings,” Roth adds. “[We’ve] been able to secure hand sanitizer to put on every table…[and] have 40-something-odd seats spaced appropriately on the patio,” among other health and safety measures.

In-person sales are vital to local craft breweries and wineries, and many have taken the opportunity to reopen. Random Row and Decipher Brewing have implemented policies similar to those at Three Notch’d, while Devils Backbone and Starr Hill are also requiring reservations and asking patrons to wear face coverings when not seated at their table. Champion Brewing announced its two locations will remain closed except for takeout and delivery, while it “continues developing plans for safe outdoor seating.”

Some wineries, like Keswick and Veritas, are also requiring reservations, while Knight’s Gambit allows walk-ins.

Multiple local restaurants have opened up their outdoor seating too, such as Ace Biscuit & Barbecue, The Lazy Parrot, and Martin’s Grill.

Under Phase One, non-essential retail is also allowed to open at 50 percent capacity, and several local retailers are now allowing limited in-person shopping. Customers can schedule a private shopping appointment at downtown boutiques Darling and Arsenic and Old Lace Vintage, as well as at The Artful Lodger and Lynne Goldman Elements. They can also shop (without an appointment) at certain stores, like Mincer’s at Stonefield, which is allowing no more than six customers inside at a time, and is requiring all customers and employees to wear masks.

Following state guidelines, some nail salons, hairdressers, and other personal grooming businesses across town have opened up by appointment only, including Boom Boom Nail and Waxing Lounge, His Image Barber Shop & Natural Hair Studio, and Hazel Beauty Bar. While restrictions vary at each establishment, all customers and employees are required to wear face masks at all times, forbidding services (such as lip waxing) that require removal of masks.

Despite all of these reopenings, dozens of other local businesses have decided to stick with contactless curbside pickup and delivery for now, citing health and safety concerns.

“Some of you may ask what it will take for us to reconsider and open our doors again. Again, in all honesty, we’re not quite sure. Certainly, a much more robust testing and contact tracing policy by our state and country,” said Ragged Mountain Running Shop in a May 12 Facebook post. “Beyond that, the emergence of more effective treatment options, widespread antibody testing, and on the distant horizon, a vaccine.”

While a couple of restaurants on the Downtown Mall, such as Vita Nova and Taste of India, have opened up their patios, many have decided to hold off—including Draft Taproom, The Whiskey Jar, Ten, The Fitzroy, The Pie Chest, The Alley Light, Citizen Burger Bar, and Zocalo.

Some, like Citizen Burger, pointed out that the mall is not the ideal location for safe outdoor seating. Though tables can be spaced at least six feet apart, restaurants have a limited amount of patio space available. Mall pedestrians are also able to walk right next to the patios, making it potentially more difficult to enforce social distancing guidelines.

Brooke Fossett, owner of The Brow House, has also decided not to reopen under Phase One, because she and her employees did not feel it was safe to do so.

“We literally touch people’s faces,” she says. “Salons and spas should not have been in Phase One. I know how bad some of them—and us—are struggling, and I wish that there was more support from the government for our industry.”

Hairstylist Claibourne Nesmith, who will not be opening her salon, The Honeycomb, until Phase Two, also thinks that personal grooming businesses should not be open now, and were thrown into Phase One “to appease people,” she says.

“Right now we don’t have adequate access to PPE…We don’t even have Barbicide or reusable tools that they are requiring for us to have,” says Nesmith. “If we’re getting all these requirements to be this careful, it kind of sounds like we’re not ready to go back.”

And under the state’s restrictions, those in the personal grooming industry who do go back to work will not be able to make much money, due to their limited amount of appointments (and tips), says Nesmith, who is currently advocating with others for partial unemployment benefits for employees who rely on tips (including waiters).

“This is just above our pay grade,” she says.

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How coronavirus has changed the college admissions process

Rebecca Hill is the executive director of the Better Future Foundation, which is currently providing college counseling to a group of low-income students at Charlottesville High School. PC: John Robinson

While schools are closed to prevent the spread of COVID-19, districts across the country have adopted alternative grading policies for the remainder of the academic year. Charlottesville City Schools’ middle and high schoolers who had a passing grade when schools closed on March 13 will automatically receive an A for each course, while those who weren’t on track to pass have been given online learning modules. Albemarle County has taken a different route, allowing high schoolers to choose between receiving a pass/fail/ incomplete or a letter grade.

For rising seniors applying to college this fall, these changes could make an already stressful process more challenging. How will colleges judge their academic performance during this unprecedented time? Will grades from this school year even matter?

According to college counselor Rebecca Hill, the answer is yes and no. It’s “still going to be necessary” for rising seniors applying to college to pass this school year. However, “because a lot of the school systems…have agreed to give students passes or A’s just for being able to complete work through March 13, final grades [won’t] have as much weight.”

While colleges will still take a critical look at students’ grades from before the pandemic, as well as the ones they receive in the fall (assuming schools are back in session then), they may place a heavier weight on other parts of their applications—including personal essays, extracurricular activities, and letters of recommendation—that demonstrate not just their work ethic, but their character as well.

Essay prompts, for instance, may ask students to describe what challenges they faced during the pandemic, and how they worked to address them, explains Hill. And students who found ways to help their community, such as grocery shopping for immunocompromised neighbors, might stand out among other applicants.

Colleges may also look for more ways students challenged themselves academically, both during the pandemic and throughout their high school careers,“whether that’s taking an online community college class [or] doing research for their own personal project,” says Hill.

But Hill acknowledges these changes may create more barriers for low-income students, who may not have the time or resources to be involved in their community or take on additional academic work.

Instead, they may have to work a part-time job, in addition to other responsibilities, in order to support their families.

“The jobs that work for them…don’t typically lend towards a lot of professional growth,” she adds. “But that doesn’t mean that…their essays won’t compel colleges to really think critically about what the particular circumstances were that they had to live through.”

Longtime counselor Parke Muth worries that college budget cuts could also put low-income applicants at a greater disadvantage. With universities currently “losing millions or, in some cases, billions from their endowment,” they may reduce their admissions staff, as well as offer less financial aid.

“If you say you’re going to look at [applications] holistically, but you have a smaller staff and resources, how do you do that?” says Muth, who worked in the UVA admissions office for over 30 years.

And at the many colleges that have gone test-optional for the next academic year (due to the ACTs and SATs being pushed back to June and August, respectively), it’s also unclear how schools will compare applicants with test scores to those without them, Muth points out. He encourages rising seniors to still take one, or both, of the tests—if they don’t get a good score, they can choose not to include it with their applications.

According to Adam Southall, a college counselor at Monticello High School, colleges have said that they aren’t going to hold students’ circumstances against them. While he is hopeful that admissions offices “will continue to do the same holistic practices they always have,” he remains concerned for marginalized kids.

“I have a feeling that it won’t be for another year that we see the educational fallout,” he adds. “Who got left behind?”

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Cut off: UVA Health furloughs hundreds of employees

Furloughed patient care assistant Erik Hancock says he is shocked that UVA Health is reducing crucial staff “at a time like this.” PC: Eze Amos

COVID-19 has stripped the pockets of businesses all around Charlottesville, including one of the city’s biggest: The University of Virginia Health System. Since the onset of the pandemic, the health system has lost $85 million per month due to a sharp decrease in surgeries and clinic visits. To offset these losses, it announced April 28 that it would furlough some non-patient care staff for up to three months, among other cost-saving measures.

As of May 8, 561 employees have been placed on full-time unpaid furlough, with the option to apply for unemployment or use their paid time off. Everyone will continue to receive insurance benefits.

But contrary to the health system’s initial statement, furloughed employees include those who provide patient care. One nurse practitioner (who asked that we not use her name) says some physician assistants and nurse practitioners, also known as advanced practice providers, have been furloughed for three months, while others have been placed on “rolling furloughs,” meaning they work a reduced number of weeks.

“This means in some areas that still have a lot of patients, like the COVID unit, [or that] were already short [there was already up to a 50 percent shortage of APPs in places]…we have been reduced to an unsafe skeleton crew while trying to provide patient care,” she says.

These staffing cuts put patient safety at risk, she contends, and they could have been entirely avoided.

“Comparable institutions have successfully managed to implement cost-saving measures without compromising patient safety,” she says. “All of my APP colleagues were prepared to help make sacrifices and fully anticipated salary cuts.”

“To be cutting staff providing critically needed care in a time like this when [Executive Vice President for Health Affairs] Craig Kent is still making $570,000 a year— [after] his much-touted 40 percent salary reduction—is shameful,” she adds.

In an email, spokesman Eric Swensen confirmed that UVA has cut hours for “patient-facing staff” in areas with fewer patients, but that the number of such staff with full-time unpaid furloughs for the next three months remains “very low.”

“We are eager to care for our patients, and as our volume increases so will our staffing,” he added. “We have made staffing decisions at the department level so that we can calibrate the necessary staffing levels to ensure the safest patient care. For that reason, almost all of the full-time furloughs were in non-patient care areas.”

The nurse practitioner says she will have to take multiple weeks off within the next two months. She has enough paid time off to cover it, she says, but if it’s extended past July, she will have to apply for unemployment.

Her APP colleagues on furlough without enough (or any) paid time off are not as lucky. Receiving notifications about the furloughs just a few days before they took effect, they had little time to plan, she says. According to Swensen, affected employees were notified the week of April 28—shortly before the furloughs took effect on May 3.

Some employees took to social media to express their worry and frustration over UVA’s decisions—but declined to speak to C-VILLE about their experiences, fearing they would lose their jobs for good.

“It sucks, but I am hopeful that unemployment will come through and make all this doable. I’m a single-income household with 50/50 shared kids, so it’s nerve-wracking,” shared an inpatient nurse on Reddit. “Nine out of about 25 people in my department were furloughed.”

One outpatient care unit employee, who would only speak to C-VILLE anonymously, says they have been furloughed until July 25, and that their supervisor simply told them “to apply for unemployment.”

“It is really stressful and depressing. I have a number of bills to pay on top of mortgage and medical bills,” the employee says. “The unprofessional attitude of my supervisor was hinting for me to seek other jobs.”

Another anonymous UVA employee, who works as a certified nursing assistant, has been on furlough since April 30. She is not scheduled to go back to work until the end of July, and is unsure if she will return.

“My boss told me on 4/30, so I didn’t have a notice. I wish I did. I did not have enough time to file [for unemployment] that week, so it should start this week,” she says.

Patient care assistant Erik Hancock was also furloughed with just a few days notice, and he’s now applied for unemployment.

“We were expecting furloughs, but we didn’t know how many, or when, or what department,” he says. “Things had been thrown up in the air left and right.”

While Hancock still plans to return to his job part-time after the furlough, he is shocked that UVA is reducing crucial staff “at a time like this.” And with the way it’s handled the situation, the nurse practitioner predicts some workers may decide to not come back at all.

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COVID cases soar in Buckingham state prisons; Charlottesville poised for reopening

Two state prisons in Buckingham Country have seen severe COVID outbreaks among incarcerated populations.

Correctional facilities, where inmates live in tight quarters, have proven (entirely predictably) to be hotbeds for coronavirus outbreaks. Some jails and prisons in the area have managed to avoid major transmission within their walls—as of May 8, the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail has reported just four cases, all among “support staff” who do not come in regular contact with inmates. The Fluvanna Correctional Center for Women reports zero cases.

But in Buckingham County, two state prisons have become the sites of major outbreaks. As of May 11, the Dillwyn Correctional Center reports that 205 total offenders have tested positive for COVID, and Buckingham Correctional Center reports 75, according to data from the Virginia Department of Corrections.

These situations show how quickly outbreaks can spread within prisons once the virus is present. Dillwyn saw seven cases turn into more than 200 in the span of one week at the end of April, and Buckingham reported just 13 cases last Wednesday. (Mid-April expansion of testing may have contributed to the increases, notes the DOC, but the Dillwyn outbreak did not pick up steam until early May.)

As C-VILLE reported in March, many facilities have been releasing nonviolent inmates to house arrest and limiting pretrial detention, in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. The Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail has moved 16 percent of its inmates out of the facility. Because it’s a regional jail, the effort to identify and release low-level offenders, and inmates with health risks, has been spearheaded by our local commonwealth’s attorneys, who have pursued such policies more aggressively than state-level administrators.

The two Buckingham facilities with severe outbreaks are state prisons, meaning they are monitored and managed by the Virginia Department of Corrections. The DOC has been moving inmates out of prison at a far slower rate than the ACRJ. As of last Thursday, 130 prisoners had been moved out of state prisons—a tiny fraction of the roughly 38,000 prisoners in the Virginia state system.

The state prison system also oversaw an outbreak at Bon Air Juvenile Detention Center, near Richmond, in which more than 30 teens tested positive for the disease. The Washington Post characterized the Bon Air outbreak as the worst at a youth prison in the nation. On May 9, a 66-year old man died from COVID while incarcerated in the Buckingham facility, became one of five people to die from the disease while in prison in Virginia.

 

Is Charlottesville ready for Phase 1?

Last week, Governor Ralph Northam announced that Virginia would move to Phase 1 of reopening on Friday, May 15. Phase 1 keeps gatherings limited to 10 people, strongly encourages teleworking, and keeps schools and entertainment facilities closed. But the eased restrictions allow non-essential retail, restaurants with outdoor seating, and places of worship to operate at 50 percent capacity, and lets Virginians seek “personal grooming” by appointment.

The state set two case-based criteria for beginning to ease restrictions: declining rates of positive tests over 14 days, and declining hospitalizations over 14 days. On Monday, Northam gave some places in northern Virginia permission to delay moving to Phase 1, as the situation there is more dire than elsewhere in the state.

The Charlottesville area passes the test for declining hospitalizations, according to data from the state: In Charlottesville and Albemarle combined, the Virginia Department of Health shows that only one person has been newly hospitalized with coronavirus in the last two weeks.

Since the pandemic began, the Thomas Jefferson Health District, which includes Charlottesville, Albemarle, Greene, Louisa, and Fluvanna, has seen 62 total hospitalizations, according to the state.

Total reported cases in the area continue to rise at a slow but steady rate. Twenty out of the last 21 days have seen at least one new case confirmed. The area might technically satisfy the governor’s criteria for reopening, but that doesn’t mean the virus is under control.

 

 

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Put a ring on it (later): postponed weddings take a toll on vendors

Karen Walker, owner of Hedge Fine Blooms, says she has lost most of her spring and summer wedding business thanks to postponed ceremonies. Photo: John Robinson

With its array of elegant wineries and historic inns, nestled in between the picturesque Blue Ridge mountains, Charlottesville has become one of the country’s top wedding destinations. Last year, over 1,500 couples said “I do” in the area, according to The Wedding Report. And in January, brides.com named Pippin Hill Farm & Vineyards one of the best wedding venues in the U.S.

But due to the ongoing pandemic and stay-at-home order, hundreds of weddings have been put on hold—right at the beginning of the industry’s busiest season. And that has taken a heavy toll on vendors.

The Catering Outfit has been forced to postpone over $300,000 worth of business so far, says sales director Courtney Hildebrand. And because many of the weddings it was hired to cater have been pushed to next year, it is difficult to take on any new clients at the moment.

Though it has received some relief from its landlord, TCO did not get a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan, forcing it to find new ways to bring in revenue.

Since March, it has sold to-go and heat-and-eat meals, as well as meal kits, out of a tent in its parking lot. Offering a new menu every day, the drive-through has been busy, and has received a lot of positive feedback, says Hildebrand.

The company is also operating a food pantry for out-of-work food service employees. “If they bring a pay stub on Mondays and Thursdays, they can get a free bag of groceries,” Hildebrand says. “And we have partnered with a couple of different companies to provide hot meals to first responders and hospital workers.”

For freelance vendors like photographers, the situation can be more complicated. Jen Fariello is used to shooting weddings nearly every weekend from spring to fall. But now all of her weddings up to July 25 have been postponed. And—like many other vendors—she has not received any government aid.

“Three businesses I know in Charlottesville have gotten their PPP loans. A lot of the [others] haven’t heard back,” Fariello says. “A couple of people have been trying to get unemployment. But as self-employed people, it’s complicated…you have to prove that you’re going out and trying to get a job. But we still have jobs. We’re [just] trying to keep our businesses alive.”

Photographer Jen Fariello. Photo courtesy subject.

With some couples not wanting to wait a year to get married, Fariello has been able to shoot family ceremonies in backyards and gardens, she says. She’s also done a few engagement and maternity shoots, but demand is low overall.

Officiant (and former Charlottesville mayor) Dave Norris is just as frustrated with the lack of assistance wedding vendors, and other small businesses, have received, while multiple wealthy corporations have been bailed out.

Norris has been able to bring in some income by officiating at-home ceremonies. However, he’s lost over 90 percent of his spring wedding business, with most ceremonies being rescheduled for the late summer or fall.

Hedge Fine Blooms has also lost most of its business thanks to postponed weddings, as well as canceled proms, graduations, and other events. To keep the lights on, it’s currently offering contactless flower delivery and curbside pickup every day, and has provided floral arrangements for at-home ceremonies, says owner Karen Walker.

Due to the types of services they provide, other wedding vendors have not been able to adapt alternative business models. Wedding planner Sarah Fay Waller, owner of Day by Fay, has had all of her clients push their weddings to September or later, leaving her without income for several months.

Fortunately, says Waller, her husband’s job is keeping their household afloat. But she recognizes that “for other vendors…to not have that income coming in is a real detriment.”

At Old Metropolitan Hall, “we are just trying to keep the clients we have encouraged and happy, while also trying to book new clients for the end of 2020 and into 2021,” says sales director Sarah Beasley.

Fortunately, “we have seen a ton of inquiries for couples who are needing a new venue after their original wedding date had to be moved,” she adds. “Venues have definitely been teaming up in the last few weeks trying to pass off clients when their dates no longer match the original venue’s availability.”

Still, times have been tough, as nearly everyone Beasley knows in the venue business has been furloughed or laid off.

For Hildebrand and her colleagues, only time will answer the biggest question: What will weddings be like once this is all over? And can vendors survive until then?

She speculates that people will continue to be wary of large gatherings for a while, and that small, intimate weddings at outdoor venues—with plated meals, not buffets—will become a trend. Couples may also choose to elope instead, putting their reception off until they feel safe enough to have it.

“We have to ensure the health of our guests [and] servers,” says Hildebrand. We may “have servers wear masks and always have gloves on, and even have guests and tables spread out more. It’s going to be a very different look I think for a while.”

Smaller ceremonies require fewer vendors, Fariello points out. And with millions of Americans currently out of work, people may not be able to spend a lot of money on weddings.

“It will take a couple years for our industry to come back to the level that it was,” Fariello predicts.

For now, vendors urge clients to postpone, not cancel, their events, and to not fight with vendors over deposits or retainers.

“We’re not trying to take money from our clients, but clients need to realize that those funds [cover] operating expenses…so much of the work that goes into a wedding happens all year, and not just on the wedding day,” says Fariello. Instead, “work with your vendors to figure out how we can have safe weddings.”

Other ways to support the industry include hiring a photographer to take a home portrait, buying food from catering companies, getting a Mother’s Day cake from a local bakery, or treating yourself to some flowers from an area florist.

Couples planning a wedding for 2021 should also book early, Waller adds. Due to all of the weddings currently being rescheduled, vendors may not be available later.

Most important, current and future clients can “meet in the middle” with their vendors, says Beasley. “Everyone is going to unfortunately lose something during this time, and it would really help the industry stay alive if people could be gracious and kind to one another right now, remembering that we’re all in this strange season together.”

Also on c-ville.com, see how three local couples are adapting their wedding plans.

Categories
Coronavirus News

Cut the check: BRACE grants bring relief for some businesses

Atlas Coffee's Lorie Craddock was disappointed when she did not receive a BRACE grant, which would have helped pay fixed expenses at the temporarily shuttered shop. PC: John Robinson

As the coronavirus epidemic has devastated small businesses nationwide, many local shops and restaurants have sought federal relief. But the City of Charlottesville has also rolled out several of its own assistance initiatives this month. The Building Resilience Among Charlottesville Entrepreneurs grant, which awarded up to $2,000 to city businesses, received nearly 150 applications in three days.

The program is intended to help companies cover costs associated with changing their business models to adapt to social distancing requirements, says Jason Ness, business development manager for the city’s Office of Economic Development. But it could also be used to cover fixed costs like utilities and rent.

With $85,000 allocated for the program, “we spread it out as much as we could,” says Ness. After reviewing applications and conducting virtual interviews, OED staff decided on 69 awardees, who received an average of $1,200 each.

Ness says the city gave priority to people who were going to use the funds locally. For instance, “if a business needed to do deep cleaning and was going to hire another [area] business to do that work, that scored higher.”

“The more information and explanation the business owners gave us, the easier it was for us to decide,” he adds.

OMG! Cleaning Team owner Stephanie Ragland, who received a BRACE grant, demonstrates cleaning at a routine location in her protective gear. PC: Zack Wajsgras

Belmont restaurant The Local was among the awardees. Since March 18, the eatery has offered 10 meal options for a flat $10 fee, with 100 percent of the sales going to support its furloughed employees. It’s also provided free meals daily to its staff, and free and reduced-price meals to community members in need.

“The money from the grant is helping with food costs,” says Director of Operations Michelle Moshier. “We are [also] actively working on federal loans and grants that are available, as well as anything available through the city. …We’re hopeful that that support will help us to keep going with delivery and takeout until the restaurant can reopen.”

After losing more than two-thirds of her clients, Stephanie Ragland, owner of the cleaning service OMG! Cleaning Team, was also able to secure a $1,500 BRACE grant, which she plans to use to pay for a new professional vacuum (her old one broke), and compensate her employees. The funds also helped her pay off the rest of the fees associated with her company’s new website.

Ty Cooper filming his ongoing project, “Your Covid Story,” in his protective gear. PC: Subject

The local arts community wasn’t left out: With the $1,000 BRACE grant he received, filmmaker Ty Cooper, founder of Lifeview Marketing & Visuals, purchased a high-quality professional light that will allow him to film outside, which he was unable to do with his older equipment. He plans to use the light for his ongoing project, “Your Covid Story,” showcasing how the pandemic has impacted the lives of area residents.

Still, with the limited amount of funds allocated for BRACE grants, more than half of the applicants did not receive any money—a significant portion of them local restaurants.

“We have a text thread with about two dozen restaurant owners and managers to communicate every day,” says Maya co-owner Peter Castiglione. “There was a handful from our group…who did receive their $2,000 from the BRACE grant, but most of us got an ‘unfortunately’ email, which is what I received.”

Castiglione would have used the grant to help pay for some of Maya’s ongoing expenses. While the restaurant is currently offering curbside pickup meals, the entire staff has been laid off, he says.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed that we didn’t make the cut [for the BRACE grant]. That $2,000 would have gone a long way towards helping our staff,” he adds. However, “I was very excited to know that some of the restaurants in our group did receive it.”

Atlas Coffee also did not receive a BRACE grant. The shop’s owners planned to use the grant for fixed expenses because Atlas is not currently offering delivery or takeout options.

“For a couple months, we’re fine…but [say] we open back up in May, June, July, whatever. If you look at the Spanish flu and that experience, it’s the second wave that really affected people,” says Atlas co-owner Lorie Craddock. “If we have to do it again in November and shut for another six [months], we’re really going to be in the weeds at that point.”

Applications for other city business assistance programs—the Business Equity Fund Resiliency Loan and the Growing Opportunities Hire Grant—have already closed, but the city and county have provided funding for the Community Investment Collaborative’s Business Recovery Fund microloan program, which is currently accepting applications.

According to Ness, the city plans to look for more ways to provide aid to local businesses.

“We’re still interested and have resources available to help with more assistance in the future,” he says. “It’s just a matter of trying to see how things are going to play out in the next couple months, with hopefully [things returning] back to normal as soon as possible.”

Categories
Coronavirus News

In brief: Drive-up dentist, neighborly love, and more

Dental Assistant Jodi Yount uses a Nomad machine to X-Ray a patient at the Charlottesville Free Clinic. The clinic bought the machine with money from a grant in December, and has been using it extensively under the new procedures of the COVID-19 pandemic. PC: Zack Wajsgras

Open wide

Parking lots have become the scene of all kinds of new activity in our virus-crippled world. Students are sitting in their cars to access school Wi-Fi. Religious congregations are meeting without getting out of their vehicles. And here in town, the Charlottesville Free Clinic is offering parking lot dental services for its patients: Two days a week, as many as 15 patients drive up and say “ahhh.”

The Free Clinic provides care to those who make too much money to qualify for Medicaid but don’t get health insurance from work. Parking lot dental checkups are just one way the clinic has adapted to life during the pandemic—they’re also doing curbside medication delivery and evaluating patients for financial eligibility over the phone.

“A lot of folks are losing their jobs, and therefore their insurance,” says Colleen Keller, the director of the clinic. “We anticipate having a lot of new patients by fall.”

The clinic has focused on maintaining its pharmacy services, and the most common medication it distributes is insulin. “We are seeing patients who aren’t always refilling on time coming in,” Keller says. “They know they are vulnerable, and they are working on their health. This is a silver lining.”

Like health care workers around the country, the free clinic’s staff is going full speed ahead. “As one staff member said, ‘It feels good that we can do something. It’s harder when I leave and go home,’” Keller says. “We have enormous gratitude for our jobs, and for the community who funds a free clinic.”

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Neighbors helping neighbors

Since March 13, the Charlottesville Area Community Foundation’s Community Emergency Response Fund has raised more than $4.4 million from more than 600 donations—including a gift of $1 million from the University of Virginia—to help those who need it most during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The fund has awarded $200,000 in grants to local nonprofits that provide critical services, including the Sexual Assault Resource Agency and Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.

And through the Community Foundation’s partnership with Cville Community Cares and United Way of Greater Charlottesville, along with city and county governments, it runs a Community Resource Helpline to provide direct support to local residents in need of money for rent, groceries, and other essential expenses. The helpline has already assisted more than 7,200 people, and with the recent addition of an online form to make the process easier, the foundation expects that number to drastically increase.

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Quote of the Week

“I am committed to an in-person fall semester in which we are back together in our classrooms, laboratories, studios, and clinics.”

—Virginia Commonwealth University president Michael Rao, as UVA and other schools are staying mum on fall plans

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In Brief

A welcome site

The City of Charlottesville has a new digital home, upgrading its website this week from charlottesville.org to charlottesville.gov. The new website is sleeker and slimmer, with 500 pages compared to the previous site’s 2,000. At the City Council meeting last week, councilor Heather Hill promised a “new website, new domain, same commitment to service,” while communications chief Brian Wheeler acknowledged that “a lot of links are going to be broken.”

Hals monitor

Those who’ve long cherished Charlottesville’s (increasingly rare) quirks got a treat last week, when an alleged self-portrait of Dutch Golden Age painter Frans Hals showed up for sale on Charlottesville Craigslist. It’s going for $7.5 million (though the poster will consider “reasonable offers” and “partial trade for real estate”). Art historians consider Hals to be one of the best painters of his time, but local experts were hesitant to speculate on the painting’s authenticity. As for why the anonymous poster would want to part with such a treasure, the owner said only: “It is time for him to come under new stewardship.”

For sale by owner: Frans Hals self-portrait (for a mere $7.5 million). PC: Anonymous Craigslist user

Corner support

With COVID-19 keeping students off Grounds—possibly until next spring semester—businesses on the Corner have taken a huge hit. To help them survive, tech nonprofit HackCville has created savethecorner.com, which thousands of students have used to buy gift cards from their favorite Corner spots and donate to the Charlottesville Restaurant Community Fund. HackCville has also raised over $2,000 to buy meals from Corner restaurants for UVA’s contract workers laid off by Aramark.    

Tragedy on the frontlines

Dr. Lorna Breen died at UVA Hospital on Sunday of self-inflicted injuries. While serving hundreds of coronavirus patients, Breen, emergency department medical director at NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, contracted the virus, but tried to go back into work after staying home for about a week and a half. After the hospital sent her back home, her family brought her to Charlottesville. According to her father, Dr. Phillip Breen, the pandemic had taken an extreme toll on her mental health. “Make sure she’s praised as a hero, because she was,” Breen told The New York Times. “She’s a casualty just as much as anyone else who has died.”