COVID-19 response and assurances

Since the advent of COVID-19 , the High Rocks has responded to the needs of our students, our families, our partners, and our communities. Our goal is to maintain a balance of three: first, maintaining our core mission and focus, second, learning to work and deliver programs in a whole new way involving teleworking and social distancing, and third, responding to the unprecedented crisis of the COVID-19 outbreak in our communities.

Since the outbreak began to affect our communities directly, High Rocks made an extraordinary pivot to focus on our food access programs and our AmeriCorps members and partners on the front lines of food access for children, families, and seniors across the state.

We have ramped up our hot dinner program at the High Rocks Hub Café, serving free dinners to students and $5 dinners to the community, and have proceeded with production planning for our market gardens. We have kept all of our essential services open – those related to food access and food production. They are more needed than ever and demand is high. Our team is providing individual mentoring and support to all our middle, high school, and college students – keeping an eye on all our folks from slightly afar. We are thinking outside of the box and being creative about ways to provide college prep and Zoom dance parties.

The Hub is open to students who need a strong internet connection and a friendly face. We've partnered with Dinsmore and Shohl to provide tutoring to any student who needs an extra hand. We are committed to continuing to be a steadfast support system for youth in our community. The Hub has always been a safe space for young people; now, we've enhanced our safety measures to include recommended COVID sanitization and social distancing measures, which includes limits on the number of participants in the building.

We are planning to hold our summer camps in the campground this summer! We are partnering with Pocahontas Memorial Hospital to provide rapid Covid tests to all campers on the day of their arrival. That, coupled with extensive Covid protocol measures, will allow our campers to have the full, immersive, and transformational experience that our outdoor, wilderness camps offer.

As a leader of a grassroots community organization that stands at the intersection of many community support initiatives, we’ve been connecting resources and people across our communities and our state. Over and over again, the High Rocks team and our many community allies have been rising to the challenge. We couldn’t be more proud to be in business with all of you.