Resources and needs continue to change quickly. Here are some important information updates for this week:
Smoke-Free Buildings
- As a reminder, the contact information for the Maine Tobacco HelpLine is 1-800-207-1230. In addition to free support, they can also discuss possible free medications to help reduce cravings.
- Please help to make your home safer for everyone by completing a Complaint Form if you are aware of a neighbor who is smoking in your building or anywhere other than the designated smoking area outside. As a reminder, smoking is allowed in one designated outdoor area per building. Reports of smoking anywhere indoors, and in any other outdoor location on the property, including in personal vehicles, will result in lease violations and could ultimately put you at risk for eviction. We will continue to restock Complaint Forms and postage paid envelopes to return them; just call the office (443-3116) if you need more at any time.
- We have reports that an alarming and dangerous amount of smoking in and around the buildings is being reported. While the risk of lease violations and eviction is already very public, here is something more private—an example of how smoking feels for one of your neighbors. These are your neighbor’s own words, shared here with permission (with some gaps in information to protect the privacy of this individual): I am writing this to report smoking in the building…….It is of great concern to me because of the dangers of secondhand smoke and the fear of fire! Also, the fact that there are….apartments….with occupants using oxygen! I myself have (a breathing issue) …..I would appreciate your attention to this matter! Thank you!
Building Cleaning
- Would you like to help make your building safer in another way? On Thursday, we plan to provide a disinfecting kit for each floor of Dikes Landing, Moorings and Seacliff. If you would be willing to help disinfect the common areas on your floor or to put together a team of neighbors to help with this, please take a kit from the Resource Table. You can help to keep your building safer by disinfecting things like common area railings, door handles, light switches, Laundry Room surfaces, mailboxes, etc. Please be sure to wear the gloves provided when doing any of this disinfecting. We simply do not have enough Personal Protective Equipment for staff to come in to do this, which is why we have contracted with Servpro to do periodic sanitizing. A special thank you to your Moorings neighbor who has been working hard to help prevent the spread of illness and inspired these kits.
Food Resources
- For those of you who have signed up to receive Food Bank deliveries, it looks like the next Food Bank bags will not arrive until the end of the month. If you are in need of food before then, we recommend contacting the Salvation Army at 443-3611 to arrange for delivery of items from their Food Pantry or Free Table. Any questions? Call Kristen at 295-3317.
- If you typically pick up a Senior Food Box from Spectrum Generations at the Bath Senior Center and did not pick up your box yesterday, we are exploring options to get your box to you. Please be sure that we have your current phone number.
Other Info:
- Stay tuned later this week for an outline of all of the outdoor work that the Maintenance team has underway. In the meantime, apologies for the soggy outdoor furniture on the Moorings back patio after last week’s snow!
- If you are unsure whether we have your current phone number, please call the office (443-3116) to check. We have been unable to reach some of you because the most recent number we have from you is no longer accurate.
- In addition to keeping the Governor’s Order in mind, we ask that you also keep in mind that most of your neighbors are at risk for serious complications from COVID-19 as a result of age and/or underlying health issues. Any one of us could be carrying COVID-19 and not even realize it. Any risks that you take in bringing visitors into your building (keeping in mind that those providing care or essentials are permitted), coming and going from the building for non-essential tasks or without appropriate precautions or in coming closer than 6 feet to anyone else could put many people at risk for very serious health issues. In addition, the spread of illness puts an overwhelming strain on our local emergency responders and health care providers. As we all look for ways to make a difference and to come together as a community, please know that the greatest respect you can show to yourself and every neighbor is to follow the CDC recommendations and the Governor’s Order in order to help keep everyone safe and well.