Glens Falls Housing Authority’s Updated Actions
For Ongoing COVID-19 Precautions
As social distancing and stay-at-home recommendations continue in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19, The Glens Falls Housing Authority (GFHA) has updated its policies and procedures over the last few weeks to continue to ensure the region’s only high-rise apartment buildings remain safe for their senior citizen residents.
GFHA office staff call every one of the nearly 300 residents across the three buildings each week to check on the residents and ask if they need anything.
Volunteers with Meals on Wheels deliver meals, and the Salvation Army provides bags of groceries to residents who might otherwise go without. To limit contact, both organizations bring food to the community room in each building, and call residents by phone to come down one at a time. The procedure prevents non-residents from going door-to-door in the buildings, and avoids having residents riding the elevator together.
GFHA staff have replaced the park benches outside its buildings with lawn chairs placed six feet apart, to allow residents to enjoy fresh air and chat with others while remaining a safe distance from each other.
Family members or friends bringing supplies to a resident must use the front door entrances only, and only one adult per family is allowed to enter the building at any one time. Children are not permitted in the building at this time.
Robert J. Landry, GFHA executive director, said some families are placing groceries or other items in a family member’s vehicle, to further limit contact with older relatives and to avoid entering the buildings at all. The seniors can retrieve the items without requiring any close contact with those who do not live with them.
At LaRose Gardens, families have been receiving food donations via the Glens Falls City School District, and beginning next week, a district school bus will deliver meals to LaRose Gardens directly, for families participating in the school district’s program.
While office employees are working remotely, maintenance staff continue to clean the buildings seven days a week, following CDC and public health guidelines.
The Glens Falls Housing Authority maintains senior residences at Stichman Towers and Cronin High Rise in Glens Falls, and Earl Towers in Hudson Falls. In addition, GFHA manages LaRose Gardens in Glens Falls for families. The authority’s website ( www.glensfallshousingauthority.org ) will provide regular updates.
Robert J. Landry
Executive Director