COVID-19 Policies

COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Policies for Volunteers and Neighbors

(Updated March 2022)

The Mission of Interlakes Community Caregivers is to provide support services and information for our Neighbors to assist them in their daily lives.  It is our goal to fulfill this mission and to also ensure the safety and health of all our Volunteers, Neighbors, staff and the communities we serve – especially during this difficult time of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

As the Governor of New Hampshire and public health officials continue to adjust their guidelines, ICCI has adopted the following policies that we ask all of our volunteers and Neighbors to adhere to until further notice.  As always, please use your judgement and only volunteer when you feel comfortable with the risks.  No matter how hard we try to control the circumstances, there will always be an inherent risk of infection and spread of COVID-19 while sharing a ride or doing errands.  Please refer to CDC for more information about who is at increased risk for severe illness and how to reduce your vulnerability.  Please also reach out to Executive Director Pamela Joyal at [email protected] if you have any concerns or would like more information about the following policies:

COVID-19 Vaccination – We encourage all our Volunteers to be vaccinated for COVID-19.  

Face Masks – As of February 25, 2022, the CDC relaxed their guidelines regarding the use of masks.   As of March 1, 2022, ICCI will no longer require masks to be worn by Volunteers or Neighbors during their ride or service.  ICCI encourages all of our volunteers and Neighbors to wear face masks when they are together if they feel safer doing so.  It is the volunteers’ and Neighbors’ individual decision. However, a volunteer will not be required to provide the service if they are not comfortable with the Neighbor’s choice not to wear a mask. ICCI will supply you with face masks if you need them (see below for how to wear your face mask)

Hand Washing – We encourage everyone to wash their hands and/or use hand sanitizer as often as possible.

Social Distancing and Ride Services – We request that you maintain a distance of 6 feet from others as much as possible.  This is difficult to do while assisting someone getting in and out of a vehicle so we ask that the following protocols are followed.  

The protocol for providing a ride service is as follows: 

  • Volunteer sanitizes the inside of the car where it is touched before and after the ride.
  • Face masks are optional and can be worn at your individual preference.  

COVID-19 Screening – New Neighbors or Neighbors not previously asked will be requested to share their vaccination status with us if they are willing. Neighbors or volunteers experiencing symptoms, have had exposure to Covid or have had a positive Covid test result, should inform ICCI right away.  

Update on our services:  ICCI will accept requests from Neighbors regardless of their COVID vaccination status.

  • Grocery Shopping / Errands / Prescriptions / Personal Appointments – We will continue to offer pick-ups for our Neighbors and we will also accept requests from our Neighbors to be taken along.  
  • Local or in-State Medical Appointments – We continue to offer rides to medical appointments.
  • Out of State Medical Appointments – We accept requests for long-distance medical appointments.  
  • Friendly Visits – We are accepting friendly visit requests on a case by case basis and will depend on our Volunteers’ comfort levels.  Social distancing and face mask requirements must be adhered to and we encourage the visits to take place outdoors as much as possible.
  • Nursing Home/55+ Community Visits – Volunteer Coordinators continue to do their best to learn the latest protocols at relevant facilities and add them to the Trip Note for volunteer guidance.  

As always, please reach out to Pamela Joyal and/or the Volunteer Coordinator as we continue to adapt to the evolving science and data regarding COVID-19.  We will work diligently to keep this policy up to date as the guidance from the Governor and CDC changes.