The Community Center begins the new year continuing our efforts of 2021 to secure needed repairs and replacement equipment. This will be an ongoing challenge in 2022 due to the supply chain issues and labor shortages our contractors are experiencing. Fitness Place participation remains steady as folks resume their post-holiday routines and classes are enjoying full engagement. The Nederland Area Seniors have hired Marnie Copeland as their new Director and NCC staff look forward to working with her.

Collaboration with our non-profit Human Service providers is a daily activity. Covid vaccine clinics continue to be held each Thursday at the Community Center. Many thanks to Kurt, who jumped in to facilitate Thursday’s clinic when Katrina was unable to be present. This is a perfect illustration of the connectivity and cooperation between NCC and our partner organizations.

Boulder County Public Health has contracted with a private third party, Affinity, to continue to provide Covid testing. Testing is now held every Monday from 4 to 7 p.m. Currently all testing is done in cars in the parking lot. There is a contingency plan in place for indoor testing during bad weather.

The new team is great to work with (as were our public health volunteers and employees) and after a bumpy start, things are once again running smoothly. A courier picks up the tests when the site closes and takes them directly to their lab. Often, results are available the next morning.

Our hearts are saddened at the horrific losses caused by the recent fires. It was very strange to be in the mountains watching this event unfold in our neighboring communities on the plains. The shelter team was prepared to respond if asked by our partners in the Emergency Operation Center (EOC).

They did call Thursday evening for the ODM (Office of Disaster Management) trailer kept in the NCC lot. They dispatched Boulder County personnel to transport the trailer to the shelter at North Boulder Rec. It has since been returned to its spot in the NCC lot.

We did open briefly Friday, January 14, to provide warming, snacks and electronics charging for those left overnight without power in our extended mountain community.