Community/Education

 

As you can imagine, the Prince William County Community Foundation is very busy during this time as we formed the COVID-19 Food Distribution Response Team for Prince William County, Virginia. We provide coordinated response efforts to food insecurity in the Greater Prince William area. Along with the Prince William Food Rescue, we have over 30 county agencies and organizations, our Schools as well as State efforts, to help combat the food insecurities that exist in our community. Our County Board of Supervisors has partnered with us as a key element of the task force that was created. Since the Governor of Virginia has closed schools for the rest of the year, the Foundation has served over 150 families weekly in order to provide nutritious food to the children in our community during the weekends. We distribute to children and families every Friday and provide food to organizations and food pantries throughout our county through our Combating Hunger on Wheels (C.H.O.W.) Initiative.

Dr. (COL, Ret) Vanessa M. Gattis
Resident Class of 2011
President & CEO
Prince William County Community Foundation, Inc.

 

I am using my organizational training as a civilian graduate of the War College (then in the Foreign Service, now retired) as the Washington state volunteer for Dharma Relief.  It is a group of North American based Buddhist groups that have come together to donate Class 2 surgical masks to hospitals, especially smaller hard-hit ones, treating COVID-19 patients.

Mr. Gerald McLoughlin
Distance Class of 2010
Dharma Relief

 

I’m currently serving as Branch Chief for the Chaplain Corps, and my responsibilities include advising the Chief of Chaplains on the strategic impact of COVID-19 to Chaplain Corps personnel and in their personnel actions, oversight of all chaplain officer assignments (CONUS and OCONUS), and synchronization efforts between the Office of the Chief of Chaplains, HQDA Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1, Human Resources Command, and Endorsing Agencies.

CH (COL) Thomas B. Vaughn, Jr.
Resident Class of 2019
Chief, Chaplain Corps Branch
Office of the Chief of Chaplains
Religious Support Operations Center
Fort Jackson, SC

 

I am currently working as a Virginia state magistrate serving the community on the front lines of the Virginia judiciary. Serving our communities during this COVID-19 crisis and ensuring our community remains safe and the integrity of the judicial process continues without interruption is critical. Magistrates are appointed by the Supreme Court of Virginia and are designated essential personnel who work in a 24-hour environment making judicial decisions to protect the community at large. I serve within District 18, Magisterial Region 5, Alexandria, Virginia. As a magistrate, I conduct probable cause hearings; perform bail decisions; issue search warrants; issue Temporary Detention Orders; issue Emergency Custody Orders; and issue warrants and Emergency Protective Orders.

COL (Ret) Magistrate Michael Arizmendi
Distance Class of 2015

 

Matt Haerter, NSS ‘13

Matt Haerter is the Assistant Chief of the Western Lakes Fire District headquartered in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, and as you would expect, all fire departments are involved in mitigating the COVID-19 crisis.  His daily routine begins with a joint virtual Emergency Operations Center meeting spanning his three counties.  This is then repeated with virtual meetings with the principal elected and law enforcement officials throughout their 220-mile, 18 community area.  The daily routine in Wisconsin fire protection and Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has experienced a new rhythm of multi-agency virtual coordination meetings.  Each meeting and follow-on meeting is necessary to translate decisions into operational guidance.  These involve agencies that used to be occasional exercise partners, but now are important daily teammates.  A chief from each county department shares their response-based changes and all collaborate on what can be more effectively done to protect department personnel while serving citizens.  They work detailed operational plans which function in concert with their dispatch centers to relay information that can be used to respond appropriately for each incident, centering on best-practices while conserving a very-limited supply of proper personal protective equipment (PPE).  The EMS trend, at least in the early stages of this COVID-19 situation, was a worsening of the condition of patients, along with a chronic shortage of PPE.  As a short-term measure, they shifted to washable lab coats and fire-fighter structural gear in lieu of disposable gowns.  Masks remain problematic, although fire-fighter EMTs can use their Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus as an alternative.  They keep citizens informed through social media with constant educational information and they engage, when possible, in a number of drive-by community outreach activities using social distancing for community well-being.  Helping to stabilize mental health for citizens is important as they have seen an uptick in domestic and psychological issues due to the personal and financial strains many are experiencing.  Some of the new platforms for training/meetings are resulting in better videos and virtual sharing to allow more flexibility for delivery and access of services for the future.   Fire services have always been places of true interoperability, where plans and resources had to be shared and exercised regularly for large Type 4-5 incidents, but this COVID-19 crisis is solidifying an incredible team which will undoubtedly increase effectiveness in the future.

Matthew N. Haerter
National Security Seminar (NSS) 2013
Assistant Chief, Western Lakes Fire District
Oconomowoc, Wisconsin

 

 

COL Vanessa Meyer, Chief of Occupational Therapy, Ft. Belvoir Community Hospital in Virginia, has been working with Physical Medicine there to assist during the COVID-19 situation with the Staff Wellness Clinic and has created a handout as an educational tool.  Occupational therapy will be offering biofeedback to assist with heart rate coherence as a tool for modulating the stress response.

COL Vanessa M. Meyer
Distance Class of 2015