The Latest on COVID19 from Yolo County

Vaccine Availability in Yolo County

From the UUCD COVID 19 Team

April, 2021

The UUCD COVID19 Response Team is planning a trajectory for our return to some in-person activities this coming season.
We won’t have exactly the same plan for returning to in-person activities as other faith communities. Our concern isn’t about creating perfect programming but rather to create safe guidelines that allow for the widest circle of people to be included.
We are excited about the future and the opportunities that will begin to be available.
The first step, is for our congregation to create a covenant for how we will be together when we gather in-person. What are the 5-6 most important things we can do to care for others and ourselves as a community?
Here’s our proposed simple covenant. There will be three opportunities to respond to the covenant with UUCD Board Chair, Claudia Utts-Smith and Senior Minister, Rev. Beth Banks.

Sunday, April 18, 4-4:30pm https://zoom.us/j/91840733799
Monday, April 19, 12-12:30pm https://zoom.us/j/99816379809
Tuesday, April 20, 7-7:30pm  https://zoom.us/j/94168725843

From the UUCD COVID 19 Team

February 24, 2021

As you read this, we will have entered the red tier due to lowered case rate and case positivity rates. This is great, and our public health officer warns us to remain alert and ready to defend against infection with continued masking and distancing. We have more infectious variants in our midst, and we want to “get off the roller coaster ride” of surging cases following loosening of restrictions. Schools will also be opening, which, again, will require masking and distancing and screening to be successful.

So far, outreach to our older seniors in our church has not revealed anybody being left behind or needing our help getting a vaccine appointment. We are in the process of following up.  If we have missed anyone who could use some help, please let us know. The county is setting up focused clinics to vaccinate agriculture and food workers, educators and childcare workers.

Of note, Dignity is partnering with the county to vaccinate educators, so give them a call! Staff working at schools will have priority. Yolo County has more doses this week, so sign up if you are over 65 or one of these workers! Those seniors who have not yet been vaccinated can call 211 (available in many languages), provide their zip code, and be forwarded to a public health vaccination site within their zip code, or alternately contact their healthcare system.

We will continue to send out alerts as we get them. California’s myturn.ca.gov is a way to sign up for alerts when you are eligible but is not yet able to make appointments. Masks and distancing are still needed after being vaccinated to reduce possible transmission, as it is still unclear if a symptomatic people who have been vaccinated can still spread the virus.

February 3, 2021

Stress Management During Covid19

Anyone else feeling stressed? With COVID19 deaths and restrictions, vaccine shortages, economic hardships, alerts about domestic terrorists, climate change, power outages….These days we can run out of fingers counting the factors that contribute to stress, the bad kind, the kind that lead us to feeling helpless. There’s not a lot of things we can do about these factors beyond coping.

This is a vulnerable time, especially for those of us with a history of depression, who understand how debilitating that feeling of helplessness can be. We can feel irritable, anxious, lose sleep or appetite, or eat and sleep too much, and have trouble concentrating.

Sometimes we cope by finding daily gratitude, like a calmer news cycle. Sometimes exercise or sunshine can get us out of our shell and help us feel like we are able to do something to help us feel stronger. Often we can remember how we coped in the past, and that experience can positively affect our perspective. Some of us may be starting to examine ways we have been coping that ultimately have not led to feeling stronger or good about ourselves. Making even small changes can be empowering. We may be seeking regular schedules of meals, less alcohol.

Solace can be found in church services, too, where vulnerable feelings are shared in community.

The danger is getting stuck in a feeling of helplessness, especially when multiple stressors lead us to forget how we have coped in the past. This can lead to a sense of hopelessness. As we isolate, we can delude ourselves into believing we don’t mean much to the people around us. We might consider suicide, believing people around us would be better off.

One of the most valuable things we can do to support a friend or family member struggling with these feelings is to let them know how much they mean to us, and that we would be happy to sit down and listen, without advising or “fixing”. And studies show that asking about suicide does not plant the idea, does not cause the act, but can open a space to talk about it. With a supportive listening ear, talking things through can reveal the delusion for what it is and calm the heart.

There are many in the congregation with the willingness to talk things through and listen generously. Maybe there is someone in your life you can trust to just be, to just listen and allow you to feel heard and connected. Rev. Morgan is an important resource as well. She can also discern, as some of our friends can, when more help is needed, if we have the courage to reach out.

For those of us who feel safer sharing suicidal thoughts anonymously, here are some important resources:

National Suicide hotline, 800-273-8255(24 hours)

24 hour Crisis Hotlines in:

Davis, 530-756-5000

Woodland, 530-666-7778

West Sacramento, 916-372-6565

Toll Free, 888-233-0228