Boulder JCC to Begin Phase I Re-Opening

Since we closed our physical doors on March 13, our energy has been directed towards creating meaningful virtual experiences, determining how to provide essential functions for Boulder, and working to maintain organizational sustainability. From our early childhood center families to older adults, we are convening virtually with care and compassion. Together, we are finding new opportunities to support and engage with each other.  

On Wednesday, May 13 our Board voted to begin Phase 1 of our reopening plan. All aspects of our reopening are dependent and based on local and state guidelines in partnership with the Boulder County Health Department and State Licensing.

The health and safety of our staff and community members remains our top priority. We are opening in a very limited capacity to ensure that the best practices, policies, and procedures are in place. 

Phase 1 includes:

• Limited capacity reopening of our Early Childhood Center (ECC) summer camp on June 1 
• Limited capacity reopening of Cherryvale Day Camp on June 8
• Continuing our essential functions at Milk and Honey Farm
• Essential services to the community: food drives, blood drives, etc.
• Maintaining the Boulder JCC building closed, except for the functions above
• Continuing our virtual programming for adults and children
• Completing the school year virtually for our ECC families 

Connecting and Convening Community during Closure

Our building is now in its 10th week of being closed. During this time, we have strived to create a sense of togetherness while being apart. We are sharing some of the highlights of the last 10 weeks. 

Changes at the JCC 

As with most organizations and businesses, COVID-19 has significantly impacted our ability to provide our core revenue-generating services and offerings, including early childhood programs, rentals, and camps. While we could not fully understand the impact of COVID-19 on our organization or the length of our closure back in March, we made immediate decisions to significantly reduce non-personnel expenses. 

Since then, we have been able to gather people virtually, but our radically decreased revenue has resulted in us having to make painful and difficult decisions about our staffing. These temporary changes include salary reductions, reduced hours, new roles, and for some members of our staff, furloughs as of June 6. To support our staff, our Board has generously established an Emergency Relief Fund for all of our employees and extended health insurance benefits for furloughed employees. 

People are the heart of the work that we do. And our staff are an integral part of that. These staffing changes are not in any way a reflection of the work of these individuals, and we hope to return our staff to the JCC as soon as it is possible. 

Looking Ahead

We look forward to the day when we are all back together in our beautiful building. In the meantime, we are here with you. We are proud of and inspired by you and the millions of people around the world who are taking care of our communities. We are living in a time where so many of us are focused on working together on a single issue. This gives us hope for what is possible in our future.  

Warmly,

Jonathan Lev Executive Director Boulder JCC

Lee Strongwater Board President Boulder JCC