The POCC Staff and Consumer Empowerment Department is posting this note of support to all of you as Alameda County confronts the COVID-19 global pandemic. We are entering what will be a stressful time for many POCC members, including our community and we want you to know that we are keeping all of you and your families in our thoughts.

The POCC will take a different route in the way we conduct important POCC business.  Due to the infectious nature of COVID-19 all POCC meetings and events will be held virtually and remotely by phone beginning Friday, March 13 until further notice.

The staff of the committee has a call-in number and access code to connect you to your committee meeting.  The POCC staff will reach out to you and help members to coordinate your continued participation by phone.  Stipends will continue to be provided to members of the committee and all stipends will be mailed out each month. The monthly mailing will be on hold for a while. New Member Orientations are on hold as well as the committee events.  If you have additional questions please call Mary Hogden at 510-639-1338.

Coronavirus (Covid 19) – POCC meetings will be held remotely by phone and not in person from March 13-April 30, 2020.    The County will revisit this issue at the end of April 2020.

We encourage you to listen to our public health professionals who are asking all Alameda County residents to be vigilant about controlling what we can -- wash your hands, try not to touch your face, and follow the shelter in place policy. Our team is actively following these guidelines. The Alameda County Consumer Empowerment team/POCC and its Peer run programs will be working remotely providing virtual peer support to its members. We will ensure that no events take place that conflict with guidelines coming from public health professionals. Social distancing may feel isolating, but it is one of the best ways that we can all help drive down the spread of COVID-19 and make sure that those who need care can receive it.

Please continue to visit our public health website at http://www.acphd.org/2019-ncov for up-to-date information and key links, and send questions to nCoV@acgov.org for questions that are not addressed by CDC, CDPH, or our website.)

Also please continue to visit our website www.pocc.org for POCC updates. We understand that this is a challenging time for all of us. We are increasing telephone peer support services between the hours of 9:00 AM-5:00 P.M. If you are experiencing a mental health crisis please contact the Alameda County Crisis Line 1-800-309-2131.

If are in need of telephone peer support please contact Khatera.Aslami@acgov.org or Mary.Hogden@acgov.org and we will have a peer specialist contact you.