Wilshire Community Services during COVID-19

Wilshire Community Services is Here for Our Most Vulnerable Community Members

We are experiencing unprecedented times. We are all being affected by COVID-19, but our parents, grandparents, friends & neighbors who struggle with chronic illness, life-limiting disease, or are living at home alone are the most vulnerable. Wilshire Community Services is proud to have increased our capacity to serve our most vulnerable population through this crisis. As we adjust to these new ways of living, our community has stepped up to help meet our isolated older adult population where they are at.

Since March 1st, Wilshire Community Services has:

• Enrolled 36 new clients who need help with transportation to critical medical appointments, help getting to the grocery store, or a friendly connection to reach out and talk to.

• Vetted 10 new volunteers to support and connect with our isolated older adults in our community.

• Received over 50 new volunteer inquiries who are interested in volunteering to support our vulnerable clients during these challenging times.

• Implemented rapid onboarding of volunteers with all volunteer applications and orientations being offered online so that the new volunteers can begin to support our clients sooner.

• Increased in our Cal Poly and Cuesta College student volunteer base to provide check-in phone calls to our isolated clients.

• Partnered with SLO FOOD Bank to allow our volunteers to deliver food to our clients who are unable to pick it up themselves.

• Corresponded with the City of Arroyo Grande, the County of San Luis Obispo, the City of Paso Robles, RSVP and 211 to confirm our services every community assistance list as an agency providing resources.

• Enlisted staff to help provide essential services to fill in gaps in our services as needed.

Thank you to everyone that has contributed to this work. We are so grateful for the generosity of our community in this time of crisis and increased need of our most vulnerable and isolated older adults. Our services would be impossible to maintain without the dedication of our community volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering with us, give us a call at 805-547-7025.