Guardian House, a 2019 High Impact Grant recipient from Impact San Antonio, has faced quite a challenge during the COVID-19 shutdown.
The agency, which helps families in high-conflict divorce situations redefine their roles to benefit their children, has relied on face-to-face interactions such as counseling, monitored child exchanges, supervised visitation, parenting classes and support groups. But they had to shut down their physical offices due to the pandemic.
Thankfully, technology came to the rescue. They have been using Telehealth video conferences for most of their services, and video conferencing for child visits and exchanges. On June 5, they reopened their offices for child exchanges, implementing strict social distancing measures.
“We’ve moved the furniture out of the lobby, and this is where we’ll be holding our exchanges,” said Guardian House CEO Shannon White. Two “exchange stations” with two chairs each have been set up across the lobby from each other for those exchanges. One family member will be required to fill out a form ahead of time indicating whether anyone in the family has symptoms of COVID, White said.
While all of this has been going on, the foundation leveling and renovation of the agency’s headquarters has also been proceeding despite the pandemic. This is what our $100,000 High Impact Grant is funding, and it is much needed at the old Monte Vista-area home, said Sonia Lopez, Chief Development Officer for the agency.
“Guardian House has just completed the foundation phase of the project and received an approval from a third-party structural engineer,” she said. “The next phase will be the roof replacement, with meetings planned with the (city’s) Historic Design and Review Committee to obtain preliminary approval.”
Lopez is the project manager, and architect Marcello Martinez and general contractor Craig Scott are project advisers. They have already donated more than $10,000 of in-kind services for the project, Lopez said. Scott is a current board member and Martinez is a past board member.
The upgrades, which include wall and cable repair, exterior carpentry repair and HVAC improvements, “will enhance the program space that served over 2,100 parents and children last year,” she said. “The house itself is used as a therapy tool to provide a warm and welcoming space where children can heal from trauma associated with family violence.”
All phases of the construction project are expected to be completed by summer 2021.
