Dennis Chippa says thee is a lot of fear in the minds of those who need to access the Gathering Place soup kitchen on Cassells Street in North Bay.
The executive director of the Gathering Place has been working with staff for over a week to prepare for the threat coming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Considering everything going on we are doing actually pretty well," said Chippa.
Chippa says he and the staff implemented a plan last week which included heavy sanitization, along with additional industrial hand sanitizers and signage.
He adds one big concern is that many of the guests do not have family doctors and may be unaware as to how they should act if they come down with COVID-19 symptoms.
"About 75 per cent of these folks do not have a family doctor so they are the ones if they feel symptoms would show up at emerg and the clinic which is what nobody wants," he said.
"We are saying call TeleHealth with your symptoms, take their advice, do the self-isolation, so we have been doing a little bit of that work for a week now."
Chippa says due to the situation, they are currently closing the warming centre at the gathering place and it will only be used not as overflow for the Gd2Go location on Main Street East.
He adds that if their eating area is closed off to patrons, they will still find a way to deliver food to clients apartments or possibly even the use of go trays.
"Many of these people cannot afford to buy 14 days worth of isolation food," said Chippa.
However, despite the situation, Chippa and the Gathering Place staff are trying to preach hope for their guests.
"Our motto at the Gathering Place the next few weeks is that 'we got this, don't worry about it, we will figure it out,'" he said.
"It is a work in progress, we are going to make mistakes. We are in uncharted territory here and I think we will figure it out. The Health Unit has been great. We have had some really good talks with the agencies, and more meetings today and tomorrow about how we are going to handle it.
"It is about keeping people calm. Our folks can be prone to panic at times so it is keeping them calm and telling them it is okay and there will be food for them and we will take care of them, that is really what we are doing."
