The Allen Neighborhood Center in Lansing is temporarily closed because a staffer has tested positive for COVID-19.
The center’s director, Joan Nelson, says three of their programs are affected: the Allen Farmers Market, Bread Basket Food Pantry, and Veggie Box, saying "one of our staff had tested positive for COVID, and the board decided with an abundance of caution that they would close those three programs for two weeks.”
Nelson adds the directors of those programs are using the closure as an opportunity to weigh their options for how best to provide services in the age of COVID. “How do we ensure the safety of staff and of volunteers and patrons and neighbors," she concludes, "in these kind of uncertain times?”
Allen says the center’s outreach services remain open by phone while the center is otherwise closed, and that the staffer has fully recovered.
The current plan is for the Allen Neighborhood Center to reopen on April 19th.