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We have reached a point in the fight against COVID-19 where many essential workers are being required to double the time they spend at work. For parents of young children, this presents a bigger challenge. In order to protect their home and their family for the future, they must also help in the fight to protect their community by stepping onto the front lines of this global pandemic.

A question that we have seen asked many times over the past month – “is childcare at a facility considered an essential business?” The answer is, undoubtedly, yes. The We Rock the Spectrum franchise is fortunate to have the sanitization supplies and workforce to provide these vital services to healthcare professionals, first responders, grocery store workers, and essential emergency personnel during this unprecedented time.

How We Are Essential

So what classifies a business as essential versus non-essential?

It is ultimately up to each city and state to establish its own list of what they classify as an essential business. If you do a quick search of what different states have outlined, you will see very little variation. According to the California government, the below are considered essential businesses:

• Healthcare and Public Health
• Emergency Services
• Food and Agriculture
• Energy and Water
• Transportation
• Community-based operations that allow essential businesses to operate

Workers who provide public and private childcare at establishments fall under this last category.

For our frontline workers, it is imperative that there is a safe, clean, and supportive space provided for their child. We Rock the Spectrum Kid’s Gym recognized this need and is among the facilities that have closed their doors to the general public to offer emergency childcare for the essential workforce.

What We Are Doing to Maintain A Safe Environment

The CDC’s Guidance Business Response goes into great detail centering around COVID-19 preparation including cleaning and disinfecting, best social distancing practices, and how to best maintain a healthy environment. We Rock the Spectrum Kid’s Gym takes these guidelines very seriously and prides itself in providing the cleanest facility possible.

The following are the steps We Rock the Spectrum is taking to make this possible:

• All employees are required to wear a mask and gloves at all times. They will also sanitize before entering the facility, during their work time, and after each interaction within the facility. They will be practicing social distancing from one another.
• Any child exhibiting symptoms of the novel coronavirus will not be permitted in and will be asked to leave and return when the symptoms have passed.
• Adults will not be permitted to enter the facility. They may drop their children off with our employees who will be wearing protective gear at the front door.
• Every child will be required to fully sanitize before entering the facility or making contact with any of the equipment.
• Our facilities will be operating at limited capacities, with no more than 10 children allowed at a time. For this reason, it is important that you call ahead to book your spot.
• We require each of our facilities to use highly effective anti-bacterial spray that eliminates 99.9% of germs. Sanitization will happen prior to opening, during, in-between visits, and prior to closing the facility.
• As previously mentioned, we are closely adhering to CDC guidelines to provide the safest environment for our We Rockers.

In addition to providing services, our non-profit, My Brother Rocks the Spectrum Foundation (MBRTS), is also sponsoring the supplies needed to create homemade face masks for We Rockers in attendance and for donations to community health facilities. These masks are highly effective and are considered N95 compliant.

Break Time and Drop-Off care services will continue to be available for free until a resolution for the pandemic is reached. However, this service will only be available to children of healthcare professionals, first responders, grocery store workers, and essential emergency personnel. We will require identification prior to and upon arrival at the facility.

In an unprecedented time like this, many people are looking to help their communities in any way they can. We feel it is our duty to be a reliable resource for essential workers while they are out on the frontlines risking their lives in order to keep their communities safe. For more information directly from the CDC on how our business is responding to COVID-19, please visit: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html

In order for us to continue to provide these services for the essential workforce free of charge, My Brother Rocks the Spectrum Foundation is currently accepting donations. If you would like to contribute to help the fight against COVID-19 and support emergency childcare for the essential workforce, please consider donating today.

We appreciate your consideration and ongoing support. Stay well, We Rockers! We will get through this together and stronger.