LOGAN Center receives PPE donation; adult services resume

SOUTH BEND, Ind. --- As more places begin to reopen and get back to normalcy as a part of Governor Holcomb’s ‘Back on Track’ plan, one Michiana staple is also opening its doors again with a helping hand.

Some people in the Michiana community rely on the services provided at the LOGAN Center.

LOGAN was able to begin adult services once again on Monday, but PPE has been difficult to come by.

Thanks to a generous donation, LOGAN has what they need to keep staff and clients safe.

“I mean our clients really need us and our families and it’s been really hard,” President and CEO, Matt Harrington, said. “We missed seeing their smiling faces we missed the high fives, it’s just different with them not being here.”

To make the reopening a success, one major company stepped in to lend a helping hand with a donation of protective equipment.

“As LOGAN continues their great work, we wanted to make sure they can do it safely,” Republic Services General Manager, Cody Humphrey, said. “So we were able to provide 5,000 masks, as well as over 250 bottles of hand sanitizer for their employees.”

LOGAN has been a Michiana staple for 70 years, building a support system for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The past few months have not been easy for clients and their families, with many missing out on desired social connections, due to pandemic restrictions, according to Harrington.

The generous gift from Republic Services will help LOGAN continue its mission amid new coronavirus challenges, while cutting down on costs, according to Harrington.

“COVID-19 is very real within LOGAN and we’re certainly prioritizing the health and safety of our clients, so this gift really helps us do that,” Harrington said.

“So to be able to partner with an organization that has similar values as us and to understand that LOGAN helps families in need, it’s a great pride,” Humphrey said.

PPE has been in high demand and keeping staff and clients safe from COVID-19 is no easy task, especially since a few of them have come down with COVID-19, according to Harrington.

Harrington said it has been a lot of planning to determine how to best serve everybody in a healthy and safe way and there are some fears to reopening.

“Yeah, there’s always fears,” Harrington said. “And I think the reality is that COVID-19 is increasing in our community. You know it’s not plateaued yet.So there are certainly risks associated with providing services to our clients. Our goal is to minimize those risks. So we’re doing all we can to make sure that as we integrate clients back in the services the risk is as minimal as possible.”

With those fears come big changes to keep everyone safe at LOGAN. Those changes include protocol to keep the same group of people together for activities, which could help prevent the spread of germs, as well as taking proactive measures such as regularly cleaning and taking peoples’ temperatures, according to Harrington.