ALACHUA COUNTY – Like many states, Florida has begun reopening business and easing social restrictions. As of May 19, there were 46,944 cases and 2,052 deaths in Florida. While numbers have declined somewhat from early April when cases were averaging between 800 to 1,100 daily, infections continue to spike and recede with single day increases varying between 500 and 850 cases per day.

Part of this represents an increase in testing while part of the decline from early April is due to the month-long stay at home requirements, many of which have been lifted in the past week. Any upswing in infections due to reopening will not become apparent for a week or two due to the incubation period of the virus. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and many businesses feel economic pressure building to further ease restrictions. DeSantis has now issued revised rules for reopening in Phase 1 and is now considering Phase 2 of the three-phase plan.

Alachua County has had more stringent requirements on social distancing, regarding what establishments can open and how, and requiring that masks be worn. Alachua County officials issued a revised emergency order May 17 that brings local COVID-19 rules closer to those issued by the state the previous Friday.

New regulations allow certain businesses to operate at up to 50 percent versus the previous local rules that capped businesses at 25 percent. If a restaurant has outdoor seating spaced six feet apart, then that is not included in the 50 percent rule. Local gyms may now open using social distancing.

Individuals considered most vulnerable to infection are still urged to stay home as much as possible and to use care when leaving home. Public places where social distancing is difficult to maintain remain closed, including zoos, playgrounds, bowling alleys, pool halls, movie and other theaters and concert halls and bars, among others. All services and activities must still keep the six-foot distance rules between employees and members of the public, including when customers are standing in line. Churches are now open, but are limited by the same occupancy and social distancing rules as businesses.

Bowing to pressure from some groups, the governor also declared that while masks are suggested he would not make it mandatory. In Alachua County mandatory mask rules were instituted on May 1, but in a 3-2 vote on May 19 the County Commission voted to reverse that ruling and not make masks mandatory. Later in the day, the County Commission reversed that decision and are still requiring that face masks be worn. There will no longer be a criminal penalty for disobeying the county's order, although earlier there were fines up to $500 for not wearing masks. The County also now allows pool halls and bowling alleys to open as long as they don’t serve alcohol.

With the reopening, things are beginning to have a semblance of normalcy as local businesses and restaurants partially reopen. Traffic has increased and more people are out on the street. Many still wear a mask both for their own safety and out of respect for others’ safety as well. Other places, especially outdoor recreation locations are overwhelmed with people who have been stuck at home for a month. Unfortunately, some people are not concerned about the safety rules or crowds. On Saturday, May 16, the popular Ginnie Springs Recreation area was so overwhelmed by crowds, that they had to close entrance to the park by 11 am.

For local businesses and entrepreneurs, the reopening is a financial relief, especially for the self-employed or service workers. For many there has been no income for at least a month. Massage therapist Carrie Lynn had set up a massage chair outside a farmer’s market at Bambi’s Cafe in High Springs. She was offering massages for a donation. “I just need to get out and work my profession. I have been in self quarantine since February and no income due to the COVID,” Lynn said.

“Massage therapists were not considered essential medically so we had to stop all business. Massage therapists have always been concerned about transmission of disease and conditions; we use disinfectants and clean materials between each client. Now the only change is an increased use of gloves and masks by therapist. If there is something good that comes out of this maybe it will be an increased awareness of the importance of hygiene,” Lynn said.

The Great Outdoor Restaurant closed when restaurants were only allowed to do take-out orders as they didn't think it was practical for their menu. That left many of the restaurant employees facing the possibility of being laid off with no income. Instead, they used the closed time to renovate, repair and clean the restaurant and patio using the staff instead of contractors, which kept the staff employed.

As Florida progresses through Phast 1,all eyes are on when and what to expect when Florida enters Phase 2 of reopening, although there is no timeline for when that will happen.

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ALACHUA – A local program that provides food to families hit a glitch when COVID-19 distancing requirements and shutdowns occurred. But Alachua resident and volunteer Ted Wilson wasn’t about to let the vital program flounder when so many children and families depended on it.

Food4Kids Backpack Program of North Florida was founded by Jennifer Moore who took pizza, juice and cupcakes to Gainesville’s Terwilliger Elementary School to celebrate her daughter’s birthday with her third-grade class on a Monday morning in 2010. She noticed that as most kids were still finishing their first slices of pizza, a few were already asking for seconds and thirds.

When she asked the teacher about these children, she learned that the reason they were so hungry was because it was a Monday, and there was a good chance that the last full meal they had eaten had been at lunch on Friday.

After looking into the matter further, she learned that one out of four children in North Florida live in food-unstable homes. That often means they don’t have reliable access to food, especially on the weekends.

Seeking to ensure these children didn’t go without food, Food4Kids Backpack Program of North Florida was founded to create a network of locations that would help sponsor, fund or donate and distribute food every Friday to school children in need.

The Backpack Program volunteers fill backpacks with nonperishable food and distribute them to students in need, from kindergarten through high school. The kids bring these backpacks home on Friday and return them on Monday so they can be refilled for the following weekend. They also receive larger boxes of food for extended holidays and summer breaks. The organization partners with food banks, faith networks and local businesses to create a sustainable support network that gathers monetary or food donations and delivers them to the schools and volunteer locations to distribute to in-need students.

There are over 29 volunteer groups and charities involved in the program that distribute to two to three schools each. For the past 12 years, Wilson has been doing the backpack program for Alachua Elementary and Santa Fe High School. Working with other volunteers they distribute between 25,000-30,000 meals a year.

But like everything else, the COVID-19 virus has affected this program as well. Schools are no longer open and other distribution points have been affected by the need for social distancing and safe handling of food to avoid spreading the virus.

Just before the state lockdown, Wilson had purchased a large amount of food but suddenly had no way to distribute it without exposing volunteers to possible infection. Wilson got in touch with Alachua Mayor Gib Coerper to see if the City of Alachua could help with getting the food distributed while it was still fresh. The mayor was able to set up a distribution point at Alachua’s Legacy Park through the city’s Recreation and Culture department that got food to the families that needed it.

However, the Food4Kids Backpack program still had an issue for the future. The schools were still going to be closed for the year. Social distancing requirements also made it difficult to organize volunteers for a distribution event. After rethinking how it could be done with the least amount of contact, they switched to grocery store gift cards that offered the opportunity for families to still get food and also be able to choose what foods were best for the family.

Coerper contacted a friend at Duke Energy to see if they would be willing to sponsor funding for gift cards. The company donated $500 toward gift cards, which Wilson bought as individual $25 cards.

While this was a single donation, many individuals and businesses have helped as well. Wilson said he is always amazed by the generosity of the community and local businesses that contribute to the program. “We never lack money to keep the program going or volunteers to lend their time,” said Wilson. “This community believes in helping others in times of need.”

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HIGH SPRINGS – With 36.5 million Americans suddenly unemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many families have seen both their income and savings disappear. It becomes a challenge to decide what bills or necessities can be done without. Mortgage or rent, utilities, food or medical all are important, but food is essential.

Many individuals and organizations have stepped in to donate or volunteer for food giveaways and deliveries. The Alachua County school system has provided over a million meals to school kids during the pandemic. Farm Share and other charity food distribution organizations travel the state bringing semi-trucks of food to communities.

Locally, many churches or community organizations have donated food or money, distributing the food to people in cars lined up in parking lots, masked and never coming in direct contact with the drivers. Most of these organizations hold these drives weekly or bi-weekly, but one small ministry in High Springs is making an effort daily to provide for those in need.

Every day, Pastor Sammy Nelson has overseen the distribution of donated food to families in need with children. He usually ran the distribution in his small downtown ministry, Witness of Christ (WOC), on Main Street in High Springs. But the Covid-19 has brought a bigger challenge. “I have seen a huge rise in families in need. People coming to the food distribution has increased 100 percent or more, but you have to meet the challenge to help them,” Nelson said.

The pastor is a big man with a powerful build but a soft, calm voice. He was born in Archer and spent 23 years in the Army as a Military Policeman. During his service he participated in Desert Storm and retired as a First Sergeant.

During his time in the Army he also had other duties as a father and a pastor. He and his wife of 35 years raised 10 children and have seven grandchildren. They share both a strong religious belief and a love for children as well. While raising 10 of their own, they also founded a ministry for children. Nelson made use of the Army's education benefits and received a degree in law enforcement and a Bachelor’s Degree in sociology. Once he retired, he became a full-time student and received a Master’s in Divinity and a Doctorate in Ministry.

Ten years ago, Nelson and his wife opened a storefront where they could offer after-school services to struggling parents. The ministry also collects food for the children and struggling families. Most of it comes from donations by individuals, farms and food stores such as Hitchcock’s and Publix. The biggest provider is Bread of the Mighty Food Bank in Gainesville. Three days a week, Nelson would go to each location, as well as some farms, to gather the food donations.

With the increasing need caused by the pandemic, Nelson searched for more sources and sponsors to meet the skyrocketing demand. He also needed a bigger place to distribute and worked with the City of High Springs to distribute from a parking lot behind Main Street with police to direct the traffic.

The ministry still does smaller distributions from the building three times a week, but the other is a bigger operation with trailers full of food pallets. On May 16 the WOC held its largest distribution with 14 pallets supplying multiple boxes of food to the long line of cars winding through the parking lot. Nelson, along with volunteers from his ministry, all wearing masks and gloves, loaded each car's trunk with boxes holding a variety of food including fresh vegetables, cheese, milk, snacks and chips. “We will be here and providing for those who go hungry as long as the need exists,” Nelson said as he loaded another box in a car.

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ALACHUA – In the last two weeks, Florida Governor DeSantis has relaxed stay-at-home and business restrictions in an effort to get the state economy back on track and put people back to work. Under recommendations form the CDC, the reopening is on a three-phase schedule, a framework which outline goals of each phase before moving on to the next.

The first phase allows retail outlets and restaurants to operate with indoor capacity at 25 percent. The first phase also lets medical facilities begin providing elective surgeries. Sporting events can resume without spectators. All of the openings are based on people observing social-distancing recommendations and use of face masks. DeSantis stated that face masks should be standard, but people who don’t wear them won’t be fined. As previously announced, schools will remain out of session, with online “distance learning” in place, and visits to nursing homes still will be prohibited.

Over 30 states are beginning to reopen, yet none have met the goal of 14 days of declining cases that was supposed to be the benchmark to start Phase 1. The COVID-19 pandemic is still growing, and opening up businesses and removing social distancing could cause a resurgence in the infection rate. At the same time, many people have been out of work for over a month and what savings they had are running out. Especially for local, small retail, restaurants and bars, the ability to last until they can reopen is critical. Much of whether the reopening will succeed without will depend heavily on people following the guidelines.

For store owners, following guidelines is a matter of good business practices. Many businesses have signs stating that masks are mandatory to enter. “The business owners get it,” said Kelly Harris, owner of Kelly’s Kreations in Alachua, a shop that is an eclectic mix of gift items and a floral shop.

“This virus is a serious health problem and we want our customers to feel safe to visit and protect ourselves as well,” said Harris. “I have hand sanitizer at the door, require a face mask to enter and maintain a six-foot distance. This a small effort to keep our customer safe.”

Like many other small business owners, Harris had to retool her business model to meet the crisis. “I decided to do daily Facebook posts with lessons or funny material for people to view. It also served to keep attention on my business and help promote other Main Street businesses and restaurants. I called it ‘Making Lemonade’ because when life hands you lemons like the current crisis, you find the positive way to deal with it,” said Harris.

Harris says that the podcast took off and has viewers from throughout the U.S. and Canada. It became a game and people contributed to it and sent her gifts with lemons, including a mask, tea, and cookies as well as other things. The podcast has helped keep people aware of her business.

“I was really glad they allowed us to open just before Mother’s Day,” said Harris. “I had just about depleted my emergency funds, and luckily, I had a huge response to Mother’s Day for flowers. It's great to be in business again.” She now plans to have a larger online presence and hopes to continue the ‘Making Lemonade’ podcast.

For some, the situation was even more dire the longer the shutdown continued. Stephanie Fletcher and her mom had opened The Happy Place, an ice cream/coffee parlor and gift shop two weeks before the shutdown occurred. They had invested a lot to get the shop decorated and functional, but had no opportunity to make it back. Now they are reopened and hoping to get business. Several of the store owners along Alachua’s Main Street said that people were still cautious about the conditions, and there are fewer visitors so far.

Business owners in High Springs were also finding inventive ways to survive when the stores were closed. Tina Lanza of Lanza Gallery and Art Supplies was also closed for six weeks as a non-essential business. For Lanza, the internet was also her business lifeline and effective marketing tool. “I really pumped it out in online marketing. Offering curbside pickup or delivery, people could order online and receive advice for their art needs,” Lanza said. “I also made daily use of my Facebook page to keep people aware of the business.”

Lanza is currently creating an online store that people can order from as it’s convenient for customers and Lanza believes it is a preparation for any future resurgence. “I also started selling handmade cloth masks and offered free paper masks with a $25 purchase,” she said. Like the others, Lanza is strict on safety measure for the store. At the front door sits a table with hand sanitizer to use before entering and a sign requiring masks. “We have to just do what we have to do in these times. Safety matters,” Lanza said.

One unexpected oddity is the pawn shop business. It would be expected that with so many people out of a job that people would be pawning items for cash. But according to several local pawn shops, it is the opposite. People paid off their items in pawn and took them back. They also purchased other items. In Santa Fe Pawn in High Springs they were having trouble getting enough items in their inventory for display.

On Monday, barber shops and beauty salons were allowed to open. At Lovely Nails on Main Street in High Springs they also wear gloves and have splash shields between the manicurist and customer. Down the street, Decades on Main was opening for the first day since being forced to close over a month ago. Barbara Devino was helping a customer pick out some items, with both of them wearing masks. At the counter a small table separated the customer and Devino. On the table was the eve-present hand sanitizer and a credit card machine, which was the only payment method to maintain distance. After a customer used the machine it was wiped down before the next person. “We do what we have to, to maintain safety for everyone. It’s minor and a small step to be back to working,” Devino said. “It feels great to be able to work again.”

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