The Man Behind the Mask

Who was that masked man?

Since the autumn surge of the COVID pandemic, we have split our small office staff into two teams that are in the office on different days. The housing and admin team are in the office on Monday, Tuesday and Friday, with Andre (housing case manager) and JaneMarie (administrative specialist). On Wednesdays and Thursdays the outreach and PATH team (Ben, Kathie and Scott) is in the office and Andre is working from home. By compartmentalizing the staff and reducing contact between the two separate teams, it mitigates the risk of having to quarantine the entire staff at once. It is not the most efficient way to operate, but it helps prevent potential gaps in service in the event that one of the staff members is exposed to the Corona Virus.

Today was one of the unusual days that Andre was in the office on a Wednesday. Andre has been our rapid rehousing case manager for several years and has done an excellent job of housing people experiencing homelessness in Racine. He also assists walk-ins at the office, responds to phone calls, receives donations, and is the go-to-guy for just about everything in the office.

These days he is busy try to help house six households that are currently in shelter (some at HALO and some at WRC) and he was in the office today to meet with one of those households. He was only here briefly, for the meeting and checking some housing information. So when we saw a masked man sitting at the computer in reception, we weren’t overly concerned. We were pretty sure it was Andre, getting updates and information to help serve a household on its way out of homelessness.