(4/2021) In striving to meet the needs of Adams County a Community Vaccination Center (CVC) opened on March 18, at the Adams County Department of Emergency Services (911 Center) 230 Greenamayer Lane, Gettysburg. The highly anticipated Center came to fruition because of the critical need for vaccinations, vision, planning and collaboration between Adams County and Wellspan Health. This County owned facility is an excellent venue for the CVC. Using a County owned facility made the logistics of creating the Center and partnership seamless and expeditious while awaiting Wellspan supply to trigger the opening.

Initially, the CVC will be open Thursday, Saturday & Sunday from 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. Currently approximately 350 vaccinations are being administered per day. Wellspan estimates that when supply allows an increase in operations, approximately 4,000 vaccinations will be administered each week. Adams County is supplying the venue, maintenance, security, and parking control. Wellspan is making the appointments, supplying the vaccine, registering patients, providing qualified staff to administer the vaccine and monitoring recipient’s after they receive the vaccine.

This is a shining example of a valuable community partnership. It is important to note that vaccinations at the CVC are by appointment only. There will be no walk-in service and coming with another individual that has an appointment will not result in vaccination. Appointments can be made on My Wellspan www.wellspan.org or by calling the Wellspan Covid – 19 Hotline at 855-851-3641.

Our community transportation entity rabbittransit, has partnered with area organizations to offer free shared ride transportation service to any community member who needs transportation to and from their scheduled COVID-19 vaccination appointment. Rabbittransit is ensuring that transportation is not a barrier in getting vaccinated and is ready to assist the community with transportation to reach vaccine appointments.

Reservations for rides are required. When scheduling a shared ride trip to a vaccination site, riders must have a confirmed COVID-19 vaccine appointment at the location they are requesting transportation. Residents will need to call rabbittransit no later than noon the business day prior to their appointment. Transit staff will assist individuals through the reservation process. If you are in need of transportation to a COVID vaccination site, contact the rabbittransit Call Center at 1-800-632-9063 Monday through Friday between the hours of 8 and 5.

Adams County applied for and received funding that will provide our community with active stimulus resources. You may have heard about Governor Wolf's announcement establishing $145 million in financial aid for Pennsylvania's hospitality industry. The Adams County Economic Development Corporation will be administering and offering this much-needed grant program to Adams County's hospitality industry. Adams County's portion of the funding is $1.16 million. The purpose of the grant is to reimburse eligible applicants for reduction of revenues.

To be eligible for the grant the applicant must have a NAICS code beginning with 721 or 722 and demonstrate that gross receipts for the first, second, third and fourth quarter in 2020 were reduced at least 25% from 2019. If the applicant was not in business during the first or second quarter of calendar year 2019, but was in business during the third and fourth quarters of calendar year 2019 and the applicant had gross receipts during the first, second, third or fourth quarter of calendar year 2020 that demonstrate at least a 25% reduction from the applicant's gross receipts during the third or fourth quarter of calendar year 2019.

The applicant must employ less than 300 people, have a maximum tangible net worth of not more than $15 million, and was in operation on February 15, 2020 and remains in operation and does not intend to permanently cease operations within one year of the date of application. The minimum grant award is $5,000, and the maximum award is $50,000. This program began accepting applications on Monday, March 15, 2021. For further information and online application see the Adams County Economic Alliance website www.adamsalliance.org/chirp/ or by calling 717-334-0042.

Adams County also applied for and received $6,774,933 in Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) funds from the Federal Government and State. Adams County has appointed South Central Community Action Program (SCCAP) as the administrator of the funds. Assistance is for individuals and families under 80% of the median income (details on SCCAP’s website). ERAP monies are for use in Fiscal Year (FY) 2020-2021. ERAP will provide families and individuals financial assistance for rent including: rent, rental arrears, utilities and home energy costs, utility and home energy costs arrears, and other expenses related to housing incurred due directly or indirectly to COVID-19, and housing stability services to eligible households. For those who are eligible, they can receive assistance for up to 12 months of arrearages. The program will remain open until December 31, unless all the funding is expended before that time. For additional information about the program along with all needed documents please go to www.sccap.org or call 717-334-7634.

We are pleased to announce that the Mercy House Recovery House project is near completion and will be ready to serve individuals from our community that need these essential recovery services. The Ribbon Cutting & Open House will be held on May 14, from noon to 4. The 1st floor will be a community walk-in center. The 2nd floor will provide residential accommodations for seven male residents enrolled in the treatment program and working full-time day jobs. Weekend and evening participation in treatment and counseling programs are required to be a resident.

This once deteriorating and vacant county owned property, formerly a part of St Francis Xavier, that was historically occupied by The Sisters of Mercy, was completely renovated, in a large part through $1.2M in grant funding and generous donations from the community. The renovations include an elevator that will serve that venue and could later serve the former St Francis Xavier School Building if appropriate. Mercy House will be administered by the RASE Project, who successfully administer similar programs in Lancaster, Harrisburg & York. Adams County will receive rental reimbursement by terms of a lease between the RASE Project and Adams County. The ribbon cutting for this facility will mark a significant step for our community in acknowledging and addressing addiction recovery!

An important milestone for Adams County history was achieved on March 7, with the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Adams County Historical Society complex. The former Adams County Prison site was donated to the ACHS from Adams County several decades ago. Adams County recently contributed $1M in Pillow Tax funds toward the $5.5M project. We are happy to report that the ACHS Capital Campaign is rapidly approaching the Building Campaign goal of $5.5M.

The new headquarters will enable the ACHS to preserve, catalog, store, display and interpret Adams County History. There will be a focus on student education - especially geared toward Adams County Youth. The building will have an events center on the 2nd floor that will increase events space for the community while creating additional revenue opportunities for the Society. Construction of the first building to alleviate current storage limitations is expected to commence this spring and be completed by early fall. It is hoped that the remainder of the project will be completed in 2022. To participate in the Capital Campaign, contact the Adams County Historical Society, PO Box 4325, Gettysburg, PA 17325 PH: 717-334-4273, or visit www.achs-pa.org/join-us/donate.html