A $50,000 mortgage went up in flames Thursday outside the Counterpoint residential home in north Livingston.

The ceremonial burning of the financial document made Counterpoint — a nonprofit that provides a myriad of services to Park County residents with disabilities — essentially debt-free, according to the organization’s Executive Director Dave Eaton.

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“We got rid of our last big piece of debt,” said Eaton. “We’re now mortgageless. We can put that money into the services that we provide. We can sail a little lighter and be more effective.”

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As Phase 1A in Park County’s COVID-19 vaccination plan winds down, local health care organizations are preparing for the beginning of phase 1B, expected to begin sometime next week.

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Phase 1B is the second round of COVID-19 vaccinations and will include certain high risk populations such as the elderly and those with chronic illnesses. Group 1B also includes other high risk groups such as Native Americans.

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Park County Health Officer Dr. Laurel Desnick said Wednesday the state plans on allocating COVID-19 vaccine on a week-by-week basis. She said she’s hoping Park County gets its first 1B shipment Tuesday, although the shipment is expected to be small.

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The COVID-19 conversation is largely dominated by fear for the health and safety of older people in the community, but what about folks living with disabilities, people in need of intimate support to navigate their days?

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At Counterpoint, a local nonprofit serving developmentally disabled adults, the pandemic has significantly reduced services provided, but staff follow a strict protocol so that they can continue to provide their clientele with the support they need.

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So far, the program has successfully kept all 23 of its clients COVID free with as little interruption to their daily routine as possible, according to Counterpoint Director Dave Eaton.

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Hello Everyone. The top priority in our work supporting
adults with disabilities is keeping them healthy and safe.
While this pandemic is active, we have closed our downtown vocational center to reduce threats of our clients or staff contracting Covid-19 in that relatively exposed area. We continue to care for and support the 14 people living in our two group homes as well as the seven people who live in their own homes but rely on us for varying degrees of help.

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Our staff are committed to the well-being of the folks we work for. But in times like this, we’re asking more than ever of the staff: they are wearing personal protective
equipment and taking all possible steps to keep the virus from infecting them or our clients. Our main priority is to keep all our clients – in the group homes or in their own
homes – from getting sick. Doing so in a time like this takes a lot of extra work, not to mention the tough decisions by staff to travel around town when most people have been asked to stay home to protect the whole community.

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