PerkSpot: Get a Jump Start on Holiday Shopping

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The holidays are right around the corner. Shop for loved ones on PerkSpot and save big! You can find discounts on gifts for the whole family. Get deals on everything from apparel to zoo tickets.

PerkSpot offers benefits and discounts through more than 400 service providers and retailers. Go to SDCounty.PerkSpot.com and shop. If you are new, click on “Create an Account” to register.

Each month, one of the most popular PerkSpot deals will be highlighted on InSite.

Recognizing Transgender Awareness Month

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By LGBTQ&A Employee Resource Group

November is Transgender Awareness Month, a time for education, advocacy and celebration of the community.  

On Nov. 2 the Board of Supervisors honored local advocate Connor Maddocks with a Board Proclamation for his work in the community. Connor retired from the LGBT Center as their Project Trans coordinator, where he organized resources for and educational programming about the transgender community.  He has also volunteered with San Diego Pride and supported work by a number of other local and national organizations.  

While we celebrate the efforts made to support our community, we know there is much more to be done. Tragically, 2021 has already seen at least 46 transgender or gender non-conforming people killed by violent means* across the United States, the majority of them BIPOC transgender women. 

Nov. 20 is Transgender Day of Remembrance, an occasion to honor those who have lost their lives to violent hate crimes. Locally, there will be a candlelight vigil at the County Administration Center’s Waterfront Park at sundown. The LGBTQ&Allies ERG arranged for the CAC to be lit in the colors of the Transgender Pride Flag to mark the occasion. The visibility this lighting provides is a small step to bring awareness to a grim reality for one of the most vulnerable populations in our society.  

It is incumbent upon all of us with privilege to use our power to do more.

To learn more about intersectionality and the realities of transgender people, read the words of some of the County’s own employees in this article.  

If you want to get involved, please visit these organizations:  

Rewind: D&I Executive Council Town Hall

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The D&I Executive Council hosted a Town Hall on Monday, Nov. 15 on condemning hate-filled speech and creating a place of belonging.

Speakers included members of the D&I Executive Council and CAO Helen Robbins-Meyer. Plus, many County employees spoke up and out. Watch the Town Hall “on rewind” now.

Resource included in this Town Hall:

Kaiser Permanente Services May Be Impacted by Strike

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If you are covered by Kaiser Permanente, you received an email from the healthcare provider this week with notification of a possible strike. A strike of nurses, administrative personnel, pharmacy staff and other medical professionals could begin as early as Monday, Nov. 15.

As of Friday morning, Kaiser has changed, canceled or rescheduled many upcoming non-urgent appointments. There’s no need to call or email your doctor’s office at this time. Kaiser Permanente will contact you in advance if there are changes to your appointments.

Find information and answers to frequently asked questions online, including where to get prescriptions.

For updates, monitor KP.org.

If you have questions, please call the Member Services Contact Center. The call center is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (closed holidays). Please note that hold times could be longer than usual during a strike.

English: 1-800-464-4000
Spanish: 1-800-788-0616
Chinese dialects: 1-800-757-7585
TTY: 711

Employees Needed to Count People Experiencing Homelessness

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County employees participate in annual count of people experiencing homelessness.

County employees are needed to volunteer for the annual count of people experiencing homelessness.

The annual Point-in-Time Count will take place from 4 to 8 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022. Volunteers are being asked to arrive at their deployment location by 3:45 a.m. to allow time to become familiar with a mobile app that is used for counting. The app helps to conduct a more accurate count.

This is the eighth year the County has supported the annual count. During the span of several hours, volunteers count and survey people on the streets.

Employees who participate can do so on County time since the Board of Supervisors recently gave its approval.  

The next count, as directed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will entail an “engaged” survey-based approach, where people on the streets will be surveyed as they are encountered rather than just an observational count that was done in the past. To learn more about the engaged count, please watch this 3-minute video. 

The 2020 Point-in-Time County identified 7,638 people who said they were homeless or in shelters throughout the county. No count was conducted this year because of COVID-19.

The count helps the region identify the scope of the problem, apply for federal and state funding, and find solutions on how to best serve this vulnerable population.

The Regional Task Force on Homelessness is leading the local point-in-time effort with the WeALLCount campaign. Last count, approximately 550 County employees participated and employees are again encouraged to participate in this important effort.

The deadline to sign up is Monday, Jan. 24, 2022 at 5 p.m., but employees are encouraged to register for the count as soon as possible as deployment sites fill up quickly. Review the FAQs and then obtain approval from your supervisor via the supervisor approval form if you are interested in participating.

Once you get approval, please sign up here. After you have signed up, you will receive an email receipt for this event. In the email there will be a link to a training from The Regional Task Force on Homelessness for you to review.  

Members of the public can also join the count. If you know family or friends who would like to participate, they can sign up to volunteer.