By City Manager Ken Striplin
It has been exactly a month since Los Angeles County issued the Safer at Home order that was anticipated to last through today, April 19. However, just over a week ago that order was extended until May 15.
That is a total of 57 days that our community will be spending the vast majority of our days in our homes, only venturing out for essential services and quickly learning the challenges of working from home, while trying to fill the shoes of our children’s amazing teachers.
Those are the challenges facing the most fortunate of our residents. There are many of our friends and neighbors who have been laid off, furloughed or face the devastating fate that they may not be able to afford to keep their businesses once this COVID pandemic has passed.
To these people, I urge you to take advantage of the resources and assistance available to you. The City has an urgency order in place to protect those who cannot pay their rent.
The County of Los Angeles and State and Federal governments all have relief programs in place to assist businesses.
To get more information, please visit the resources page at Santa
ClaritaEmergency.com.
I also want to offer my heartfelt gratitude to Santa Clarita’s essential workers. These are the men and women whose jobs have never been so vital. They are on the frontline of the coronavirus pandemic.
These heroes are the focus of our #HeartsForHeroes campaign. This campaign shows support and appreciation for our medical professionals, public safety officials, grocery workers, mail carriers, bus drivers, delivery personnel, janitors, those who repair our cars and homes, trash collectors, media professionals (like the team at The Signal), our City team and so many more.
Please join your neighbors and friends in this campaign by designing a heart and placing it in the window or on your front door to display a visual sign of support. Let’s fill Santa Clarita with hearts. You can download the template at santa-clarita.com/HeartsForHeroes.
Once you have decorated and displayed your heart, please take a photo of you and your family with the heart and post on social media using #HeartsForHeroes.
These images will be collected and placed on screens within Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital for the nurses, doctors and staff to see and
be reminded of how appreciated they are.
I know that these 57 days will be challenging for all of us in myriad of ways. Keep in mind that this too will pass. Our children will start school in August, and we will get to hug our parents and our grandchildren again soon.
Remember, we are staying Safer at Home because it works. It protects the most vulnerable in our community and ensures that our healthcare workers will have the capacity to provide care and services to those in need. Santa Clarita is a special community with residents who look out for one another. I encourage all of you to continue to spread kindness, share gratitude and stay strong.
Ken Striplin can be reached at [email protected]. The views expressed in his column are those of the City and do not necessarily reflect those of The Signal. 
