We learned on March 13 that one of our employees (who was already at home, not onsite) is experiencing fever -- a symptom consistent with coronavirus. This employee has not yet been tested for coronavirus and this does not necessarily mean that this employee, or anyone else on staff, has the coronavirus.
However, we have decided to err on the side of caution -- and public health -- by temporarily closing The Potter’s House, effective 5 pm on Friday, March 13. We will reopen just as soon as we can be assured of the health and safety of our team and our community.
We have made this decision for several very important reasons:
We care deeply about our employees and want to keep them healthy.
We care deeply about you, our guests and neighbors, and want to keep you healthy.
We want to model responsible behavior by doing our part to “flatten the curve” of the epidemic -- and we encourage other restaurants, cafes, and retail businesses to do the same. (A good article about flattening the curve is here.)
If you’d like to show your support for The Potter’s House during this difficult time, here’s one very concrete way you can do it: by helping our workers. We’re doing all we can to support our employees while we’re closed -- but as a nonprofit, our resources are limited. So we’ve established a new Workers’ Fund. Every cent donated to the Fund will go straight back to our kitchen, cafe, and bookstore employees — and all gifts are tax deductible.
We can’t wait to get through all this and get back to business. We’ll miss you while we’re closed. In the meantime, please take care of yourselves; stay home; and keep washing your hands! If you need us, please email info@pottershousedc.org or message us on social media (@pottershousedc).
Be safe, friends. Let's keep taking care of each other.
With deepest appreciation for our community,
Leigh Tivol, Executive Director