WATSONVILLE—The City of Watsonville was one of the first municipalities in the Monterey Bay to close down its network of recreational centers to slow the spread of COVID-19.
It was also one of the first to reengineer its recreation department for the shelter-in-place era, which could last for months.
Just one day after Santa Cruz County officials called for a majority of the county’s residents to stay home, Watsonville’s Parks and Community Services Department launched its Virtual Recreation Center.
The brainchild of department head Nick Calubaquib, the online resource is a one-stop-shop for people of all ages. Looking for free online yoga courses? They’ve got you covered. How about a list of virtual museum tours? Check. Need to sign up for housing or food assistance programs during the shutdown? They have that, too.
“I think it’s nice to have a singular location to find anything they need,” Calubaquib said. “We were thinking of ways we could continue to deliver the same services we normally offer.”
Since its launch, more than two dozens municipalities have modeled their virtual recreation centers off Watsonville’s template.
“It’s kind of caught on like wildfire,” Calubaquib said.
The webpage is broken up into three categories: stay active, stay connected and stay informed.
The first offers a wide-ranging list of virtual fitness classes, games and creative exercises specific to age range. For kids, there are links to virtual sports camps run by the National Academy of Athletics as well as free coloring pages, crafts and mazes. Adults, meanwhile, can continue to access the vast collection of free ebooks from the Watsonville Public Library and find help with practicing mindfulness during the shelter-in-place order.
Staying connected has links to volunteer and donation opportunities, online book clubs, virtual tours and educational programs.
The final category contains the latest information from the county health services, the City of Watsonville and Pajaro Valley Unified School District, among other agencies.
Calubaquib said the City will continue to add services to the webpage during the shutdown. Recently, they added a daily calendar to help people—especially parents also playing the role of teacher during the current school closures—plan out their days and weeks.
A social media campaign touting the program will also soon hit the web.
“We want to continue to expand on what we offer as this goes on,” he said.
