As the COVID-19 pandemic unfolds, our hearts go out to everyone who has been or will be impacted by this crisis. We are committed to swift and comprehensive action to protect the safety and well-being of our employees, tenants and the broader community. First and foremost, we are following the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the U.S. and the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) in Canada, as well as local health department recommendations across all of our markets to guide our response.
The information below is a snapshot of some of our efforts to date, which we will continue to update as we navigate this unprecedented situation.
Quite simply, our employees are what make our company great. We are committed to taking care of the more than 350 talented individuals who work here during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. When the CDC, the BCCDC and local health authorities communicated the potential severity of the virus, we quickly suspended all non-essential work travel, mandated that employees who can work remotely do so, and rolled out comprehensive IT support to ensure a smooth transition. Now as local stay at home orders begin to ease, we are implementing staggered shifts to enable all our employees to safely return to our offices, while providing for adequate social distancing at any given time.
Despite this crisis, our employees, regardless of their role or tenure, are continuing to receive their full pay and benefits. We have increased our employee wellness resources, and fully support and comply with the enhanced paid sick leave policies adopted by local governments where we operate.
We support our tenants and have been in regular communication with them to encourage adoption of local and federal health guidelines and share updates on our response. When local authorities implemented orders to limit business operations to only those defined as essential, we ensured that all our properties remained safe, secure and operational for those businesses. As federal and local governments rolled out relief efforts to support small businesses, we shared resources from a variety of agencies including the U.S. Small Business Administration, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Government of Canada and the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade. We are also fully supportive of and in compliance with the various regional COVID-19 eviction moratoria and have implemented a rent relief program that dovetails with those ordinances to support our tenants during these difficult times.
Last month, in conjunction with the lifting of stay-at-home orders across our markets, we launched our “4C’s” approach to tenant repopulation. This approach emphasizes proactive Communication, seeks to instill Confidence in tenants with safety-focused cleaning and operating procedures, ensures Convenience with an emphasis on efficient access, and encourages Cooperation by asking all tenants to do their part.
We are supporting our tenants through this process by focusing on: proactive communication through multiple channels, such as on-site signage or utilization of the My HPP Office app; enhanced cleaning and supplies; HVAC and infrastructure upgrades; modified building access, traffic flow, and hygiene of common areas and amenities; updated protocols for on-site third parties; and evaluation of new proptech solutions. In all categories, we have coordinated with large tenants and local governments, consulted both internal and external subject matter specialists, and conducted in-depth trainings for our employees.
We take great pride in being a responsible corporate citizen and supporting the communities in which we operate. Our CEO co-chairs the City of Los Angeles Office and Commercial Working Group to Reopen the Economy, which both aids our communities and ensures our approach to re-opening aligns with best practices as identified by cross-industry experts.
COVID-19 has exacerbated homelessness and housing affordability issues across our markets, both in terms of the current health crisis and its economic impacts. Homelessness and affordable housing support and solutions are critical to the long-term vitality of our communities and a key focus area for our philanthropic efforts. We have donated $100,000 to organizations working at the intersection of COVID-19 and homelessness in our core markets. These organizations include the United Way of Greater Los Angeles, the Tipping Point Community in Northern California, the Seattle Foundation and the Vancouver Foundation.
We have also joined the #FeedtheFrontLine movement in our communities by purchasing hundreds of meals in our core markets from our restaurant tenants, where possible, and nearby restaurants, cafés and caterers. We then help to deliver those meals to healthcare, homeless shelter and other frontline workers. We are pleased to show this small token of our appreciation while supporting local businesses.
All of this work feeds into our recently introduced Better Blueprint platform, which we are adapting to address the challenges resulting from COVID-19. This includes finding the most impactful ways to support those experiencing homelessness and economic hardship in the current environment as well as adapting our Healthy Building Checklist to reflect the latest research on making buildings safe in the wake of the pandemic.