In recent weeks, DC has recently lifted both its mask and vaccination mandates in accordance with the newly released guidelines from the CDC. Considering the health and safety of our staff and volunteers to be of utmost importance, we instituted a vaccine requirement for all of our visitors upon reopening on February 5. Despite the lifting of the DC mandate, at this time, we will maintain the proof of vaccine requirement for all Hillwood guests and continue to require masks for visitors, volunteers, and staff in all indoor, public spaces.

Mansion Volunteer Lounge

In line with the CDC guidance and due to the low COVID-19 Community Levels in DC, Hillwood will allow volunteers and staff to unmask in some non-public spaces, such as the mansion volunteer lounge. The choice of wearing a mask or not in non-visitor spaces is completely up to the comfort of staff and volunteers and the uniqueness of their workspaces:

• Please discuss mask use in non-visitor areas with your colleagues. We encourage staff and volunteers entering other workspaces to ask staff and volunteers present their preference on wearing a mask and respond positively to any requests to wear a mask. 
• Please Note: Due to the uniqueness of the workspaces, some indoor workspaces, such as the greenhouse and accompanying breakroom, will continue to require masks for volunteers and staff.

That said, Hillwood continues to evaluate COVID precautions based on the safety of our community and in line with CDC guidance. We always prioritize health and safety alongside our role as an inclusive and welcoming visitor serving organization. This could mean the lifting of the proof of vaccine requirement in the future. Hillwood will continue to keep volunteers abreast of any changes to our safety policies.

Thank you for doing your part to keep everyone safe at Hillwood.