I'd like to apologize to all of you, I should have started this thread earlier. As a few of you know I have been working in the community helping people affected by the virus. I have seen first hand how this pandemic can cause problems for people and their families. I have also seen how some of your and your families have gotten sick. We are a community of passionate Blazers fans but more importantly I have seen first hand over the years that friendships have been made and many acts of kindness and help have been given to each other. If you need help please ask. If you don't want to ask in here, ask privately. I know that we are a wide and varied group with experience and expertise in many areas.
So you're doing Corona Community Consultancy. Anyone else here? Don't worry about sounding like you're praising yourself...I asked; it's my fault, not yours. I'd like to know who here is doing something for the public. (Besides, we need to fill threads and this is a new angle.) What do you do, Sly? Any anecdotes you can recount about this community service?
I started a thread in reddit about a month ago when this first started getting bad. Just offering help if anyone needed. Other people joined in. It just kind of snowballed from there. Most has been pretty minor, helped some older people put apps on phones so they could order groceries. Gave a woman some medical masks from my hoard and have taken her to a couple of chemo appointments. Picked up some prescriptions. Bought some groceries for some people and delivered them. 2 weeks ago I delivered 90 boxes of donuts that a donut store donated to 3 different nursing homes. That was really sad. A lot of those people are kinda freaked out. Thursday was rough. Helped a woman get into the only dv women's shelter that is accepting patients showing covid-19 symptoms. That took a ton of phone calls, lol. I also had to find foster care for her dog, also a ton of phone calls.
You might be interested in what some of the rest of us have done. Even though I am a licensed caregiver, I have refused to go to work, citing my virus susceptibility due to age (75) and sex (male). I also did not feel my remaining assignment met the criteria of either "critical" or "essential", since it was respite care for a couple at an assisted living facility and the wife is perfectly healthy. I lost two other assignments when the facilities denied me access, correctly citing that my respite care was not essential. I believe that it is essential for the survival of my wife and minor daughter that I stay alive. Selfish?
Sly, that is awesome. Thanks for sharing this. I wish I could say I've done half as much as you've listed here. I work from home and just haven't got out much...at all. I need to reassess that.
My office is open for business. I have modified as much as is practicable how we interact with people, but have not lessened the provision of the service. By staying open and continuing to provide services we are making it possible, directly and indirectly, for hundreds of families to stay employed. Not saying we are heroes like medical workers, social workers, and grocery store clerks, but we are doing what we need to do as safely as we can.
Speaking of "heroes", it has really bugged me how the word has become so ridiculously misused and diluted over the years. Every person who does anything that benefits another person is called a hero these days. That's not what the word means. For something to be heroic, it has to be done to benefit another person, disregarding or accepting one's personal risk in doing so. No risk = not a hero. There are real heroes out there, and they are fighting for lives everyday. I hope the word hasn't been diluted beyond meaning.
As other posters have noted, I’ve seen a lot more of my neighbors (from a distance!) than usual. Everyone has been very friendly and helpful. People are willing to share their stock of face masks, run errands, etc. It’s been very heartening after watching the dysfunction of the federal government. I still volunteer weekly at the local food bank. While we haven’t yet seen much of an uptick in clients, we’re bracing for an increase once those folks who have been laid off or been otherwise unemployed reach the end of their savings, food supplies and other resources. As real as shit has become throughout this pandemic, I’m not sure we’re even close to seeing the full economic and social impacts yet. We’re not gonna be anywhere near done even when the all clear has been sounded......
Thanks. Sometimes I feel a little guilty; I've always been a team player. I know my boss was more interested in the bottom line when she sent me on that job though.
My neighbors and I have banded together during this time. Last year we traded among our collective crops. We will do so again this year as we plan to expand and diversify our gardens.
It may not have been my primary motivation, but since I doubt that they were able to replace me on my assignment at an assisted living facility; I helped keep the people safer there. My wife does the same work I do except at a private residence. If either her or I had picked up the virus, I might have taken the virus inadvertently into a facility of very vulnerable people.
