Our community is our greatest asset. It’s where we work. It’s where we play. It’s where we connect. And our community has taken a big hit from COVID. I know what you are thinking—we are all experiencing negative effects of this pandemic. But we’re not experiencing it equally.

I will remember the day the country shut down as clear and with as much fear as when 9/11 happened. It’s like a stamp on my memory that has forever changed me. All I could think about was my team, and how am I going to show up for them and lead this organization and come out of the shutdown in a better place. For hours on end it seemed like I asked myself question after question. What did the team need from me emotionally? What did they need from me professionally? What did I need to learn? What systems did I need to implement? How much will it cost? How quickly could we pivot to working from home? How were we going to continue to serve a community that was in such desperate need – even before the pandemic? Where would the money come from?  How fast can we respond – seamlessly?  The first few weeks seemed like an eternity.  Between the hours and hours of listening to the news all day every day for updates and directions, daily webinars with CDC, City, and State officials, daily team calls to make sure I was there as a leader and as a friend for the team. Armed with as much information as I could absorb, I began hours of strategic planning to make sure our very important work continued.  All with the hope this somehow wouldn’t be as bad as it was looking like. But it was. After recognizing the utter fear in my mind and acknowledging the reality I began focusing on what could I do to find the potential silver lining in all of this. I then vowed that we as a team and as an organization were going to come out of this better than we went into it. I needed to be there for my team, and we needed to be there for our community.

What ensued over the next few months was enlightening, sad, and inspiring. Despite the shutdown we stayed open to be there for our clients. The calls were heartbreaking. The community that our homeowners learned to navigate was gone. The safety nets our clients creatively put into place to keep the truths that they were hiding were all gone. The corner store where Ms. Jones would go to use the bathroom because her toilet was broken was no longer an option. The neighbor who would come over to take care of Mr. Taks’ meal prep was now afraid to leave their house and could no longer help. There was no one to help and nowhere to go. They were left so vulnerable and alone.

The ways COVID affected each of us was so different. Karen, who was 87, came out of the grocery store to discover both tires on her passenger side had been slashed. With no family and nowhere else to turn, she called us to help her out. (Read full story). Or Mike, who was battling terminal cancer. He noticed his shutoff valve leaking but when he went to turn it off the valve broke and 50 gallons of water poured into his basement (Read full story). Or take the hundreds of calls we fielded from people wondering how they should apply for unemployment, get food or a myriad of other questions.

I look back on these days. I have learned a lot.  Grown in ways I never expected. I am so proud of the kind and generous work of my team and at the same time in awe of the resiliency of those we serve in our community.  I hope these few examples of the ways COVID affected us (and is still affecting us) differently, often in ways we may not imagine, leave you with a different perspective. 

Stay tuned for my next blog post coming in April. You will be delighted to hear how we responded to COVID to ensure no one was left high and dry.