Hunker down but be sure to stay in touch
April 22, 2020
By Doug Sheaffer
COVID-19.
It’s the end of the world.
It’s overblown.
It’s a conspiracy—decide for yourself from whom and directed to whom.
It’s nothing to worry about.
Every other reaction you might be able to think of..
It seems that every emphasis is currently on hunkering down and staying home if you can. Sounds like a good idea to reduce the spread, and at least locally, it seems to be working. People, I believe, for the most part want to watch out for their neighbors and do what’s right.
Part of the response to the media coverage (including social media) are the sometimes less heard voices for what’s going right. Without denying the virus or its impact, good people are doing good things.
Individuals are reaching out to one another and doing what they can to help, including (prior to the stay at home edict) running errands, picking up food and so on. Many restaurants are providing take-out meals. Some stores in our county are figuring out ways to get food to people at home. Some congregate meal sites are working with their home-delivered meals programs to also help out.
We’re blessed to live in a county where community is important. Even during times of non-crisis, volunteers throughout our area make assistance actually work.
To everyone helping others—thank you! You truly are needed—and appreciated!
With all “non-essential” businesses closing for the time being, it can look pretty desolate on our streets. However, crisis often brings creativity. Current technology allows a variety of ways (phones, emails, skype, faxes, etc) to be in contact without face to face exposure and to conduct our personal business.
Sometimes the definitions of “essential” can appear a bit blurred, so the only way to tell is if the business is actually open is to drive by. And even essential offices have to maintain safety guidelines regarding spacing and number of people.
We are considered essential and limited. What that means is our public areas/offices are closed until further notice, so no walk-ins. We are staffing our phones and conducting ongoing assistance via phone, email, faxing and mail. Notices are posted on our doors, also, noting extensions for leaving voicemail messages. If you call our central number (at end of this column), please follow the prompts for specific staff extensions.
Whatever’s happening “out there”, we are all still “here”—together as community—and making it work.
Once again, thank you all, and when this is over, we can all say “We got by with a little help from our friends.”
Information & Assistance
Long Beach: 360 642 3634/888 571 6558 Raymond: 360 942 2177/888 571 6557