I have purchased toilet paper so many times before.
Mind you, I didn’t try very hard, but why should I have to? My
trusty, revered, hallowed HEB, was out. This has to be a sign of an impending apocalypse.
That may sound flippant, but it got worse. Toilet paper is relatively cheap. Scooping up all that inexpensive tissue can’t
be too hard, but the hand sanitizer section was completely empty too. A much more expensive commodity. How can I explain
this?
Honestly, I do not take this pandemic lightly. I have
children, one of whom is currently on a school trip to another state. I have parents and siblings, and friends who have recently visited other countries. I live in a
city that has taken in cruise ship passengers and China evacuees. My dad is actually in a hospital right now
with a brain bleed from a fall on a trip.
I run a youth serving nonprofit.
I have spent the past week (Spring Break) fielding questions and demands
about how to respond to this crisis, as if I am an infectious disease specialist.* I hope I am making good decisions, but who knows?
It’s Spring Break, and I am supposed to be on vacation, but I
won’t sleep well tonight. I’m worried
about the employee we sent home to quarantine today, and the one who comes back
from Europe next week. I’m worried about
how the children and families we serve at my nonprofit will cope with this crisis. Their schools haven’t closed yet, but it
feels like that's only a matter of time, which will have devastating impacts on their
lives, in so many ways. I’m wondering how I can help, but
considering I'm being compelled to figure out how to decrease, restrict, restrain
and curtail our regular youth programming and operations, how can I possibly increase
our assistance?
I feel inadequate.
If I can’t even buy toilet paper in America, how can I be
useful in this epidemic? To require a
social worker (me, at the core) to stay home and "social distance" at a time
when people need help more than ever feels somehow wrong, but the path forward
for me, or for the social service organization I run, is unclear.
I welcome and appreciate any advice. I can't even buy toilet paper effectively today.
 |
| No toilet paper |
 |
| No hand sanitizer |
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*Other duties as assigned. #nonprofitlife
