As a mother, wife, employee and community stakeholder, balancing the needs of others is a way of life. The corona virus has amplified these needs given that families are home bound. This means that my role has changed to becoming a pseudo teacher to my child who is learning virtually, while at the same time attempting to get work done with constant distractions throughout the day. A few upsides include cooking with my son in the middle of the day, playing a game of Connect 4 or kicking the soccer ball around. When cabin fever becomes unbearable, I usually get groceries. My new wardrobe has changed from business casual to yoga pants, a t-shirt and my new life saving accessories includes gloves, masks and hand sanitizer. Shopping for food has become almost comical…when someone walks into a grocery without a mask, patrons will stare at the mask-less person with a look of disgust, anguish and/or judgment. Although people are aware of social distancing, I have noticed a shift in how people interact to that of more courtesy and patience. As a nonprofit stakeholder, we have seen the devastating financial effects on the most vulnerable populations in the community and decided to start a food pantry in April. It has been satisfying to serve food to hundreds of families in Lake Worth every week but disheartening to see the growth as the need has become so great. Because of COVID-19, systems such as the workforce, hospitals, schools, government and the like have been adversely affected but with change, comes creative ways to find solutions. The people of Lake Worth are resilient and I believe that the best is yet to come!

I had plans to move to Michigan to live with my boyfriend but he had to move home and now we are living with family. It’s not fun.

The virus impacted my time working with class of 2020 and also 2021 athlete by training them before they went off to school and also coming into there freshman year of high school

The new bill said we don’t have to move but I was already in the process of moving. I had to get loans and borrow money from others. I had to get a trailer from home depo and My phone was stolen behind locked doors. Someone came inside my home and stole it. In the predicament I need one to communicate with family.

The virus got me away from my job and school which are the only things that keeps me sane. I am very disappointed that the states are opening back up because it will only make things much more worse

I am just trying to survive, I can’t work because I am disabled and just not trying to catch the virus. I hope i don’t have it or get it, I pray to god everyday.