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!
#Change=Resiliency
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