There has been a plethora of challenges that society has been facing as a whole since the Corona-virus outbreak. Covid -19 all happened so quickly and went from an abstraction to a very real threat. It infected people such as Tom Hanks and his wife, Dybala, an international soccer player and even the UK prime minister Boris Johnson. Once the disease became known, things just spiraled from there and everything became suspended. Closure of schools, places of worship and small (non-essential) business frightened many Americans and people around the world. This massive shut-down forced people to be laid off, furloughed and be completely out of work. Americans went in panic mode and thought the next best thing to do was to stock up on as much toilet paper as possible. Seriously though, it could be difficult to fund families and sustain a bright attitude when the unemployment rate has skyrocketed and hit all time high of 10.80 percent (and still going up). Although, this international pandemic is impacting millions of peoples of lives, communities are resilient and doing their best to help each other during these unprecedented times.
Understanding the situation the world is facing, communities are communicating not with fear but with love. Community resilience is the ability of a community to use its assets to strengthen and improve the community’s physical, behavioral, and social health to withstand, adapt and recover from adversity such as Covid-19. A resilient community is socially connected and has accessible health systems that are able to withstand disaster and foster community recovery.
Take for example, my school district alleviating the struggles of low-income students without access to meals, the district is sending out school buses throughout low-income neighborhoods and offering them free lunch. My heart melted and became so grateful for my community. Another great example that touched me was Chef José Andrés. The celebrity chef closed his D.C. area restaurants because of coronavirus but converted many into “Community Kitchens” offering lunches to people in need… How sweet and considerate. Last but absolutely not least, a Facebook page was started in my community called “I Need This!” It’s a place for community members to connect and help each other. Some people reached out because they need groceries, so there are others that go deliver what they need.
By lending a helping hand to your neighbors, focusing on what we can control as well as looking on the bright side of this chaos, builds resilience in a community. As I learned in class, Dan Heath stated to always have a bright-spot focus to situations of change. “Looking for the early glimmers that something is going right and when you find a bright spot, your mission is to study it and clone it.” Whether its our efforts to flatten out the curve, by practicing social distancing and self-quarantining, or its getting groceries to our elderly neighbors, it is all to maintain a safe and healthy community. “Despite economic concerns and high levels of stress, people have found more meaning in their lives, a closer bond with their families and communities, and a deeper connection to themselves.” Dr. Knight addressed from one of his lectures on resilience.
This shift of mindsets, looking on the good side of things, alters our psychological resilience into becoming more accepting of what we can do to adapt well to the significant sources of stress. Serious health problems, workplace and financial stress issues, as seen throughout this crisis, may lead depression and anxiety. Thus, psychological resilience teaches us to stay optimistic and to never lose hope in humanity. Because when times get tough, we are all in it as one helping each other out. That is true community resilience.
The big picture is that there are a lot of people doing good things right now. In times of uncertainty and anxiety, communities are staying resilient, helping each other get through tough times offer up what they can. Togetherness and resilience builds stronger bonds to tackle any problem we might face.
Versus Co. 