One month into the pandemic, we’re still strong, even if the stay-at-home pressure is taking a bit of a toll on some but inspiring so many others.
Along the path to a post pandemic world, however, we’ve learned – and continue to learn – much about ourselves.
Without question, this crisis is likely one of the most traumatic events that most will endure in our lifetimes. Having said that, citizens within our coverage area have simply been heroic in their reaction to the COVID-19 crisis. Despite hardships, many locals have found remarkable ways to cope and provide assistance to others.
Almost immediately after the stay at home order, heroic tales began circulating. Citizens and business got creative. We’ve all pivoted, and yes, please excuse me for using that much overused word.
Neighbors helping neighbors. Even in the midst of a sometimes-life-or-death duel with a dreaded foe, our local communities have rallied.
Frozen in place without warning, local governments have learned how to operate remotely, while keeping their employees safe. Police departments and first responders quickly adopted new protocols to keep the peace and respond for service amid a pandemic. Frontline workers risked their own safety to protect ours.
All local governments quickly declared emergencies within their communities, giving local officials flexibility to deal with an unprecedented emergency. Not only local governments, but citizens too reacted quickly.
So many people in Cypress, La Palma, Rossmoor and Los Alamitos are making special efforts to support local restaurants that are still operating, even if they are limited to serving take-out food.
Some have resorted to the trouble of even making a list, making sure to support all of their favorite establishments, while adding those they thought needed more help, as the weeks wear on.
Senior organizations banded together to create new guidelines to ensure safety, yet provide food and relief.
A nonprofit in Los Alamitos (Taste of Los Al) organized their own campaign to purchase 50 meals a day from restaurants in the city and deliver them to frontline workers around the area.
The Casa Youth Shelter created ad hoc health centric policies that allowed it to remain open in the pandemic, invoking the spirit of founder Myldred E. Jones, who ensured the shelter would never close a day since opening more than six decades ago.
These are only examples, because there is simply insufficient space to list the personal and institutional acts of bravery, heroism and gratitude.
So as we prepare for another month, we are at least equipped with the proven knowledge that our communities can unite as a family. Sure, not everyone, but by far, we are perhaps witnessing a massive display of kindness and solidarity.
We can only hope it continues as ours will be a very long crawl back to some semblance of normalcy.
Although hard choices and prolonged healing lay ahead, local leaders should also see, and feel, the political and economic sands shifting under our collective feet.
Imagine what could happen if citizens understood how much their collective involvement could change if the same level of civic engagement continued after this crisis is over.
By no stretch and in no way is a pandemic a good thing. We can only hope, however, that as a collective community, and, as a nation, we can find ways to amplify the silver linings that have emerged. Like rainbows after a rainstorm or seedlings after a wildfire, we always seem to find hope in the wake of such transformational events.
The virus has taken too many lives, stolen too many memories, and created havoc. And, in many ways, the pandemic has held our personal freedoms at bay in a way Americans have never before experienced.
Yet against that backdrop, and despite tremendous fear, our communities have responded with bravery and honor. The real challenge will come when we are collectively released back into the wild.
Harder days are ahead, for sure, but thankfully, we’ve seen what’s possible when we work together. Our cities, towns and neighborhoods have always provided a sense of community and a great place to live, but even moreso now that we have seen our collective reaction to this ever-present threat.
And according to plan released this week by Gov. Newsom, life will return very slowly not to a life we once knew but to what will most assuredly become a “new normal.” (see related story page 12).
The pandemic has nevertheless changed us, and in some ways, for the better. Seems a prolonged lack of personal freedom is creating a greater sense of community and an even stronger appreciation, and yearning, for the personal freedoms to which we hope to eventually return.
