Isolated; not alone.
COVID-19 is all that the world seems to be talking about these days. As I have been talking with my colleagues, young people at SYM, roommates and friends, there seems to be less fear about the virus itself but more fear surrounding the lack of jobs, lack of food, and lack of open services. My heart has been aching thinking and wondering how this pandemic will increase the homeless population throughout the country. Will the students being kicked out of university dorms be able to find housing? Will the parents who lost their jobs be able to afford rent and food for their kids? Will the young person from the SYM community who just got into housing be able to pay rent, when their main source of income was waiting tables at restaurants? All these questions are overwhelming and out of my control. I have found myself consumed with worry and not knowing what steps to take next. At SYM we have been caught between two worlds: Trying to honor our government officials' mandates and the CDC’s requests and trying to make sure that our young people are fed and that their wellbeing is maintained.
A couple of us on staff at SYM have chosen to take a little bit of time each day to read and pray over Psalm 91. I believe God is working during this time. We as a global society are bonding over this pandemic and we are all experiencing it together. This is a huge opportunity to lean into discomfort and build community. Today I did not go into the office but instead took the time to call and text some of our young people at SYM and see how they were doing. Though we are all segregated and isolated it does not mean we have to be alone. Reach out to old friends and see how they are doing. Reach out to one of the many local non-profits and ask how you can help. This is a time to step back and step up. We will all have to change the way that we think about service and helping others. Maybe instead of having neighbors over for dinner you drop off a premade meal for them. Maybe you offer to babysit your friend’s kids while they have to go to work. Or maybe you ask how you can financially help your neighbors who just got laid off. Maybe instead of volunteering for SYM you fervently pray. You pray for staff’s health, you pray for the health of our community, you pray that no one feels alone during this time and you pray for the end of corona virus. We need you all more than ever and you can help us from the comfort and safety of your home.
Even though these are unknown and terrifying times I am so excited to see how God will be working within it all. I know that healing and redemption is coming and that is where my hope is found.
“The first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb, when it comes, find us doing sensible and human things -- praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts -- not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs.” ― C.S. Lewis
“For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind.” 2Timothy 1:7
-Hailey, Case Manager at SYM