Community Matters

HEY

Hey

hEy…It’s Ashley, as we are all sitting in our homes self-quarantining, I have this insatiable desire to address the importance of community amidst our mandated isolation. What is community? A very simple term that most of us have used previously in some capacity. I googled the word, community and my searched generated 6 different definitions from Dictionary.com. A nine letter word with so multiple meanings of so much value. The definition most relevant to this blog is a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists. Everyone reading this post belongs to some form of community whether we admit it or not. Community is not only necessary but just like the title of this blog post, COMMUNITY matters! Your community has the ability to impact your network, your success, and in the midst of this COVID-19 pandemic; it may just determine whether you are thriving or barely surviving in this time. I’m not only the founder of M.O.M.I. but I am also a licensed mental health professional and many of my clients have expressed an inability to obtain the essential things required to maintain their families overall well-being in this time. This causes financial distress, which prompts emotional distress and a decline in our immunity; our immune system health is crucial especially when the world is experiencing a global health problem. We need to be healthy always, but especially right now.

According to USA Today, 1 in 4 Americans have no emergency savings. This is sad situation. There are roughly 327 million people in the US, which means that there would be a lot of people unable to sustain themselves in this time.

M.O.M.I. made the decision to provide financial obligations to three families, so that they could obtain necessary resources for their families. Here at M.O.M.I., we are a community and we understand that our community has the ability to shift the trajectory of people’s overall well-being through intentional actions. We are happy that we could be a blessing to these families during this time when many are losing jobs, schools are closing and the American people are practically required to do the opposite of everything we have been taught to do. What do I mean?

I mean, Social Distancing! This is a new term that has been introduced in light of decreasing the spread of the virus. Social distancing is deliberately increasing the physical space between people to avoid spreading illness. It seems contradictory because there are so many stories, the virus is airborne, you can get it from touching clothes, etc. etc. We have to be very cautious and careful during this time that we are practicing good hygiene, being cognizant of our information intelligence and the community that we are surrounding ourselves with. It is quite easy to fall into fear but I believe in protecting mental space, taking some deep breaths and only doing what you are able to do in this season. We are all learning to adapt and you are not in this alone, we are community. I am one person that belongs to a community that understands why communities matter and how communities can help each member thrive in this time of chaos, not just in our nation but in the entire world. There have been traveling bans enforced, state of emergencies enacted, and lack of food availability, it’s pretty crazy if you ask me but in the midst of the craziness our community will maintain peace and solidarity. We encourage all of our families and our readers to take care of themselves to ensure their ability to thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic.