Look for the helpers

Sherri T.

Note to WOOMers:  This week’s blog is an excerpt from a newspaper op ed I had published last week.  I have included here the parts that were influenced by the words of a wise mother.

 “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”  These were the wise words of the mother of Mr. Rogers who helped him find his beautiful day in the neighborhood. 

Who knew how wise and prophetic his mother’s advice would be for us all right now in these extraordinary and excruciating times? 

If nothing else, this global emergency has taught us a crucial lesson.  We need to look for – and to look out for – these helpers.

First are the formal helpers.  They include the front-line health care workers who are making tireless and valiant efforts to keep us safe and healthy.  They are the true heroes in this scary story.  But there are other indispensable formal helpers whose work is less well recognized.

Social agencies, such as food banks, family agencies, and transition and homeless shelters, provide critical services.  A network of organizations assists persons with disabilities.  All these organizations operate on a shoestring budget under the best of circumstances.  Right now, many vital supports are under threat as donations dry up, fundraisers are cancelled and volunteers stay home.  These formal helpers are themselves in need of help.

Equally important in this equation are the informal helpers.  These are the caregivers of sick, elderly and vulnerable individuals.  These helpers are also the parents of children living with developmental disabilities, autism or complex medical conditions.  While caregivers are often forgotten, they too need emotional comfort, support and badly-needed respite.

Many neighbors are coming together to figure out how to ensure a supply of food, medication and other basics to ease the stresses for these helpers.  Friends and neighbors are seeking safe ways of providing relief to the parents of children whose special programs have closed as part of social distancing.  This is particularly significant now that the age-old remedy of old-age relief (i.e., grandparents) is no longer an option. 

Mr. Rogers’ values of kindness and compassion will help us get through this unpredictable and unprecedented crisis.  Equally important are his mothers’ words to “look for the helpers.”  They hold the key to our lives – literally.  Now we need to look out for and look after them.