The Faces of Essential Workers
The coronavirus pandemic has birthed a new vocabulary word: essential workers. At Brother Bill’s Helping Hand, we prefer the term essential warriors. Both our neighbors and staff consist of many essential warriors; individuals who, despite a global pandemic, show up to work every day in industries like health care, child care, construction, and social services.
These men and women are warriors in the sense that they put themselves in harm’s way to serve our community and provide for their families. Their children may be at home without access to outside child care. Their friends may be working from home or struggling with unemployment. Our essential warriors’ experience during the pandemic is no less difficult, but we need them now more than ever to maintain the industries we rely on.
The Brother Bill’s Helping Hand staff has been working overtime to ensure the needs of our neighbors are met. During the pandemic, our staff has needed to respond more quickly and creatively than ever - and these folks stepped up to the challenge!
Our clinic team works tirelessly to meet the health needs of neighbors who often have nowhere else to go. Annual exams, diabetes care, and mental health don’t stop during a pandemic - so the team hasn’t stopped, either. We also must shine a light on our program team - from the drive-thru Grocery Store to virtual kids programs to responding to every neighbor’s phone call, this team keeps the wheels turning.
Thanks to our outstanding essential warriors, we have met the needs of nearly 13,000 neighbors during the pandemic. We’ve distributed 415,674 meals, saved neighbors $897,903 in grocery expenses, welcomed 918 volunteers, hosted telehealth appointments, and launched a YouTube channel for kids.
We are taking all necessary precautions, including splitting up into teams to limit exposure coming in and out of the building; practicing masking, shielding, and gloving; and having no two staff in an enclosed office together. Still, Wes Keyes shares,
“Please pray for our staff. They are on the front lines of serving our neighbors with, as we say in our mission statement, the ‘Essentials of Life.’”
