Coronavirus has inspired us to help each other. Can we keep that spirit alive?

I’d never heard of self-care until I had children. Suddenly, this concept of putting on one’s own oxygen mask first — caring for myself so that I may be healthy and prepared to care for my children — became a critical tool in my toolbox. Over the past several years, self-care has become increasingly prominent.

A number of months ago I happened across an article talking about another form of compassion: community care. Community care is essentially any care provided by a single individual to benefit other people in their life. One expert describes it as “people committed to leveraging their privilege to be there for one another in various ways.”

This article sat open in my browser for months. I couldn’t stop noodling on it. I loved the idea but struggled to see how to implement it on a broader scale. In an era of dwindling civic engagement, how does one encourage people to step out of their box and care more deeply for one another?

Enter a global pandemic.

I have been joyfully astounded at the number of generous community care efforts that the COVID-19 pandemic has spawned. Generosity amidst crisis and struggle is particularly notable within the homeless community. These folks who have so much less than the rest of us are willing to share and band together in a way that is not as commonly seen amongst those of greater means. It seems there is something about crisis and deprivation that humbles us and allows us to come into community with one another on a deeper level.

The Olympia Mutual Aid Collective has been an excellent source of local, fact-based information about the pandemic, and also features postings from people asking for and needing help. In one case, a family on the verge of homelessness asked for building supplies to construct a makeshift home, and another group member answered with an offer of the use of her tiny home until the family could find a better fit.

Efforts such as Blessing Baskets and Ding Dong Dash allow people to leave surprise gifts on the doorsteps of other community members who are struggling during this time, or who maybe just need a little pick me up.

The South Salish Mighty Masks group came together quickly, and in a very organized fashion, to connect local mask makers with those who need masks.

Community members and local restaurants are cooking up a storm to ensure that our community members experiencing homelessness have access to meals. The Interfaith Works Shelter, Just Housing, the Community Kitchen and others are looking for help making and distributing meals.

All I have to do is look out my window to see more neighbors chatting (at a distance) than I did pre-pandemic. People are coming together and are checking on one another in a way that was not so ubiquitous before the pandemic.

In crisis we see the best of our community. I am curious how we might foster this community spirit going forward when we don’t have a crisis to catalyze our connection to each other and our larger community.

This crisis has been hard and it has revealed many cracks in our system, but it has also highlighted how our community can come alive and create some pretty magical stuff.

Whitney Bowerman is a member of The Olympian’s 2020 Board of Contributors. She can be reached at whitneybowermanboc@gmail.com

This story was originally published May 29, 2020 at 5:46 AM.