“We miss our friends! We miss our community!” This was the buzz we began hearing as our sheltered in experience grew longer and rightfully so!
We’ve shared some great stories about how The Arc of Delaware County has handled this time of uncertainty, crisis, and all the challenges that came along with it. If you’ve been following us you have seen how everyone has remained innovative, dedicated, and goal-driven. We’ve also found ways to allow for the hard stuff, the feelings of being isolated, alone, and sheltered in. Even when we aren’t exactly “alone”, even when we live with family and have a support team around us, there is nothing quite like putting parameters on how much we move about to usher in those feelings. And boy are they real! Community is important to all of us! To be connected, to relate, to share in our journey might just be the definition of community and the glue that binds us! We are social creatures.
So when we started hearing from everyone how much that connection was missed, we took a look around at what connection might look like in our “new normal”. It didn’t take long to find two fun ways to be a part of something bigger than our immediate lives, to be together while apart.
One of those projects is “Rainbows of Hope”. While we don’t know who and where it all exactly started, it soon became a worldwide expression of love with the message that we are all in this together. While enjoying the outdoors with the important amount of social distancing, keep your eyes open for rainbows in windows. Open up to the feeling of oneness with each one you see! We are Stronger Together! Are you looking to “seek the rainbow” in our neck of the woods? You can find a lot of them here at #607RainbowHunt.
Another amazing project that has spread worldwide is the Front Porch Project. Photographers all over set out to capture our “new norm” taking photos of families on front porches all over the world! And of course, they were all done… at no charge. ♥ We want to send out a very special thanks to Katlyn Quick of Quick Photography in Unadilla, NY for trekking to Delhi, NY, making five stops along the way ending in Sidney, NY, and finally back home! Another special thanks goes out to Jessica Halbrecht, our Margaretville neighbor, long time photographer and dear friend to Kat Pheysey, our residential program director. Jess is still out grabbing pictures and we will update the blog when they are ready. Tune in again!
These turned out to be just the ticket to help everyone feel connected to their communities again. Our combined message, “We are okay! We love you! We miss you and we’ll be together again soon! Stay safe!”
