#StayHome: Let's do our bit!

These are unprecedented times we are living in. It’s a cliché to say it by now but it would probably be hurtful to ignore it. The economy is at a standstill, many of us are not working and all of us are confused as to whether there is an end of the crisis to look forward to in the near future. Daunting stuff.

However, solidarity has shown up in a big way too. This weekend, the Together at Home superstar initiative led by Lady Gaga with Global Citizen and the WHO raised more than 127 million dollars. Starting tomorrow, another huge online summit will gather to celebrate Earth Day for three days turning us into online activists for our aching planet. Everyone’s new favourite almost 100 year-old Captain Tom Moore has raised more than 27 million pounds for the NHS as I write.

I cannot count the amount of pictures I’ve seen of people sewing masks for the health professionals; the stories of men and women leaving meals on the doorstep of their neighbours who work in hospitals; the tales of people helping out parents by helping tutor their children. There are the landlords who have given their tenants the month off for rent; the companies maintaining the salaries of those who cannot work; the notes people have left in their elevators offering to do their elderly neighbours’ grocery shopping; the apartments made available to health workers or women and families fleeing domestic violence. The list goes on and that’s a wonderful thing!

Social distancing (and in some cases feeling like our governments aren’t up to the task) seems to have made us all more aware of our commonalities and the power of unity. I’m here for it and I want it to last. I have hope that many of the people who are volunteering for the first time today will find ways to incorporate that more in the future. Because our elders will still need help with their groceries once isolation is thawed and our generosity cannot make up for years of underfunding our health systems (thanks Denmark and Poland for paving the way towards a solution for that). Because the women we’ve helped pull out of dangerous situations will need help building their new life and those who have lost employment will need time and assistance in order to find new jobs.

We cannot go back to living exactly as we did before. Let’s band together in a sustainable way so that we instate more inclusivity, more solidarity in the months and years to come. I want that to be what sticks from our time in quarantine. Don’t you?