The blog: COVID-19 and the power of taking it personally

Editor’s note: This is the fourth installment of our new blog. We will be asking for insights from people from across the community who have something to say about their experiences, the ongoing state of affairs, or their lives that will speak to our current time together. Today we hear from Chris Sargent. If you would like to contribute please let us know. — Kathy Jennings, Managing Editor, Southwest Michigan's Second Wave

Taking it personally has never felt so personal.

Over the past two weeks, I’ve spent far more time in my home than anywhere else. My meeting schedule hasn’t changed—still more blocks on my calendar than in a kid’s toy box—but I’m talking across an internet connection instead of a conference table. The content of those meetings, however, is more intense, more urgent than ever. A global pandemic tends to do that.

In the troughs between waves of Zoom meetings and conference calls, I think about the coronavirus outbreak in personal terms.

I think about friends and family who, due to age or health or both, are at greater risk if they get sick. I think about my children and grandchildren, for whom the risk isn’t zero even if they’re healthy. I think about myself and my wife, how we worry for each other and for our loved ones.

On top of that, I can’t help but think of the thousands of people in Battle Creek, in Kalamazoo and communities in between, that United Way and our partners work hard to serve every day. These people—strangers, neighbors and friends—struggle to get by in the best of times. What might these anxious times mean for them?

I often say that I take my work personally. That’s true. But let’s be honest: I don’t experience the daily trials of ALICE families. I don’t worry where my next meal will come from, or how I’ll keep the lights on if I miss a paycheck or two. I’m not on the receiving end of ethnic bias.

For Asset Limited, Income Constrained and Employed individuals, those are among the many things they face every day. And COVID-19’s threat to both health and jobs has put a much finer point on that fact.

The disease frightens us both for the same reasons; that’s where we share a personal connection. But for ALICE, that fear goes much farther; that’s where I and hundreds of others are inspired to help.

From my many meetings and conversations, I can tell you this: The Battle Creek and Kalamazoo region is rising up, determined to help every single person and family through this crisis.

I see it when companies, foundations, municipalities and individuals rally to support the Disaster Relief Fund, eager to tackle the basic needs of the most vulnerable.

I see it in the emergency response consortiums in Kalamazoo and Calhoun counties, which we are proud to have helped fund and create, and now participate in. These consortiums represent every sector of our region, coming together to assess the greatest needs and develop actions to address them.

I see it as volunteers staff food banks, or work with the schools to hand out meals, or deliver food to homebound residents.

I see it in the nonprofit partners throughout this region who are on the front lines to help vulnerable individuals and families.

I see it in the energy and expertise of the local 2-1-1 call center at Gryphon Place, showing once again the value of that human voice, that human heart, connecting people in need with the resources to help.

I see it in my amazing United Way team, most of whom are stuck at home like I am, yet they’re putting in long hours and enormous energy to keep crucial programs and assistance going, to generate new ideas to help—today and for the future.

That’s the power of this incredible community. That’s the power of compassion and partnership. That’s the power of taking it personally.

Chris Sargent is the President & CEO of United Way of the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo Region.