Missouri Freemason Magazine - v65n03 - 2020 Spring

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Masonic Home of Missouri

CROWN JEWELS

Caring for your Masonic family during the time of COVID-19

We are experiencing a global pandemic for the first time in all of our lifetimes. Even the oldest group of living Missouri Masons, like Clifford and Alice Mathis, both centenarians and Masonic Home of Missouri clients featured in the Winter 2019 edition of Masonic Outreach, were just infants at the close of the last global pandemic, the Spanish Flu. It’s no wonder we are all struggling to know what to do. Simple needs like nourishing our bodies and maintaining spiritual practices have taken on entirely new shapes in our lives. The same can be said for connecting with and supporting the people we hold dear, but those connections and support are more important than ever. In fact, the World Health Organization says that helping others in a time of need can be equally helpful to the person receiving the help as it is to the person reaching out. It strengthens a sense of community, which is good for mental health.

Spring 2020

The Masonic Home of Missouri is here to help you maintain those connections and support within your Masonic family. While the physical offices of the Masonic Home of Missouri are closed due to statewide and local stay-athome orders, our staff continue to work from home to provide vital financial assistance to the Masonic community. This includes our Short-Term and Long-Term Financial Assistance programs, which we anticipate will be especially important in helping some Masonic families get through this crisis. Job loss and illness are two consequences many families may face as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, and both are situations that often trigger families to need the help provided through the Short-Term Financial Assistance Program. This program can provide financial assistance during financial hardships

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