Community Reacts, Stays Home & Stays Safe

To fight the spread of the Covid-19, an emergency disaster declaration was issued, and citizens have been asked to Stay Home/Stay Safe. How has your family and the Cypress community handled this difficult time? Sarah Pack Crawford “Our son, Carter, was on Bridgeland High School’s Varsity soccer team. They had an amazing undefeated season in District play and were two games away from clinching th e District championship. Coach Gillespie has been very supportive throughout this stay at home period. He has personally called each family and communicates through email and zoom meetings w ith his team. He has also provided a daily workout for the boys that will help keep them in top shape.” Denise Kraft Knippers, a nurse, has been “Sewing, sewing away” on masks that she has donated to local first responde rs and volunteers. Denise admits to being exhausted. “I have been working 12 to 20-hour days, sewing and working virtually, or either screening from 9-2. I have donated to Conroe Regional Hospital, North Cypress ER and ICU,

Fairfield Family Medicine, U TMB Galveston, HPD, St Luke’s Labor and Delivery, a private doctor’s office, Woodard Elementary, Pope Elementary, and have sent some to New York and Virginia. I h ave s tood in line for two hours at JoAnn’s Fabrics to get material to sew more.” Knippers has made 685 and she has 200 more half finished to date. Michael Meissner Abba’s House is a local nonprofit that cares for refugee women and children as they transition to their new life in the U.S. “COVID19 forced us to cancel several large volunteer groups who were going to help us put in our garden and orchard. Sinc e then, though, We've had lots of families drop in one at a time to help us plant v egetables, put in trees, etc. We have so many kind and generous people in our community!” Jaime Connor Pierce “Learning to appreciate things we normally take for granted, seeing families spending quality time together, spending more time gardening and baking. Book clubs meeting online with Zoom, which saves us all money sinc e we are not eating out. I’ve had time to work on my ancestry. I’ve enjoyed reading and contributing to the ‘Positive News Corona’ FB page. Our preschools in Bridgeland have been walking around on hunts for animals and positive message we put in our windows. We had an outdoor concert on our street, with students playing their instruments outside while we stayed on our own driveways and sidewalks. Face

Timing with my daughter and her twin girls has helped me get through being separated from them.”

“Time with family - dinners have been awesome. Supporting local businesses, charities and the church. I started bike riding and am loving it! I have had some amazing prayer time with family and friends!” Susan Baldwin Glass “My husband and I participated in a ‘Surprise Birthday Party’ for my cousin in Nebraska. There were 39 of us on the Z oom call; we all wore funny hats and scarves. If we weren’t in our current situation, I’m not sure we would have done that. It was great to see everyone

Helen Redmon, Pope Elementary School Science Teacher “The pandemic has been extremely difficult for this teacher who is CRAZY about teaching and her students. My Google classrooms and Seesaw classrooms are a way to stay in touch with my classes. They are letting me know what they are doing and how they are feeling. We a re u sing ZOOM meetings and the children are enjoying seeing their teachers, their friends and themselves on the computer. We had a scavenger hunt on ZOOM, which was fun. I love hearing what they want to share with our classmates, and got to meet their pets, little brothers and sisters. Thank goodness for technology during this difficult time!” “This Stay Home/Stay Safe time is a great time to take a momen t to reflect on what is our priority. It also is a challenge that we can use to be innovative and creative. Let us not be depressed during this time, but let us rise to the challenge to create s omething new and look forward to the future with all our energy.”

Brigitta Diaz “The best part about being at home right now is being able to stay in touch with my friends even when they aren’t right next to me. We are u sing technology to keep in touch, hang out, and play video games together.” Karla Woods “Our baseball coach, Alex Lator, is providing the boys with zoom training. It is wonderful to see the boys working out and been able to see each other on video.” Patricia Hudson “Metta Archilla-Ishida, founder and Admin for Cypress Area Eats, a social media page for all things food related, had a plan. She started a CAE Care Team to serve medically fragile individuals and their families, as well as senior citizens and the disabled that have been unable to leave their homes for food. Metta enlisted the help of CAE members and food e stablishments to donate, shop, and even prepare food, tailored to the individual’s need. Adhering to strict social distancing, and with masks and gloves, Care Team members delivered essentia l needs of food, masks, gloves, toilet paper, and to the delight of the recipients, special touches, such as sweet treats and flowers. They have served an impressive 800 individuals during t his time.” Kelly Kearns “Kids got summer scholarships from two universities due to Covid money going to colleges, whereas usually FAFSA says we can afford 2 toppings on our pizza vs. 1, so no money for you!”