Issue 71 June / July 2020 - Special Edition: COVID-19 Response ATB is published six times a year by the Saint John Human Development Council - sjhdc.ca
Heroes everywhere: Saint John’s awesome response to COVID-19
The faces of our response: awesome community partners
Lorna Brown, Editor (506) 647- 4850, sjcommunitynewspaper@gmail.com This is a story of awesomeness. It’s the story of how the nonprofits who serve Saint John’s priority neighbourhoods and our most vulnerable fellow citizens stood up to be counted during COVID-19. Much has been written about the courage of the front-line healthcare workers, the grocery store clerks and sanitation workers, the lab techs and farmers and truckers - and rightly so. Collectively, they kept us alive. There have been only two deaths in New Brunswick at time of writing. But the non-profit sector is largely unsung. Their story is one of innovation and quick pivoting, creativity and compassion and frustration, and their voice deserves to be heard. This special issue of Around the Block offers them that opportunity, electronically from June 22nd with printed copies to follow by early July. Over a period of three months, I interviewed thirty people so they would not have to stop their critical work to write an article for ATB, and to capture their COVID journey while it was happening so we would have a historical record of our community’s response. I was daily astounded by their perseverance, expertise, good humour, and caring. Thanks to them for their generosity with their time; the great stories could have filled these pages ten times over. A few were able to submit stories, and these are credited; the rest are interviews. All remaining uncredited writing is the editor’s.
The Loan Fund team in COVID mode: positive, collaborative, and on Zoom! (Photo: Loan Fund)
Thanks as always to our sponsors (below) and to our advertisers for this special issue. Mr Rogers said, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers.’” The news in the spring of 2020 was scarier than most of us have ever known it. Here are the helpers. Take them out of the equation in Saint John and the plight of our priority neighbourhoods would look very bleak indeed. With their help, we are getting through COVID-19 better than anywhere. On the right and throughout are many of their faces. As you read, you will hear their voices. It has been a privilege to listen to them tell their stories in their own words.
There are heroes everywhere
Safety, seriousness, and smiles! Clockwise from top left: Lily McNulty dishing up mac and cheese with tomatoes with Charlene Good and Dianne Daigle in the background (Photo: Romero House); Jasmine Chandra (Pennies and Sparrows) at the Diamond Jubilee Cruise Terminal (Photo: Greater Saint John Emergency Food Program); Bethany Reinhart keeping things sanitized at the Atlantic Coastal Action Program (ACAP) office (Photo: Abi Reinhart); and Kendra Gautreau at the YMCA bagging up care packages for seniors with a smile in her eyes (Photo: Saint John Y)
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