If you are like most of us, your inbox is filled with emails and text messages from leaders of organizations who want to reassure us during this difficult time. Most talk about how we will come through this together and how there is a lot of good in our communities if we just look closely enough. And all of that is true.
AND … when in my training to become a grief recovery specialist, one of the things they taught us is that healing is difficult unless and until there is recognition of the pain and suffering someone is going through. Until we acknowledge the pain, we cannot move through it. If we don’t acknowledge it, it haunts us.
So I just want to say what I think we are all feeling: THIS REALLY SUCKS! It’s hard and weird and confusing. It can test us in ways we couldn’t foresee and has plunged many of us into darkness. Some of us are desperately concerned about our finances or a family member. Some of us don’t like being cooped up or are in an unsafe situation. Some of us are wondering what this will mean for our children’s futures if they miss the rest of the school year or we are struggling to work from home and keep up their education at the same time. The list of struggles and worries goes on and on. It is a list that is unique to us all.
I get it. I’m pretty good at this resiliency thing, and I am using all of my tools to get by! A confession: This morning I made a batch of my Grandma June’s cheese biscuits just because I really needed a taste from home to help me feel better!
This situation is testing us. It is challenging our ability to be creative thinkers, to problem solve, to manage limited resources. It is testing our partnerships, and our ability to be connected while apart. It is testing our patience, and our capacities. It’s no joke and neither is the stress that comes with all of it.
And in the midst of it all … all of the noise and the chaos … are the children. Those with little agency to control decision making, yet those who feel the impact of those decisions. And at FACES, we are here to humbly serve the children.
So when we thought about “what comes now?” – now that our programs need to adapt to a changing situation – our hearts and minds immediately went to the FACES students and to the people we work with to support them. How can we continue to humbly serve them when they are out of school?
Here is a link 
to our “FACES for the Future Coalition COVID-19 Response” document.
It outlines what we are doing to keep our programs operational and connected to people. We focused on some key areas of service, including a resolve to KEEP THEM LEARNING even while they are out of school.
We know it can’t fix everything – but we are committed to doing all we can to maintain our relationships and direct service to FACES students.
We want to thank you all for your continued support. We are grateful to our partners in this work, our FACES families who are bravely managing uncharted waters, and our FACES students who continue to impress us every day with their humor and resiliency.
And I also want to thank the FACES team. Each person in the FACES Coalition of programs is bringing all of their passion, hard work, skill and professionalism to the table. I am honored to work with each of them every day!
