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(Week 2: part 2, level 1)
By mrs. patsi @ A
Working Pantry
Wagon clipart link …
https://clipart-library.com/clipart/713877.htm
(For those just popping in, this is an imaginary
scenario that's part of a class we are doing and not real life.)
We are now on day 11
of having no power and things are really starting to get concerning. You are
hearing of looting and stealing so you take extra measures for keeping what you
have locked up and safe.
It’s late afternoon
and you’re working on making the rounds to ensure that everything is locked up
for the night, when a neighbor approaches you in your yard. You both chat, sharing what you know about
what’s going on trying to get a gauge on your neighborhood and or area.
In the conversation, your neighbor tells
you about an elderly couple nearby that’s having a hard time. They live alone and are struggling … they
have no source of light, their food and water supply is running out and if your area is
experiencing cooler/cold weather, no way to keep warm. Your neighbor tells you that they have been
staying in bed under piles of blankets to stay warm only coming out to take
care of necessities … if your area is experiencing cooler temperatures. If your weather is warm/hot, then staying
cool is a struggle for this couple.
What are you going to do with this information? You may or may not personally know this couple.
Let me throw in something for us to think about here by sharing some of my thoughts ... a lot of us here seem to be handling this first level of preparedness well, that makes me so happy! But there are others who aren't prepared or can't ... I'm thinking specifically of the elderly, children, and the disabled. For those of us who live a prepared lifestyle, who knows that you're not here in this time ... for such a time as this ... to teach and help those who can't help themselves. I was born and raised into a family that lived and believed in preparing for the year ahead and I have carried that belief with me all my life. As an adult I have been made to feel that this lifestyle was silly and have even been called a hoarder at times, but recently I've come to understand that God was preparing me to be able to help others ... for such a time as this. Help comes in lots of forms and let me say right here and now that I do not believe in handouts to able bodied people who don't want to work. But for those elderly, the children and those who are disabled or even those who are going through a temporary bad time ... yes, for such a time as this, God has prepared me to help through my teaching and in sharing of my time and resources as I can.
Part of this scenario is figuring out what you are going to do when it comes to helping others. As this scenario progresses, this is an issue that you will be faced with over and over. It's time to set some guidelines on who to help and what that help will look like.
I can't wait to read your comments!
mrs.
patsi @ A Working
Pantry
She looketh well to
the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
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I remember some of the Texas folks during the great winter storm would take those tents/covers that would fit over a kids bed and use those to stay warm while in bed. So I would see if anyone in the neighborhood had an extra one that weren't using.
ReplyDeleteBy this time my family would have figured out which house was best place to camp out and moved in with one another to share things and responsibilites, esp with schools being closed.
Also I've got a small heater and small fan that I can run off batteries or use back up charger to run.
My faith means that I am called to assist those in need, particularly the weak. Since it is in the 30Fs where I live cold would be the biggest issue. Since we have a generator, I could invite them to stay in our guest room. However, unless it’s extremely urgent, many people don’t want to leave their homes.I f so, I would offer to heat rice bags or other items to help them stay warm, or, they could spend the day at our house and go home to sleep if that’s safe. We would be happy to cook for them, but I would ask them to provide some of the food from their stock if they had any. That would help us and prevent them from feeling like a charity case. I would visit their home and see if I could provide them any ideas for doing things differently, in a gentle way, of course.
ReplyDeleteEleven days! That is rough! I personally could not go and check on them. I cannot go where there are steps and I don't know if at this point my mobility scooter is still charged up. But, we have a lot of good and caring neighbors and they would be willing to go along with Hubby and check on them. During the hurricane neighbors were helping neighbors here to the point of even cooking for each other because some have big RV's and had facilities that others of us did not have. I feel sure that a solution would be found for them. We always have plenty of food to share if others could cook. Others in the neighborhood have huge supplies of fire wood although the problem was being too hot here. Sometimes the elderly don't think to open windows. Some are on city water so that water can be had for toilet flushing. Our next door neighbor is a nurse and would check on them for health concerns.
ReplyDeleteWe are in our first big snow in our area. We’ll have a high of 30F today. My biggest neighborly concern is my mom. She lives behind us, about a one minute walk across a field without snow. Up until now, she hasn’t been willing to leave her home vacant. I doubt she will still, so my husband and I might have to split up. Maybe we’ll be able to convince her she’ll be safer with us all together. One of our basement rooms is more insulated than the rest and won’t freeze. We can hole up in there until the weather changes. I’ll be saving some of the snow for water. Mel in Co.
ReplyDeleteAll ready was thinking about this at the very beginning. I know for a fact my husband would have already checked on them. Brought food or other things. Where we live every one has a fireplace or wood stove. So he would make sure they have wood. This is something we have done during power outages and storms ect. Tina
ReplyDeleteFirst, my doors remain locked at all times, and my pup (a miniature schnauzer) thinks he's Kujo the killer dog. Even though my garage door is inoperable, the interior door from the garage to my home is locked. In this situation, I think a lot would depend on a) whether or not I knew the person who had approached me, and b) whether or not I'd met the elderly couple, even in passing, or at least had a mutual connection. As a female single senior, I am always cautious in situations like this -- even though my Christian upbringing makes me want to rush in and help. Since it was someone from the neighborhood who I'd met that approached me, I would want to get a complete picture of what was going on -- is this someone that I may have met, or at least know where they live (i.e. 2 doors down from Syl, or on Pat's block?)? After discussing the situation, I'd likely offer what assistance I could provide. Because my water supply is somewhat limited, I'd be hesitant to participate in that manner. But, I do have planters that I use for my summer deck gardening and I have plenty of candles of all sizes, from tea-lights to tall pillars and regular tapers, both small and large. Because this couple lives in my neighborhood, I'd put together supplies and draw out a diagram of how to set up a terra cotta heater and personally deliver it in a "care package" to them and share with them safety concerns for using such a heater, making sure they put it on a marble/granite stone or other hard surface (not wood or something flammable). I'd also tell the person who alerted me of this situation that I'd be willing to teach others in the neighborhood how to make their own, with supplies they may have on hand. Depending on what I had available, I would bring some ready-to-eat items to tide them over. During our personal encounter, I'd try to assess their true needs, how self-sufficient they "could" be, where I could be of most service to them, and I'd promise to check in with them in the coming days, even if it was only to pray with them for safety. In this manner, I could gather others from the neighborhood to assist with their needs going forward, rather than to try and accommodate all of their care on my own. And, we could determine a long-term plan for them, whether they were utilizing their own resources to the fullest, or simply relying on others for their support. Do they have a grill of some way of cooking food? If not, I'd work with others to determine a way for them to prepare food -- perhaps partner with a neighbor (closer than me) for cooking, or what they may have available in their garage to put together a rocket stove? What food do they have available for meals, and do they have a manual can opener available to open them? Any canned goods or beverages on hand? (I do want to say that, unfortunately, in my area, there are a lot of "takers" who think everyone "owes" them, and rather than actively participating, they rely on others to give (or they simply take what they need). While I know that I should be of service to all, without judgement, in an urgent situation such as this, the cautious side of me would be on high alert.)
ReplyDeleteI would have to take them into my home. We have many beds, and I do have much shelf stable food that I could certainly share with them, along with alternate means of cooking. Plus they would have someone to keep eyes on them .
ReplyDeleteI would do this too. I could not leave them there knowing i had room and food to help. That way, I could keep an eye on them too in case they needed more attention from a professional.
DeleteIn our street, we are probably the elderly, being almost eighty - apart from our next door neighbour who is a hoarder and doesn't speak to anyone anyway (and doesn't want to) they are all very young people renting big homes to share the rent - they probably don't have a bean between them for preparedness so some of them would be the ones who were looting if anyone did - however some could surprise us but from what I've seen, I doubt it. We have gone from a street of everyone knows and helps everyone else to nobody has a clue who these people are and they don't want to know you. If possible, we'd help wherever we could but I would never offer my home to anyone, I would be more likely to have my own family come to stay where we could all share resources. It's a tough situation and I'd be glad to share spare bedding, blankets etc but that wouldn't be necessary here given the heat we're already experiencing. I would be grateful if people asked how WE were but I wouldn't expect that to happen here either, sadly. My faith in human nature is at an all time low at the moment, I'm very disillusioned - sorry, I know this isn't what you want to hear but my own feelings about it are very real.
ReplyDeleteWhen new folks move into our "neighborhood" (the full time ones live three miles from us), we introduce ourselves and drop off our phone number for emergencies. So we would have made at least one contact prior to the emergency. Mister and I would drop in "to just check in" as we did during the recent flooding and ask if they needed anything. We are into fall, so we would offer the use of our Dyn-O-Glo kerosene heaters. We kept them on hand for such a time after we bought our generators. The tops heat up enough that I have cooked pots of soup, beans, and even cornbread on them. If they are more independent, I would just drop off a jar of hot soup and bread "because I made too much", because in our community it is considered rude to not accept food gifts. I also keep a number of oil lamps with fuel as well as solar lights, so we could offer them. As for water, we have our well on a generator, so we can share water for drinking and flushing. We can move a lot of water buckets in our tractors' loaders. During the hurricane, we turned our loaders up and caught rain water for the animals and toilets. As we have two tractors, it was a remarkable amount of water. We are fortunate to be country folk...
ReplyDeleteTo Pam C. I get that, actually.
ReplyDeleteThank you for that.
DeleteI suppose that my answer would depend on whether I knew them or not. If I knew them I would drop by and say that I was just popping in on a few folks I know and checking out if they were ok. That would give them a chance to talk and tell me what they actually needed. You don't always get the full picture when you just hear things second hand. I could then offer to help them out as best I could, or even contact other neighbours to see if they could help too.
ReplyDeleteIf I didn't know them I would be reluctant to do that as they might be too worried/proud to tell anything to a stranger, given the looting etc. I think in that case I would contact our local minister and see if he could make the visit on behalf of the church. They might not be religious (I am not a member of the church myself) but they may well be more willing to open up to an offer from him. I would make it clear to him that I would be willing to help share the things I have and he would probably also be able to call on help from church members as well.
On our road there are four houses. When Covid hit, my son took the neighbor at his end in hand, and we offered to care for the neighbor at our end of the road. Neither wanted to leave their homes. Maxine had family who thanked us but assured us they were there for her. We left our phone number and told her, "Call if you need anything for any reason." Ditto with Chester at the other end of the road.
ReplyDeleteAs someone mentioned before, it's unlikely that elderly will want to leave their homes. I know this from experience with my Granny and Great grandmother. They stayed in their home and they weren't budging. Of course, they had some means to heat their home and foods they could eat if not heat. They were old hands at making do. I learned from them!
I thank the one who mentioned the terracotta pot heater. Great reminder of something I knew but had forgotten. It would be a help. Of course, we could also offer to cook hot meals and yes, we'd ask them if they had foods on hand that we could cook FOR THEM, not for our own use so they'd not feel they had been forced to rely on others. I'd also offer to sort out their fridge and freezer contents so they wouldn't be faced with that when this thing was over. My husband could offer some slight medical assistance, assessing their blood pressure, blood sugar and asking about medications etc. And as we have a sizeable neighborhood just off our road of a dozen or more houses, I expect we'd go to several of those neighbors and see what help they might offer those who are in need.
Our neighbors are ALL working class folks and not prone to put up with looters. And I mean that just as anyone chooses to take it! When you live in a rural area among folks who have worked for what they have nonesense is discouraged.
I live in a small community and everyone knows everyone, or a family member. So I assume I know them. I would check in on them with some kind of offering. (IRL a tea bread or cookies) Probably some of what ever we were having for dinner. I would then access the situation from that point. It is possible they don't want help or are already getting help. Then go from there.
ReplyDelete