Month: November 2017

Holiday Giving: How to Remember the Unemployed & Underemployed

COVID hit hard this year and unemployment rates surged. The loss of a job today is a devastating event. People who lose their jobs are at heightened risk for anxiety and depression. In addition, parents trying to manage a work/life balance may work – but lack the hours and opportunity to get ahead of the tsunami of bills. They report feelings of helplessness, worthlessness, and despair about the future. Financial stressors are often the biggest triggers for marital stress.

For those looking to support someone who has lost their job, providing emotional support is critically important. Do make sure to check in and touch base. And, if at all possible, make sure to lend a hand with basic needs like childcare. Or, check in about basic household necessities. There is nothing quite like the gift of a full refrigerator when one’s budget is running on fumes.

 

Holiday Giving: Happy Sober Holidays

Friends and family of the newly sober should begin by congratulating the person in question for their willingness to seek or receive treatment. The Holidays may present some challenges for people who have decided to get and stay sober in the New Year.

Whether seeking help for substance abuse was prompted by a crisis, was the result of an intervention, or is entered into at the behest of the person seeking help — these efforts should be seen as nothing less than heroic. These efforts should be celebrated. Help them to scaffold, build, and guard their new truth in sobriety.

Help them to anticipate areas of stress in their life and ask how they can be anticipated and addressed. If childcare is an issue, anticipate areas that could be stressors. Help to organize carpools for schlepping children from ballet to soccer and so on. Arrange for meal delivery. Above all, check in. Let them know you believe in them.

Giving Guide 2020: For Those Recovering From Natural Disasters

Hurricane season 2020 devastated so many lives. In addition, wildfires in the Western United States were fierce. As we look to the Holidays, we at Give InKind want to take a few moments to remember the thousands of people whose lives were upended by hurricanes and wildfires in the United States and beyond. As families scramble to regroup, the holidays may be leaner than usual. Feel free to send gift cards so that parents can select presents for children – to replace old favorites now lost. 
Ret. Captain Troy Haley was on the ground as the representative for the New York Army National Guard for Hurricane Sandy. Haley has worked in numerous natural disasters and reminds that the needs after the storm last for a long while. Houses that are not properly cleaned following flooding risk mold contamination – which causes multiple problems down the road. Mucking out houses and providing regular cleaning is helpful.
Haley reminds that many who suffer the longer term effects of rebuilding are the elderly or families who lack resources. He reminds people to pay special attention to the elderly and the infirm.  (Flood insurance is a tricky thing – many people don’t have as much as they should and some don’t have any).
Justin Hogarth, who was a first responder as a Foreman for Central Hudson (a Fortis Company) for the Caribbean following Hurricanes Maria and Irma reminds that gift cards to local hardware shops are useful. So too are tarps to secure shelter. Hogarth remembers people in real need of work boots so that they could safely begin rebuilding. Consider sending a pair using an Amazon gift card.
As a general rule, as the storms recede into the past, many who experienced them continue to live them daily for months and sometimes years. It is a traumatic event to lose the sum total of possessions, home – it unmoors people. Making sure to remember their situation is a gift indeed these holidays.