Widening the World View
September 6, 2019
Spring Cleaning
March 21, 2023
We are a helping profession. We thrive when we lighten the burden for others. It’s the blood that runs through our veins. On Friday, March 27, we completed our last move for an older adult going into a senior living community. Today, March 30, we will finish packing a vacant apartment and then we will be “Safer At Home.” We know that we must protect ourselves and others by self-isolating but for those of us who want to see people where they belong, who want to hold their hands, schlep boxes and lighten the load, this is hard to comply with. Initially, we did our best to protect those vulnerable people we serve by wearing gloves, masks and booties. Our concern, first and foremost, was for them with compromised lungs, autoimmune diseases, and eight or nine decades under their belts. But then our own risk revealed itself as we learned of the rapid-fire way this virus spreads and we considered whether putting ourselves and those we live with in the path of virus is worth it.
Downsizing, packing and unpacking are not seen as essential services but in many different scenarios we have always seen it a such. When a Customer is recovering from a hip break, lives alone without any local family in a large home that has been sold and is closing without chance of a postponement, we know that temporary housing is not a great option and they will be safer in a one bedroom residence in a senior living community under quarantine. We know that we can help them quickly and efficiently get to their new safer space. And this was the scenario of the job we completed on Friday, our last move for the foreseeable future.
The calls from Customers continue and we are keeping a list of those who are ready for help once the virus has passed. It is heart breaking for us to say no. It goes against our nature. But we know from the news we are swimming in that Safer At Home is where we need to be. As a business owner, it’s so much more than loss of revenue. The health of the amazing humans we serve and the incredible humans on our team must be preserved at all costs.
As a business, we have prepared for slow times and our team is resilient, talented and resourceful. How will we use this time to come out stronger and more prepared? We belong to an industrious global association, the National Association of Senior Move Managers that provides outstanding training that we just, quite frankly, didn’t have time to slow down to do. All of our lead staff will now be trained as NASMM@Home Specialist and team members will have the opportunity to watch and be tested on best practice training videos and sessions from our NASMM National Conference. We will use this time to hone and expand our craft. We will stay connected and become more informed. When it’s time for us to be back in the world, we will be fortified and ready to meet the needs and again be the helpers we were born to be.