View of the coulees from the top of the Melcor Centre in Lethbridge (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By Justin Goulet

Supporting your neighbours during a pandemic

Apr 14, 2020 | 11:42 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – It’s as simple as just calling your neighbour or saying hi from across the street.

That’s from Chelsea Eastman with Volunteer Lethbridge. She said during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s important to support one another and stand strong as a community.

Eastman said there are community support services available for anyone affected by the coronavirus.

POSTCARD CAMPAIGN

She noted there is a postcard campaign in place in Lethbridge.

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The Lethbridge Public Interest Research Group (LPIRG) is overseeing the campaign, with support from the Canadian Mental Health Association, Alberta South Region.

Participants can fill out post cards that include resource information and add in their name and contact information to share with a neighbour who is seeking support.

The postcards can safely be dropped off to residents. Three different postcard styles are available.

“Helping our community doesn’t have to be [a] grand gestures…[it] can literally be as simple as calling our neighbour or just yelling across the street and saying hey, how are you,” Eastman said.

“Right here in our homes, we really can help each other, in our own neighbourhoods.”

Anyone interested can email pirg@uleth.ca to sign up for a delivery road/route. Copies of the postcards can be provided, or participants can download them from the City of Lethbridge website here.

WELLNESS CHECKS

Another support initiative is wellness checks for community members.

Eastman said it’s a chance for residents to reach out to people who may not have family nearby, or who don’t have a friend they can talk to.

“The main goal [is] to connect with those people who are feeling isolated and they don’t have community support. They don’t have someone that’s calling them regularly, they don’t have someone that can help them get their prescriptions or point them in the direction of who delivers prescriptions. Or, maybe they live with a bunch of people, but they still feel alone,” she explained.

“It’s also an opportunity for our community to not feel so isolated in a time where we’re expected to be separated and isolated.”

Anyone interested in taking part in the wellness check program can contact Volunteer Lethbridge’s office at (403) 332-4320 ext. 1 or email HelpingHands@VolunteerLethbridge.com.

Volunteers will be able to connect over the phone with someone who has sought support.

Anyone seeking support and who would like to receive wellness phone checks can also contact Volunteer Lethbridge.

Additionally, the Canadian Mental Health Association, Alberta South Region has also created a wellness check information package for any organization in the community that has a membership list of any type. Organizations looking to find out more about this can email davidg@cmhalethbridge.ca.

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