“Share Your Pandemic Story” is an invitation and an opportunity for Town of Warwick residents to share their personal experiences of the global coronavirus pandemic. We all want to hear it. Sharing our experiences - of loss, resilience, isolation, and connection – can offer an opportunity for healing.
The global coronavirus pandemic and the changes in our lives that ensued have enormously impacted our mental health. Stress about contracting the virus coupled with job changes or losses, varying levels of isolation, as well as the devastating grief of losing loved ones due to Covid-19 are just a few ways the pandemic has affected and continues to affect mental health. Rates of depression, anxiety, suicide, and overdose have increased across the U.S. since 2020 and continue to rise.
Conversely, during the pandemic, many people experienced situations that changed their lives for the better or helped them create better connections with people in their lives - or simply allowed them to slow down. The pandemic was and is a global trauma that has changed us as a community, and we want to hear about your experiences – the good, the bad, the ugly, the triumphant. Tell us your story - of loss, resilience, isolation, connection – of whatever you personally experienced during the pandemic.
In coming together as a community to share our stories, we can learn that we are not alone in our experiences. We can find connections and begin to heal. Town of Warwick residents can submit your story anonymously or not, whichever you prefer. We will share stories with the Warwick community by posting them physically at our local libraries and government buildings and electronically to our website.
We will also use them to help identify topics for discussion at an upcoming free “You Are Not Alone” mental health forum We the People Warwick is planning for the evening of November 10th. The length and format of your story is up to you. Non-native English speakers are welcome to write in their native language. We will welcome story submissions through October 15th.
If you wish to submit your story anonymously, please type (or print) and drop it in the drop box labeled Pandemic Stories at one of the following locations: Warwick Town Hall and Village Hall, Florida & Greenwood Lake Village Halls, Pine Island and Sugar Loaf Post Offices, Warwick, Florida and Greenwood Lake libraries, Warwick ShopRite and Price Chopper.
Or you can mail your story to We the People Warwick, P.O. Box 585, Warwick, NY 10990. If you don’t care to submit your story anonymously, you can email your story to wethepeoplewarwick@gmail.com. We all look forward to reading your story and learning about the ways we connect and are beginning to heal.
Beverly Braxton
Warwick