Branimir Balogovic
At press time, it’s been almost six weeks since our collective worlds were totally upended by the onslaught of COVID-19. So suddenly torn from each other, our individual existences—in the blink of an eye—became so much more individual, more distinct, more separate.
But at the very same time, over the course of the past month and a half, an entirely new culture of connection has emerged. Utilizing the unprecedented access to each other that our digital age allows, the waves of creative collaboration have not missed a beat. Our communities have risen up in various ways to address the overwhelming challenges this disease has brought into our home. Hyper-local initiatives have sprung up in big cities and tiny towns alike as groups work together to support our healthcare workers, our small businesses, our artists, and our neighbors most deeply impacted by the pandemic.
Visitors’ Bureaus like Monroe-Westmonroe’s (monroe-westmonroe.org), Iberia Parish’s (iberiatravel.com/blog), St. Martin Parish's (cajuncountry.org), and Downtown Lafayette’s (downtownlafayette.org) have re-tooled their websites to serve as resources offering listings of virtual experiences, restaurants offering curbside pickup, online shopping options for local shops, and resources for medical personnel and other essential workers. Some local organizations like St. Francisville Main Street & Merchants Association have worked to create altogether new resources like St. Francisville Strong (stfrancisvillestrong.com), a website serving as a one-stop shop from which to buy gift certificates from participating businesses. Efforts like Keep BR Serving (keepbrserving.com) and Social Entertainment’s Lost My Tips Fund focused on employees of restaurants, bars, and venues who are currently out of work. Countless organizations have stepped up and even joined together to source free meals for healthcare professionals and first responders. Just to name a few initiatives that also enlist the work of local restaurants to achieve this: Entergy’s “Fueling the Fight” BRAF fund (classy.org/campaign/fueling-the-fight), Port Orleans Brewing United, and BR Answer the Call—not to mention our longstanding food banks like Second Harvest (no-hunger.org) and Greater Baton Rouge Food Bank (brfoodbank.org) which have been working triple time to meet the needs of our struggling communities. And in New Orleans, the epicenter of Louisiana’s outbreak, the city set up the comprehensive resource NOLA Ready (ready.nola.gov), which offers extensive information on COVID-19 stats, symptoms, prevention strategies, and an hourly Assistance Calendar which includes everything from drive thru testing sites to Zoom Yoga classes to free food distribution from organizations like Culture Aid NOLA and No Kid Hungry Louisiana.
As the causes multiply, so do the efforts. Louisiana has always been collaborative, and has always been resilient. By working together, even when we are apart, we’ll make it to the end of this. And we’ll be together again soon.
