Making Sense of It All—Oct 2020
Please watch this important message for all Goodwill Northern Michigan employees from Executive Director Dan Buron, or read the message below. (6 min)
Hello everyone—
I hope that you and your family and friends are keeping well. I wanted to give you an update on things at Goodwill Northern Michigan. For our organization, the “fiscal” year begins in October. The new fiscal year is a time when we look at our financial situation and assess goals and priorities for our mission services. We set a plan for tackling the challenges and opportunities that lay before us as an organization in the next 12 months. And that new year is now underway.
When we think about the coming year, we know it will be a year unlike any other. How do we even think about a year that comes with such high levels of uncertainty, ambiguity, and complexity? How do we make sense of it all?
One thing is certain as we have looked at the coming year: our employees — your health, safety, and well-being — are top priority. Our plans for the coming year prioritize our team members, and that’s what I’d like to talk about today.
As we face this time together as an organization, and as individuals who play other roles in our lives, our mental health needs to be tended to. On a day-to-day basis, how do we help our family, friends, kids, employees, customers, clients, and, most importantly, ourselves, sustain mental and physical health?
We are close to eight months into the pandemic now. Nothing like this is likely to happen to us again during our lifetimes, but it’s here now, and we don’t know how long it will last. Some say we may still be dealing with COVID in the year 2022. There’s great uncertainty in our country, socially and economically. It's okay to acknowledge that, and what we're feeling.
We are in this crisis together, but it affects us all differently. Some of us feel trapped, others feel isolated. Some of us are struggling just to keep our heads above water. Many people feel lost, stressed out and anxious. For many of us, our mental health is suffering, and we just don't know how to deal with it. This is all a very big deal.
To get through it, we will need to be mindful. In order to sustain ourselves and be the co-worker, the parent, the friend or the spouse we want to be, we have to have strength and capacity ourselves. As airline flight attendants remind us during the emergency announcements, we need to put our own mask on first, before we put masks on our children, family, and everyone else.
As an organization, we will be making special efforts to train ourselves on how we can help ourselves and others deal with the stress we face in our daily lives and at work. Mental health issues are especially acute during the holidays, even in the best of times. This year, the pandemic is going to impact our holiday traditions, causing additional stress and isolation. Our daily lives and the special times we rely on are all different now. This takes a toll on us, day after day, month after month. We don’t usually talk about these issues in the workplace, but these are not normal times. We must acknowledge what is happening and be intentional about doing what we can to support ourselves and our fellow team members.
Sometimes, we might have the blues, or be short with people, or feel any range of different emotions. Our employees, clients, customers, and loved ones are all having similar experiences, and at times, they may express these emotions to us — or at us — depending on the circumstance. We know that their reaction isn’t necessarily about what is happening in the moment. We know that many times, their reaction is more about the things that are happening to them, and the trauma/stress they are feeling. Everyone we meet is fighting a battle we know nothing about. It takes intention and practice to be present and empathetic during these moments, without adding to our own stress and trauma. In the coming year, we are prioritizing programs to help our team members remain emotionally strong and healthy so that we can be present and empathetic for each other and the people we serve. During good weather, it's easier to keep ourselves grounded and balanced. We are able to be outside doing all kinds of different things. In the darker months of the year and during the holidays, it’s harder to keep healthy. We each need to think about what that means for us. For me, keeping healthy in winter means having an exercise goal, getting outside no matter what the weather, and following a gratitude and reflections practice.
Your plan will probably look different, but if ever there was a year to start or re-start a healthy habit that is meaningful to you, 2020 is it! Maybe there is something you have always wanted to learn or do — it could be exercise, meditation, a craft, journaling, re-connecting with friends, families and neighbors, joining a virtual book club, joining a community or church group.
Whatever it is, we all need time to re-balance and center ourselves, and safely connect with other people. We need to find a way to cope with today and whatever tomorrow may bring. Being kind to yourself can help. There is so much we cannot control in our lives right now. I hope you can find something that you can directly control to provide some balance, a sense of accomplishment, and some comfort during these days.
There are also trained professionals you can talk to confidentially, any time of day or night, at no cost. We’ve included four resources below that can help you and your family as you go through the days, weeks, and months ahead. Please take a look and see if there is a good fit for you and your loved ones. The folks at these services have lot of information and resources at their fingertips, and they want to help.
I have found myself telling this story a lot recently, and I want to share it with all of you. When Winston Churchill was working to form the United Nations after WWII, he famously said, “Never let a good crisis go to waste.” I believe this is good advice for us. Let's not waste this opportunity for positive change in our lives, and in the lives of our families and our communities. Let us be strong and embrace the opportunity and challenges that lay before us. Thank you for all that you do for Goodwill Northern Michigan.
Dan Buron
Goodwill Northern Michigan Executive Director
danb@goodwillnmi.org
231-995-7710
Free Mental Wellness Resources
Employee Assistance Program
Our Employee Assistance Program is free to every Goodwill Northern Michigan employee and their family members. The program provides counseling and life coaching services to help us solve problems, access legal and financial resources, sort out emotions and clarify issues. Employees and their family members can call 989-732-6761 for help with things like marital and family conflict, alcohol and drug abuse, depression and mental health issues, and financial problems. Find out more online or by reading this brochure from our EAP program provider. We provide this service through Catholic Human Services, a United Way agency that serves all people, regardless of faith, income, race or ethnicity.
Stay Well Counseling Hotline
FREE SERVICE—COVID-19 has impacted most everyone’s mental health in one way or another, and the Stay Well counseling hotline is here to help. Just dial Michigan’s COVID-19 hotline at 1-888-535-6136 and press “8” at the prompt. The line is staffed by crisis counselors 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It's confidential and there is no charge to call. The service is part of a federally-funded grant program implemented by MDHHS in partnership with the Michigan State Police, and is aimed at helping Michiganders during these stressful and uncertain times.
Mental Health Crisis Line
NO OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS—Northern Lakes offers a Mental Health Crisis Line that is available to everyone in the community: you, your family and your friends. The Hotline at 1-833-295-0616 helps people in crisis by providing resources and trying to help make things better. Anyone in Northern Michigan who feels they are in crisis can call, no matter who they are or what time of day it is, no matter what their health status, age or type of crisis. The line is staffed by trained professionals 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are no out-of-pocket costs, so you can call even if you do not have insurance. Dial 1-833-295-0616 any time.
FREE SERVICE—Michigan 2-1-1 is an easy and free way to connect with help of all kinds, right in your own community. Just dial 2-1-1 on your phone (kind of like 9-1-1, but different). The line is open 24 hours a day at no cost. The person who answers will have lots of information at their fingertips to help you access resources right in your own area. Need help with food, housing, or paying bills? Need support in a family crisis or community disaster? Michigan 2-1-1 is there. Any time. All the time. It's free and confidential, so just dial 2-1-1 or 1-844-875-9211. You can also text your zip code to 898211, or chat and search online at mi211.org.