Coordinated Services; Coordinated Efforts are Needed

People want life to flow in a logical, effortless way. (Whose logic?) We don’t want to be inconvenienced, however, navigating between what we want and life’s realities is a challenge.

Certainly, the pandemic has visibly demonstrated America, our states, and communities are not coordinated.  All of the technology we have accelerated the philosophy of everyone do your own thing (oh, and take a picture & post it!) and we think we are connected.

“America’s Crisis of Despair” by Carol Graham and The Brookings Institute identifies the latest research, Americans are dying of loneliness, despair, and COVID-19 is part of the problem. Or has COVID-19 simply unmasked the problem of loneliness? Lack of HOPE IS A CENTRAL THEME.

Japan and Great Britain have created offices to help “coordinate services” on interrelated issues which plague humans in today’s technological workplace and the world:  alcohol/drugs, mental health, suicide, school dropouts, violence, etc.  Granted it sounds weird to have the loneliness office, but isn’t identifying a root cause, then setting priorities and identifying different groups to work on the different parts of the problem what America needs? 

In ages past, this process was called the family with Mom and Dad as the Officers in charge, propped up by the extended family, religious institutions, and the community. Today that structure is fractured and frayed… the family needs SUPPORT not SUPPLANTING. Let’s not build more agencies, let’s offer HOPE AND HELP DIRECTLY TO FAMILIES.

-Peggy Sapp, President & CEO