Executive Director, Rebecca Buell Emerson, joins the podcast to update the OCL community as we all adapt to the changes taking place because of the COVID-19 virus.
She discusses the proactive steps of postponing in-person classes, how the team is increasing connection through virtual and social platforms, and explains the Care and Connection Challenge.
In these uncertain times, it is the goal of Our Community Listens to provide skills to help everyone listen with empathy, to promote care and connection and remind everyone – everybody matters.
AI-generated dictation of the podcast audio
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Adam Salgat:
Hello and welcome to the Our Community Listens podcast. My name is Adam Salgat. And with me today is Rebecca Buell Emerson, Executive Director of Our Community Listens. Thank you so much for joining us today on the podcast.
Rebecca Buell Emerson:
Thanks for having me, Adam, it’s a busy week for everyone, so I appreciate you making time for me.
Adam Salgat:
Absolutely. And I wanted to touch base with you and give you the opportunity to talk about the state of change that’s happening in Our Community Listens as it responds to the COVID-19 coronavirus.
Rebecca Buell Emerson:
Thanks so much, Adam. I don’t think, well, I started to say, I don’t think this is anything we could have predicted, but perhaps we could have. That’s for people way more versed in pandemics and, like, the World Health Organization, Center for Disease Control, people who are way smarter than I am in those things. But I think everyone would agree that when things were happening overseas, it didn’t feel imminent, and it didn’t feel like organizations needed to respond right away because it wasn’t in our backyard. And that in itself is probably a lesson in empathy and understanding.
So Our Community Listens like most of the community organizations, the businesses, the nonprofits, the churches, houses of faith, whatever, in our country. I think our response has been evolving over the last couple of weeks. I’ve had so many meetings since, especially starting that second week of March, that focused on, okay, what do we do when they say that we shouldn’t have gatherings of 250 people or more? What should we do when they say we shouldn’t have gatherings of 50 people or more? And I remember speaking with our leadership team thinking, okay, we don’t have 50 people in our typical class, so we’ll be okay. Maybe we can’t do these activities, but we still can do these activities. And then this week, the White House and the Center for Disease Control said, “Really, you shouldn’t have gatherings of 10 people or more.” So as these things have been going on, we’ve been responding, not only organizationally, not only from a functional, pragmatic, programming standpoint, but we’ve been responding as humans.
So the very first thing, like the announcement that went out yesterday, we have organizationally chosen to postpone all of our in-person Communication Skills Training classes. The thing that first got our organization started 10 years ago. We’ve postponed all of those until at least May. So mid-April, we’ll reassess, see where the Nation is, see where our communities are, and see if we can go ahead and start having classes in May, June, July. Like the rest of the Nation, we’re going to have to wait and see.
Beyond that, and this is something that’s kind of exciting because our board of directors has given us permission to be nimble in caring and understanding, and responsive. Our organization’s taking the opportunity to respond to community needs, to respond to all these messages we see on social media, of people who are home homeschooling for the first time. And they don’t know really what to do with kiddos for 24 hours a day, all locked in a room together. You know, it’s a new thing for a lot of people.
Adam Salgat:
Yeah, absolutely is. Yes.
Rebecca Buell Emerson:
That social isolation of I’m a business person. Me personally, starting tomorrow, I will be working from home out of care and protection of the people who have to be in the building. The people who can work from home are being asked to. So I will be working from home. I’m an extrovert who loves her job, and I get very comfy in my office. That’s going to be a different thing, and there’s going to be a lot of people in that position. So what can we do organizationally to help foster connection for people? And that place of understanding and grace, and just equipping people with tools to show up the best they can during this time.
So organizationally, we’ve shut down our in-person classes. We’re moving to more virtual, online opportunities. We’re going to start doing even listening sessions in cohorts and in our communities. So people can just have a chance to check-in. There doesn’t even necessarily have to be an agenda, but if there are 15 parents or grandparents, all homeschooling for the first time, they may want a chance to dial in and be seen and heard in value and know that they’re not by themselves.
Adam Salgat:
Absolutely. I know that even us right now, in this moment, taking the opportunity to record this podcast and being able to utilize video as a connection, that means a lot to me. So I think it’s going to be a needed thing.
Rebecca Buell Emerson:
I think so too. The introverts of the world, I’ve seen memes on the internet that the introverts of the world have been training for this moment their whole lives. And there’s people excited like I don’t have to leave the house. And there’s other people who ride on the side of extroversion that are going to be really uncomfortable and feel very isolated and disconnected and alone. And you know, this is not just a health crisis. It’s certainly going to have financial implications across the globe. The markets are tanking. I think we need to acknowledge it’s going to be a mental health crisis for a lot of people, too, as you pull away from that connection.
So our motto is that we imagine a society where people care for one another first. And the way we do that, the way we work toward that is equipping people with the tools for empathetic, authentic, truly human connection. And so during this time, what better time when people are feeling disconnected and alone, frustrated, fearful, whatever, what better time for us to share those tools and really create avenues where people can be seen and heard?
You know, when we’re in close proximity, I’m going to have a couple, well, my two, six foot one and six foot four humans that live in my home, they’re coming back home from college, and we’ll all be in each other’s space after having lots of independence and that stuff. I mean, it’s going to be a new thing, and I’m sure at some point, Adam, I will need empathy, and I’ll need to give empathy to others. I think there’s going to be a lot of people that have the need for those unconnection skills and just the reminders. And so Our Community Listens is going to publish little micro-lessons, little micro-learning opportunities. Our team is already working on our own real vulnerable things going on at home. How can we use those as tools to help others?
Adam Salgat:
At the end of your letter, you mentioned about a particular hashtag that you guys are looking to utilize. And I’m wondering if you could bring that up and talk a little bit about that.
Rebecca Buell Emerson:
Thanks for asking about that, Adam. I love this. A couple of our chapter leaders from Colorado and the Greater St. Louis Area were talking about this need for care and connection. And so our team created the #careandconnectionchallenge. And what that is, is there’s so many things that you can become overwhelmed with right now, or at least I can, in the news and in the newspapers, on social media, all of the kind of like doomsday, scary, like people are buying all the beans and toilet paper and, whatever. Everyone’s responding in their own way. And so we just want to put out there this care and connection challenge, #careandconnectionchallenge. We want to put that out there. So people have a chance to identify things that are going on that are great. How are we caring for one another? How are we connecting?
I saw online stories about people standing outside of nursing homes and talking to the people inside nursing homes that are locked down for good reason, talking to them through the windows, either on the phone or by writing things on a whiteboard and holding it up so that folks don’t feel alone. I’ve seen businesses that are transforming the way they’re operating so that they can serve the needs for others. School districts that are using their school buses to deliver sack lunches to students who may not have food otherwise because they generally eat at school.
There’s a lot of care and connection going on. It doesn’t have to be something big that’s in the news. But it can be, I have this thing in my home, and you know what? I blew it with my son this morning. And I responded in a way, because I was tired and he was tired, we’re both stressed. And I turned around, and I had to humble myself and apologize and care for his needs above my own. That’s a care and connection challenge. And when we’re authentic, and we’re real about that, then it gives other people the permission to be authentic and real too. And in that space of truly human connection is where we can all thrive and be comfortable and grow.
Adam Salgat:
Well, this sounds as though you guys are really taking the opportunity to lead the way through a scary time and get people connected again, even though we are being asked to stay out of the same room together.
Rebecca Buell Emerson:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). And we’re doing that right now. We are following all CDC guidelines by us all being in three separate rooms recording this podcast. Thank you, Adam, for your leadership in that.
Adam Salgat:
Well, technology, as much as it can be a disconnector, it can be a connector as well. And I think that’s something we need to remember, especially in the next two weeks, that’s been asked of the American citizens.
Rebecca, thank you so much for taking the time to chat and give us an update on what Our Community Listens is doing and how they’re going to move forward for the next few weeks.
Rebecca Buell Emerson:
Thank you so much for having me, Adam. It is new and different times for all of us, and we are all in this together. I’m glad to share this space with you.
Adam Salgat:
Listeners, if you’d like to see the care and connection challenges happening, check out the Our Community Listens Facebook page, as well as visiting ourcommunitylistens.org.