Wednesday, Aug. 26, 2020 | 2 a.m.
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Editor’s note: As he does every August, Brian Greenspun is turning over his Where I Stand column to others. Today’s guest is Marilyn Kirkpatrick, the chairwoman of the Clark County Commission.
We certainly are living through a crazy time in our world.
But with all the frustration, anger and fear the virus has brought, it is important to remember that we really are all in this together.
Our success depends upon everyone doing their part to keep themselves, their family and our community healthy. Limiting the spread of the virus will keep people from getting sick, which will save lives and help us get back to normal faster.
Unfortunately, this does not look like it will be over soon.
During this crisis there have been times when each of us needed a little help and times when we were able to lend a hand to a friend and neighbor. We need to keep on being there for each other, and I know we will because we are a great and resilient community that comes together when times are tough.
The stress and anxiety that most of us have been living with for months can be overwhelming. Even though we cannot get together like we used to, we still need to find ways to connect.
In the past few weeks, I played bingo over Zoom with a group from North Las Vegas and ha a socially distanced Dutch oven cookout with some of our senior center regulars on the eastside. It was good to see some familiar faces, even if some of them were on computer screen, and even better to laugh together again.
So please, reach out to your friends and family and check on your neighbors. A phone call from an old friend is always good (especially if you agree to talk about anything but the virus).
For those whose stress and anxiety is also coming from financial uncertainty, Clark County has grant programs to help residents and small businesses affected by the coronavirus pay their rent and other expenses.
There are many people who have never sought or received assistance from the government before who may need it now. If this is you or someone you know, please reach out to us for help so we can help connect you with the assistance that is available.
Vacant homes and empty storefronts are bad for our neighborhoods and our community. We want families in homes and businesses to be successful.
But it is not just the business owners and their employees who will determine whether we are successful.
We all need to make public health our top priority and do our part to keep others from getting the virus, which will allow us to keep businesses open and loosen existing restrictions.
None of us enjoy wearing a mask and staying 6 feet away from everyone all the time can be a pain, but they work and we need to follow these simple suggestions so we can get things back to normal.
So please, make sure you continue wearing a mask when you’re around others, practice social distancing, wash your hands often and if you were exposed to someone who has the virus get tested at one of the many testing sites set up around the community. And most importantly, if you do get sick please stay home and contact your doctor.
We are a great community, and I know we can overcome the challenges in front of us. For all the debates and arguments about opening schools, bringing back sports and everything else that seems to divide us, in the end we all want the same thing. If we all do our part, we can limit the spread of the virus, take care of those who do get it, and bring things back to normal sooner.
