How are you?

Today I'm going to pause the conversation about The Neighborhood.

How are you?

How is your heart feeling today? Mine is feeling heavy with the news of the week. Among other things, I’m thinking about what we can do to care for ourselves and our loved ones right now.  I’m thinking about what I can do. And I’m hoping we can do so much better in the United States. Here’s some information I received in an email from Fiveable on Wednesday.

Now is the time to take action, heal, and make change:

• Do this: Advocate for the protection of our students and educators. And don’t stop.
• Act now: ​Here is how can get involved, and what you can do to provide relief.
• Donate: Assist these gofundme pages. 
• Take care: Utilize care resources to discuss school shootings. 
• Share this with educators: Here are trauma-informed resources for educators and students.

If you are struggling, please make sure you are reaching out to the people and organizations that can help

For mental health crises in the U.S.:

• Call 911
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 or suicidepreventionlifeline.org for online emotional support
• The Crisis Text Line connects you to a trained crisis counselor to receive free, 24/7 crisis support via text message: text NAMI to 741741
• The Disaster Distress Helpline is a 24/7 national hotline dedicated to providing immediate crisis counseling (more info at National Institute of Mental Health): Dial 1-800-985-5990 or text TalkWithUs to 66746 to connect with a trained crisis counselor

If you are outside of the U.S. and need support, please contact your local or national crisis organizations. As always, you are welcome to contact me via the comment form below or the contact form.