Stitch a New Garment
“Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.”
- Gen. 1:2
Dear Advocates and Community Friends,
Gen. 1:2 almost mirrors the moment we are in. The darkness, the emptiness, the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. The major difference is that our world is no longer without form. It’s form is frozen in time. All of us quarantined away in our corners of the world highlights the formations we’ve created to separate the valued from the devalued, the nondisabled from the disabled.
Your relationships represent something far more significant than you can fully know. It’s an unlikely alliance that offers a signpost of hope for what could have been and what could be. I know this is a disorienting time. My purpose in writing you is to offer a bird’s eye view of how your daily acts of kindness fits into the bigger picture. My hope is for you to see the significance of what you stand for and what you stand against as you stand with your partner and with many of our friends with disabilities.
As many of you know, right here on Roosevelt Island, COVID-19 patients have been transferred to Coler Hospital, where some of your partners live. Somewhere around 500 people call Coler Hospital their home. Some since childhood. The city dubbed their home as an "empty hospital" for COVID-19 patients. Long term residents and new patients who’ve tested positive are placed in the same rooms as those without the virus. Limited medical supplies, overworked staff, and crowded spaces are among the factors that make for an extremely scary situation. Staff are afraid to say anything for fear of getting fired. There have been numerous deaths at Coler and no one can say who or how many. We won’t really know the full truth until this is all over. If then.
A New York Times article, reports of fears that hospitals in New York will remove ventilators from people who require them long-term, such as those who have certain spinal cord injuries, having their ventilators reassigned under the protocol if they were admitted to hospitals during the crisis. Again, we won’t really know until this is over. If then.
This is a side to the larger story of the pandemic you don’t hear much about. Stories such as these expose utilitarianism ethics that pervade our minds and our service structures. The reality is that we still live in a world that measures human worth based on external factors such as someone’s level of independence, intelligence, productivity, and perceived ability to contribute to society. In an interview on MSNBC, Peter Berns, the Executive Director of the ARC, reports the heartbreaking reality that all the careful planning of parents and people with disabilities to be included in the community “has been shredded.” Three points of concern he highlighted was isolation, fear, and medical rationing.
Your being an advocate is a genuine way of acting upon the belief that all human life is sacred. There are a million and one ways to serve the city right now. Given to fickleness, we all can be easily swayed by other, sometimes more compelling opportunities when the going gets tough. Now is a time when loyalty is one of the greatest gifts we can offer. It is a principle of unfailing love. As you think about your priorities and make decisions on how to serve our city, remember to reach out your heart, to call, to listen, to encourage, to laugh, to cry, to suffer with... All of these acts will speak to them and those around them that they are valued and not forgotten.
What can be done?
If your partner lives in Coler Hospital, consider joining forces with local Roosevelt Island advocacy groups by emailing friendsofcoler@gmail.com or by following OPEN DOORS on instagram. They are doing great work advocating for residents and staff to obtain medical supplies and getting their stories heard. All of us should consider donating money to the movement which goes directly toward Coler Hospital's evolving medical supply needs. Other opportunities include sending food to Coler staff to encourage them, making it easier for them to do good work.
Encourage the staff and residents of your partner’s group home by writing them thank you letters, ordering pizza for residents and staff (as some advocates are doing), or by sending art supplies (as my wife is doing) or by going on a physically distant walk with your lonely neighbor (as I have been doing). We host bi-weekly prayer gatherings through the Psalms so join us and invite residents and staff to join if they are able. All these little acts of kindness makes their job easier and more rewarding, which in turn benefits our vulnerable friends. Stay informed, this article was just written up about group homes being hit with the virus, jobs lost, this article features Do For One, by the way!
Finally, let’s keep getting better at what we’re already doing! The practical support to families. The friendship you offer by talking daily with your partner who lives alone. Supporting those living in poverty who’ve needed financial support to keep their phones working, their kitchen stocked, and to stay entertained. If you have additional ideas, we'd love to know what you're doing so we can learn from you. If you have questions about anything I've mentioned here please let me know.
New patterns are emerging from the old. The earth is not formless but it’s forms are exposed, shaken and movable. Here lies the opportunity! As Sonya Renee Taylor says, “we are being given the opportunity to stitch a new garment.”
Carry on!
Yours,
Andrew
“No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."
- Jesus