Have You Had Your Pandemic Breakdown Yet?

 I heard a really good message this week that stared with the question “Have you had your pandemic breakdown yet?”  I laughed! YEP!! I’d say so… as I drove for 3 hours the other day just to have a good cry! Its hitting me now, hard!  If you’re like me, I have A LOT on my plate on an average day but factor in a pandemic and I was surprised that suddenly the little things were getting so big. What ever has been there sort of residing underneath that I can normally manage begins rising as the water table of stressors rise and then I’m having a meltdown. But it turns out having a breakdown is actually a necessary part of being OK. Its normal. And it usually hits the average person at about week 4! 

I hope that you will try not to be unkind to yourself when this happens.  It’s a normal thing when you hear sad or frightening news to go through some of these stages and it will be ok to allow the process.

• Shock

• Bodily stress and symptoms

• Grief and loss

• Confusion and fear

• Guilt and self-doubt

• Anger

• Denial 

Tip: here is one way to manage panic and anxiety attacks, imagine yourself on that boogie board and R.I.D.E. the wave of panic back into the shore where the panic will subside.

R.I.D.E. stands for:

Recognize

Involve

Distract 

End

If you can do this you will likely decrease the cortisol flood in your body and be able to process so much more. Also there are many breathing techniques and essential oils that can help in these moments. (Soak in a bath with Hadassah oil drops, its amazingly relaxing! you know I had to put that in!) listen to relaxing music, meditate, do some yoga, journal.  We are all feeling it. If you noticed at first everyone had all this adrenaline to push them along. Many were making a list of the things you would get done (guilty), and filling up your garage with supplies, but about week 4 did you notice you were hitting the wall? I did! It was getting harder to get out of bed.

If feels like our world has been coming to a slow halt and we are all wondering when our lives will have some semblance of normalcy again? I think one thing I’ve heard the most said during all this is “one good thing about this is that we are forced to look at what really matters in this world”. And our ideals are changing! The message I mentioned in the beginning went on to say, just think about it, when Paul wrote the “letters to the church” he was in lockdown! Those “letters from lockdown” went on to affect billions of people and still is going forward today!  All because of being forced into solitude! So I have hope that while the church is being sent out of the building that we will grow so that out of our pain something great can be birthed!  And Honestly, that is what gives me hope!

As we ask ourselves  “what really matters” we need to re-evaluate what we put our hands to and what this will look like on the other side …post pandemic.  How will things be different in the world of ours because of our convictions?

For me it means becoming more tactical and strategic about those things that are not slowing down… Human Trafficking, child porn, adult sexual exploitation and domestic violence. 

SO the fight in me grows stronger as I think about what is my part!

 At Cherished, we are still doing this work, it doesn’t stop because there is a safer at home order! No it’s gotten bigger, our phones continue to ring with the need for women to find safety and refuge. In April alone we’ve have had 19 women reach out to us that were being trafficked! That’s a call a day from a woman who is currently being trafficked!! We don’t have enough beds as it is to fill the needs of women being trafficked that want to get out!

But because our doors were still open this past week we were here and could respond to a call from a girl who had finally escaped her pimp, she needed safety right away! And It’s only because of your support over these past few weeks that we are still here! Seriously! We were able to take her in and offer her a safe place with qualified staff and housing where she can begin to heal. I am happy to report that that night she had a safe place to sleep and could finally truly rest for the 1st time since she was 15!  

How can you help? 

As you may know our Cherished Annual Gala's have been our main source of fundraising since the beginning. Our Gala’s fund about 1/3 of our years income, so not being able to hold a fundraiser this year means we are facing our biggest challenge yet! That’s why we want to thank you for being so understanding that refunding tickets would be so hurtful to our ability to continue this work. Your charity is a blessing and we pray it comes back to you  10 fold! 

We do not take any government funding it’s our donors (you) that keep us alive, and so some of you have continued to sponsor a Mad Hatter table or ticket even though we had to cancel it. We are truly encouraged by your commitment to our cause! THANK YOU SO MUCH! 

You will be the 1st on our guest list when we have a new date for our next Cherished GALA and we can’t wait to see you again!

We know it takes “a collective” to make this all work and  we want to always answer the question “how can I help” with sincerity.  We are applying for all the private grants that we can for supplementing those decreased funds, but those take time and the bills keep coming. SO, I will be honest our biggest need is funding right now. 

Our # 1 concern is being able to keep the houses open but making payroll to keep the staff on is getting harder! Without them we couldn’t do this! You can also order products so that we can keep the women employed in our studio where they make our Cherished organic bath and body products so they can earn their own paycheck.

Here are some items if you know of someone who would like to sponsor any of these needs at this time.

 Minimal Staff for 1 mth  $4000

Utilities $200

Studio rent  $1400

Cleaning Supplies & toiletries for 1 mth for the house $150

Groceries for 1 resident per mth $130

We are most grateful for anything you can do to help us keep going! 

So from All of us at Cherished we want to say that we are very grateful that people like YOU and that you have been willing to continue to support us through all this.

Because of people like you we can be there for her!  

With our deepest gratitude, Thank you! 

Below is a beautiful poem written by a Cherished resident that we want to share with you, we are so grateful they have this place of safety and healing to come to.  

During to Covid-19 and “Safer at Home” order we want you to know that Cherished is doing our part to keep our community safe. We are aware this pandemic has affected our donors and pray for each and every one of your families to be safe!

To help keep our doors open please consider making a donation today! 

www.cherishedla.org or www.cherishedhighdesert.com