May 6, 2020
Dear clients and friends,
Through the tumultuous past 2 months, I have been in frequent contact with you. I hope you do not mind. Filling people’s inboxes with emails is not my usual style. But in case it might be helpful or dare I say therapeutic, I did it anyway.
In this update, I want to share updates on Friendship Works but also briefly mention a couple of points that I will cover in a follow up email in a few days:
Enormous Changes in the financial landscape - I have given you market updates over the past 2 months, but there are changes coming in all areas of personal finance including tax, estate laws, financial stability, debt and more. I will discuss in another email later this week.
Back to MA - we put in an offer and got it accepted on a house in Belmont. As many of you know, we love both coasts. But we’ve come up with a plan that satisfies much of what we need at this time. This I will also discuss in my next email. For now, I want to focus on FriendshipWorks.
FriendshipWorks
If you’ve felt cooped up and stifled over the past 6 weeks, imagine how a shut in senior with no friends and limited mobility feels. Many have been experiencing “sheltering in place” for years. That’s why it’s such a wonderful thing to support a charity like FriendshipWorks.
FW provides a way for seniors to be matched with companions for friendship. They also have pet programs for seniors who had pets but can no longer handle owning one. And they have music programs along with doctor visit short term helpers and more. They are such a resource to seniors - many who have been left behind in today’s world where kids and grandkids take jobs elsewhere. At the same time friends pass away leaving these folks terribly alone.
The Walk
Normally FW does a walk to raise funds (like the walk for hunger) but in these sheltered times, they are doing one virtually. I started a team. If you care to join my virtual walking team and make a small donation please go to my team page here: WHA Client Family Team Page.
For those of you who haven’t seen it, here is my video interview with FW Executive Director and founder Janet Seckel-Cerrotti where we cover:
senior isolation
how she started and grew FW
career advice for those seeking to work in the non profit world (and maybe starting one up)
info on the virtual walk and how to help
I will follow up soon on the other two items but for now, please watch (this is also on Facebook HERE) and consider helping!