Everyone's Been Amazing but It's... Been... So... Hard...

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Even with the amazing job that teachers, administrators, public health, bus drivers and food service workers have done (shout out to Free Food Fridays!!) it's been hard. It's... Been... So... Hard…  We've got a plan to help.

There are many people in Transylvania County who do not have the capability to shop online. Before the pandemic hit, folks could go to local places for internet access or log on at work. Most kids in the county went in person to public school and teachers would send home virtual day packets well before there was ever a poor weather/virtual day. Even the middle and high school students without access to the internet at home were identified and given packets to complete so that these days would not cause them to fall behind their peers.

Well, that all changed this year in our county. Many of those changes aren’t going away after Covid is gone and at home internet will continue to be a vital necessity. In March, Comporium stepped up early to offer 60 days of free internet access to new customers with students at home. This was a blessing, but the 60 day access ended long ago. Sadly some families haveto choose between at home internet access and other bills.

Then, when the fall school year hit all grades were issued Chromebooks at the public schools. This feat was pretty amazing. It was exciting for the younger students, but there were flaws. The burden of online learning on families was great. They had to balance their children’s online education and their jobs. The typical 6 year old cannot independently learn from home without the assistance of an adult.  My heart sank when I learned about how supporting young learners has impacted women specifically.  865,000 women across the US dropped out of the workforce in September, compared to 216,000 men. It’s been coined a "shecession", she-recession. (Insert Shecession image-orange and NPR shesession)

Here's how it looks with unemployment rates over time for comparison:

Difference between rise in women’s and men’s unemployment, US recessions from 1948 to 2020

A month later our governor opened up in school instruction for grades 5 and under to be 4 days a week with a 5th virtual. This was a huge blessing for many families. By this time many families were "over it". Some tried homeschooling and decided to put their kids back in public school.. Some that had been doing the "Online Learning Path", all online free public education, and decided to switch in-person for their child to socialize again and because their children were falling behind in the online format. Many families I spoke with felt like they had "hit a wall" regardless of what path they had chosen. Every parent I spoke with mid October was saying the same thing. We were all feeling it. 

Now the semester has ended. We should take a moment to breathe a sigh of relief and focus on the positive. Now we get to "be with family" however that looks and take a few weeks off before the school year starts again…

I know I am painting a bleak picture. I don’t want to make it sound like we here in Transylvania County are an ungrateful bunch. I’m trying to paint a picture for the lucky ones who have not experienced this burden and want to know how to help.  To those who are struggling, help is coming. 

Through the Trees is focused on three areas in 2021-Expansion, Support and Connection. With your help, we will obtain funding to expand neighborhood access  to the Internet, subsidize monthly payments for home internet, and help people stay connected to the digital services available to the community.
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