Showing Up for Each Other

November 19, 2020

The Early Intervention Team stands in solidarity with each other and with the families they serve.

If we have learned nothing else in the last eight months, it is that our communities are stronger together through uncertain and unprecedented times.

The Early Intervention (EI) Team was already a tight knit group before the pandemic. Now, they have found that their team, and their community of families, are truly what helps them get through the difficult days – knowing they are not alone and that they are still making a difference for families with young children who are unable to wait for the world to restart to obtain essential services.

Laura Veradt, the EI Coordinator, explained the program: “Early Intervention is a state and federally funded program that supports babies who are having concerns in how they’re developing. We do that through a parent coaching model, where we support parents to fill up their tool kits so that they can support their children. And we provide all of those services to them at no cost.”

The EI team was “mobile” prior to COVID-19 because the flexibility provides each Service Coordinator the capacity to meet families wherever they are. That capacity has proven invaluable as Foothills Gateway shifted to a fully virtual case management model in order to keep everyone safe and healthy.

Early on in the pandemic, we asked the Foothills Gateway staff to share their good news to keep everyone’s spirits lifted.

One EI Service Coordinator experienced the heartache of COVID-19 firsthand, and she shared her story purely because of her gratitude for her team:

I would like to show my gratitude to the entire Early Intervention Team for their support always, but especially (through April and May).  We lost our 10-year-old puppy on 4/27/20 due to heart failure and were still grappling with that when my mother was hospitalized on 5/1/20 and diagnosed with COVID-19.  My mother passed on Mother’s Day and we could not be together with family in Florida… 

My Team went, and continues to go, beyond supportive.  They ‘walked’ with us through this heartache and grief, offering their constant support and love.  I have never worked in a more loving, compassionate, and supportive environment.  They made sure we got out of bed every morning, felt loved, and were fed.  We are forever grateful.”

This was just the first of several stories that the EI Team shared.

Their instinct for Showing UP clearly spans far beyond the families they support. It seeps into everything they do as a natural response to difficult times.

Another Service Coordinator, Elise, has been coping with unexpected health issues which, of course, cause exponentially more stress during a pandemic. The team, again, showed up and far surpassed the typical expectation of coworkers.

“I think of good coworkers showing up for each other and covering meetings, or helping with work, or maybe coming together to sign a birthday card. My colleagues are all that are more. One hundred times more,” Elise said.

One coworker came to Elise’s home to lend emotional support. She then showed up the next day with prescriptions and a post-surgery smoothie. It did not take any encouragement for the entire team to come together and create a meal train to get Elise through her recovery.

“Wow, just wow. These ladies are a true gift. One of a kind, amazing and giving women,” Elise recalled. “They share their time, compassion, and gifts with all of the families we support. This is what an effective and amazing team looks like!”

These experiences do not stand alone. Words of gratitude echo through the EI team’s stories.

One closing thought says it all: “The human connections that have formed due to this pandemic have shown me that there is hope, love, unity, and strength when we stand together and show up for each other. I feel so very inspired right now.”

Schedule your donation today to support the incredible Foothills Gateway teams who continue #ShowingUP for each other, so they can do the same for every person and family they serve.