Healthcare workers are making incredible sacrifices as they serve on the frontlines of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic. When they come home from work, they must go to great lengths to ensure that they do not expose their family to the germs they may have picked up during their shift.
Some medical professionals are even choosing to self-isolate from their families outside their homes during this time in order to completely eliminate the risk. To help them do just that, RVs 4 MDs to Fight the Corona Virus is connecting healthcare workers with local RV owners who are willing to loan out their mobile homes for these critical workers to live in temporarily.
The group now has more than 27,000 members.
The Facebook group was created by Emily Phillips, whose husband is an ER doctor in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, and Holly Haggard, who offered up her RV when Phillips posted on the social media site asking if anyone would loan her one for her husband to self-isolate from the family.
“Before the RV, I was a nervous wreck. Every time my husband walked in the door or put his hand on something, I thought we were going to get (COVID-19), including my baby,” Phillips told CNN. “But now that he’s in that RV, I’m back to my life, focused on my full-time job and my kids, and it’s completely changed our situation.”
She and Haggard then decided to help others in the same situation. Here she is, telling her story on the Facebook page.
“We have matched over 600 families manually without any platform whatsoever. We have thousands of volunteers working 24/7 around the clock not getting paid a dime,” Phillips says in the video. “The family we’ve created in the volunteer organization is just as powerful as the receivers getting their RVs and the owners getting to donate the RVs. We have people all over the country giving their homes to healthcare professionals and first responders, not asking for a dime in return.”
She noted that, as word gets out about the page’s actions, the news is giving people encouragement during the health crisis, too.
“The anxiety and depression that some people feel has been lifted by watching the miraculous stories of how these people are being matched and the friendships that are being made,” Phillips said.
Patrick Alger of Fredericksburg, Va. might agree. He used the group to loan his 2012 Fun Finder X to Scott Clark, a paramedic from Chester, Virginia.
“I am a retired Marine, and when I took my oath to defend this country I took it for a lifetime. When I saw RVs for MDs I knew this was a way I could contribute to help out,” Alger told ABC 7.
Clark, whose son Eli lives with multiple medical conditions which leave him particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, was overwhelmed by Alger’s contribution.
“It is a lifesaver to have that knowledge and peace of mind that I can go to work not so much worried about myself as I am about my family this and little man here because he is my life,” he told the news outlet.
This resource, built on kindness and communication, is much needed and appreciated during this uncertain time!
This story originally appeared on Simplemost. Checkout Simplemost for other great tips and ideas to make the most out of life.
