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On Friday, March 13, Oregon woke up to the news that beginning Monday, our schools will be closed for the remainder of the month. Some of us learned that people in our lives are sick. Our workplaces are closing down. All of the sudden, this pandemic is far more personal than many of us ever imagined.

For most of us, this news also comes alongside worries about how we’re going to put food on the table.

How will we show up for each other in the days and months to come? Government can play an essential role in providing food to families, caring for the vulnerable, and compensating lost income–it’s our responsibility to make sure that it does so. People are experiencing stigma and racism during this pandemic–together we’ll hold them center. We’re also quickly learning how truly interconnected we are–we’ll each do the things we can. Though today feels so overwhelming, I’m hopeful that we look back on this moment in our lives as the time communities came together in extraordinary, unimaginable ways to care for each other.