Editor’s note: This is the finale of a three-part series looking at individuals and families and how they have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

ELGIN — The late-night phone call jolted Valerie O’Dai, but it did not surprise her.

The caller, a mother of young children, had a heart-wrenching story to share. The woman’s husband, who worked a graveyard shift for a company, had been laid off minutes earlier due to the COVID-19 driven recession. The family was living paycheck to paycheck and it did not appear that it would be receiving unemployment benefits anytime soon.

“I heard desperation, shock and disbelief in her voice,” O’Dai said.

O’Dai spent the next two hours telling the woman how her family could access benefits from government programs, community food banks and many other resources.

O’Dai, who lives in Elgin, is used to getting phone calls like this, for she is the senior disaster relief coordinator for Emergency Equipment Solutions, a nonprofit community support team that helps communities during crises.

O’Dai, prior to the pandemic, had become accustomed to working marathon hours when communities were hit by natural disasters like floods and wildfires.

“I would usually work for 80 hours a week for two to three weeks and then things would calm down,” she said.

O’Dai has not had the luxury of down time this year because of major flooding in Pendleton in February followed by the pandemic beginning in March.

“I have been kicked into gear since the floods in February,” she said.

O’Dai has been focused on helping start and operate programs like Kids Immediate Dinner Solutions, which provides free meals to children 12 and younger in Union County once a week.

The meals are prepared by local, non-corporate restaurants paid by KIDS to help restaurant owners survive in today’s topsy-turvy economy. O’Dai and Spring Roberts of Union County worked together to launch KIDS last spring.

“We thought it would go just four weeks,” O’Dai said, noting that unfortunately the need for the program remains strong months later.

O’Dai is also spending considerable time helping run a food program for isolated farmers and ranchers in Grant and Harney counties. She described it as “a mobile grocery store.”

Some of the groceries delivered to farmers and ranchers are donated, and Emergency Equipment Solutions is reimbursed for some. The program aims to help older residents who do not want to get out because they are at high risk, and to save others time spent getting groceries.

“Most live 50 to 60 miles from the nearest grocery store,” O’Dai said.

She noted many of the people Emergency Equipment Solutions is helping are individuals who haven’t needed assistance from their communities in the past. In some instances they have declined help because of pride. O’Dai said this makes it hard on others in their community who hate to see people suffer.

“They have a lot of pent-up energy and want to help. It frustrates them when people do not ask for help or accept it,” O’Dai said.

She encourages people who want to assist those hit hard by the pandemic to give donations of food and blood.

“Food banks are experiencing an uptick in demand, and the Red Cross is desperate for blood,” O’Dai said.

She encounters people from all walks of life who need assistance due to the pandemic. To calm them she always offers to pray with them. O’Dai also tells these individuals that God is looking out for them.

“God will never give you something you cannot handle,” O’Dai said she stresses during her discussions, adding that she believes the trials we experience in life will make us stronger.

The volunteer is in a better position than some to reach out to others during the pandemic, she said. A stay-at-home mom with young children, she has a more flexible schedule.

O’Dai said her family was hurt financially earlier during the pandemic when her husband, Mick, was laid off from his job for two weeks. His company later re-hired him. She noted that her family is fortunate because Mick is a veteran who receives a pension and he has a good job.

Another plus for O’Dai is that her experience helps her relate to other families grappling with the challenges of being homebound during the pandemic.

“I’m a stay-at-home mom who is helping other stay-at-home moms,” she said.

She said parents should embrace the opportunity to have their families at home for extended periods.

“It is a chance for families to come together,” said O’Dai, who has lived in Elgin for seven years.

The tips O’Dai gives families include one regarding children and electronic devices. She said children spending too much time in front of screens during the pandemic will not fare well.

“They have been taken out of their normal routine and they need to expend energy, which they cannot do when using electronic devices,” she explained.

She has addressed this issue at her home by not allowing her children to recharge their electronic devices until the next day after their batteries are drawn down.

O’Dai, who has a master’s degree in behavior modification from Tiffen University in Ohio, believes the time people have spent cooped up in their homes is taking a toll.

She sees this as a factor in the riots continuing in many cities, because people have “cabin fever,” she said, and “are exasperated.”

Another factor behind the protests and riots is the gatherings give people an opportunity to interact with others, she said, something that has been missing from their lives during the pandemic.

“We are social people. We need outlets for socialization,” O’Dai said.

The volunteer expects the COVID-19 pandemic will have a lasting impact on how people interact. For example, she thinks people may stay farther apart than they did prior to the pandemic as a remnant of the 6-foot social distancing rule. She also predicts individuals will be shaking hands less frequently, since this has become taboo during the pandemic.

“Our social norms will change,” O’Dai said.

What will not change is the urge people have to assist one another.

“People innately have a good instinct for helping their community,” O’Dai said.

It is always easy, regardless of whether there is a pandemic, to contribute to the wellness of your community.

“There are opportunities to help everywhere you look,” O’Dai said.

“I have been kicked into gear since the floods in February.”

— Valerie O’Dai, senior disaster relief coordinator for Emergency Equipment Solutions