In our series of Local People, Local Stories, Local Impact, we asked Shelly Greenwood, mother of an at-risk child, about COVID-19 and it’s direct impact on their family. 
- What are you and your family doing in Stokes County to address COVID-19?
- Why is it important that our community take these measures?
- What is something positive you have seen in midst of chaos of COVID-19 as we navigate this together?
“Our daughter, Elizabeth, was born with several major heart defects. Therefore we live in a state of fear quite a bit of the time. She is more susceptible to illness and those illnesses such as the flu, pneumonia and even the common cold can land us at Duke University Hospital for weeks at a time. For our part of COVID-19 we are being very vocal about ways to help keep families like us, as well as healthy families, safe. We are using our social media as platforms to get the word out that we believe that social distancing will help keep the spread of this virus to smaller numbers.”
As for our family, we are staying home, practicing good hand washing, removing shoes outside and other healthy practices.
“I believe that it is important that we take the safety measures that have been put into place in order to protect ourselves, our families and our community. So many of these practices are 
things that families with children with special needs or children that are medical compromised are doing daily. Especially during the winter months.”
“I am in awe of the community spirit that has come out of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are once again checking on our neighbors, shopping for each other as needed, and being kind to one another as a whole. As hard and sad as this has been for our country and our little community, I feel as though this has also brought us closer. Perhaps we remember some of those beautiful traits that our grandparents and great grandparents practiced on a daily basis. It is my hope that we will continue to be kind and thoughtful of one another once this is all over and we go back to whatever our normal is.”
I understand that these times are hard, but for the safety of my daughter, my family and other families like mine, it is imperative that we follow the guidelines set forth by the CDC and the government.
Shelly Greenwood, a Stokes County resident and mother of an at-risk child
For the first part of this series, comments from Dr. Michelle Linkous, click here.
