As we continue to support our Trellis Youth Crew, much of what we are doing in our mentoring and support has been reduced to online contact.

Every few days, we ask our students a question for the day to help us continue dialogue and to hear from each other. Recently they were asked, “What is something you really miss right now that COVID-19 has taken away? “ The overwhelming response was, family…

“Being able to see my grandma or sister”
“Not being able to see my grandmother”
“Not being able to see my sister and Popop”

A few of them took time to share more about the family they miss

Corona has had a big change on how we connect with our family around the world. It has also impacted me and how much I miss my grandfather since this pandemic . Since Corona has been out I haven’t been able to see him because of the virus and social distancing. Me and my grandfather always had a great connection to art and he always taught me new techniques. For example, he would teach me how to drill in the words from my poetry on actual wood and he would also drill drawings of people and other amazing things on wood too. Although Covid-19 has gotten worse and we have to social distance, it has made me think how much I miss my grandfather. I miss being able to do surprise visits to see my grandfather when I want just so I could see him smile from joy.Not being able to see my grandfather through this pandemic and also having this dangerous virus around knowing that it could lead to death scares me. Also,having to know that anyone 's time is limited on this earth because of a virus makes me mad and breaks my heart because no one should go through it alone or with just a few family members around. Everyone needs a hand to hold or just a hug to have reassurance that everything will be ok. It’s not easy staying away from my grandfather during this pandemic and it’s not easy staying away from other family members too. Eventually when I do get the chance to speak to him I always try to make him laugh because even though we are in a very serious pandemic every minute counts so cherish every moment while you can.
Lovest Drummond

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One of my family members I miss seeing is my cousin Dan’n who was born and raised from Haiti in Port -au- Prince. He came to America to stay with me and my family for two years in Brooklyn, just trying to spend time with me and my older brothers. Because of the Covid 19 situation his parents wanted him to leave America as soon as possible because they were worried that he was gonna catch it. This really ruined my mood because me, my older brothers and my cousin would do a lot of things such as playing basketball together, going to the movies or even just relaxing and eating at Five guys. It was just a way we got to bond together. My parents realized this and were happy we got time to spend with each other. I had some great moments and funny moments with my cousin such as doing pranks on him or just randomly annoying him sometimes. One of the funny pranks I did was having a fake spider and I was trying to scare him. He would always burst out laughing. Even though I understand his parents wanting him to go back to Haiti it is really sad because I might not get to see him for a while until the Covid 19 situation clears up. It is also because he would have been the perfect quarantine buddy. My brothers, parents and I all want him to be here with us but it is more safer for him to be back in Haiti with his parents.
Mike Domingue

In the midst of our shelter in place, let’s be reminded to check in on each other and others. Remind the people that you care about that you miss them and care about them. We were not made for this kind of separation and isolation and so until restrictions, let’s together commit to being there for each other, with each other and for each other.