Heather Larch, RPh, CMTM on LinkedIn: Heart At Work: Team CVS colleagues band together in the face of adversity (2024)

We'll take one of each! After all, not only is today National Chocolate Ice Cream Day but it is ALSO National Donut Day - truly a day to celebrate the sweeter side of life.Take a moment today to treat yourself with your favorite chocolate ice cream or donut of your choice!#brossandfrankel #brossfrankel #disabilitylawyers #disabilityattorneys #socialsecuritydisability #SSD #SSDI #longtermdisability #LTD #veteransdisability #veteransaffairs #veteransbenefits #workerscompensation #personalinjury #NationalChocolateIceCreamDay #NationalDonutDay

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🍽️ Making an Impact: Supporting FareShare's Meals for the Mob Program! 🤝Our team at Wiley recently rolled up their sleeves at FareShare's Brisbane facility, supporting Meals for the Mob. It's more than just meals; it's a lifeline for remote First Nations communities facing food insecurity.Meals for the Mob is unique, developed in consultation with communities and experts, it focuses on providing nutritious meals to these communities. During the pilot phase, FareShare delivered 20,850 meals. Why did we join? It's about making lives better. Last Tuesday our team prepared and packover 2,800 meals tailored to specific needs.Feedback? Locals, health pros, and Elders love them! 🗣️ It's more than just food; it's well-being.We're proud to be part of this initiative. Kudos to FareShare! Fun fact: We built their Brisbane facility in 2018 and are working on Melbourne's facility now. Full circle! 🏗️Thanks to our team and FareShare for the chance to make a difference. It's about building healthier communities, one meal at a time.To learn more about FareShare, Meals for the Mob, and how we're able to contribute... https://lnkd.in/gji*zeYw4 #CommunityImpact #MealsForTheMob #FareShare #VolunteerWork #MakingADifference

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❄️⚠️ SWEP (Severe Weather Emergency Protocol) is activated, but is everyone aware of that?Last night, I hit the streets until 2 a.m., looking for my clients who are sleeping rough to make sure they were safe and to break the good news - "SWEP will be activated tomorrow!"As I was walking from one location to another, I started to feel the cold (despite all the layers of clothes I had on me), and I could barely think of anything else but how cold it was.Spotted someone curled up by the train station; he had a meager blanket barely covering him and was uncontrollably shivering. And I saw this heart-wrenching scene at least ten more times.This morning, I rushed into the office with a list of names in my head, ready to send emails to the right and left and inform them about the people who should be brought into emergency accommodation. It didn't take too long before calls started pouring, and each call was echoing the same thing: "We are not sure this person is sleeping rough; they haven't been verified enough times."I dug through every client's case notes, medical summaries, and progress, and I spent all day on the phone, trying to convince everyone why the people I referred should be placed into emergency accommodation and the risks they are exposed to on the streets in these conditions.After a long day of emails and calls, I only got a vague response minutes before 5 p.m. Frustration boiled over. I offered to join the outreach session but was met with a cold "You've covered your hours for the week."Everyone has left the office, and I just broke down—drained, helpless, and angry. I felt frustrated and angry that I couldn't do more, that I had to prove and explain that people's lives were at stake, and this is not a good moment to be hesitant.And I wondered: If I, as a professional, must fight for help, what about my clients?❄️⚠️ SWEP is activated when temperatures fall below 0°C and ensures councils open additional emergency accommodation for people sleeping rough. This is the first time SWEP is activated for winter 2023/24, and it is a crisis response process supposed to help increase support for people experiencing homelessness.#SWEP #homelessnessawareness #homeless

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This makes so much sense. Lack of housing and food security is the root cause of so many problems: shelter and food are not luxuries. #homelessnessawareness #homelesssupport #shelter #socialdeterminantsofhealth https://lnkd.in/gmsFPgvs

#flashfictionSanctuaryWe met at Sanctuary.She was coming off a bum relationship with a man.I was coming off a bum relationship with a drug that had ruled my life to the point that I had none left.Sanctuary was cool.We got to chill in a little island of basic comfort, tea and sympathy, while we figured out who we were.Well, actually it was tea and oatmeal, stew in the evenings.And we were assigned chores when we registered at the front entrance, after being frisked for weapons.The chores were reasonable, and would take into account natural aptitudes when they fit with immediate needs.The late night talks were optional.If you were in, you let it hang out exactly as far as you were able.That was respected, especially if you were able to shed light on common issues.So Sheila and I turned out to have a lot of light to share.And, after awhile, a lot of dark as well.But that was later.After Sanctuary had served its purpose in our lives.I had been raised in one of those corporate towns down South.The daily lessons of propaganda didn't take properly.I took off for more liberal climes as soon as I got my citizen's share.But the cognitive dissonance didn't work out either.I fell into the proverbial downward spiral, until down started to look like up and I truly smelled like despair.One foot in front of the other just wasn't cutting it anymore.At one of the places I was being thrown out of, the proprietor told me about Sanctuary.He told me that was where losers like myself belonged.He wasn't being cruel.He was right.Sanctuary had been set up as a safety net for anyone who needed it.It was paid for by contributions from the community, because everyone realized it saved a lot in costs for law enforcement and who knew when they might need it.It certainly saved my life.And Sheila's.It's a shame things didn't work out for us; but that wasn't Sanctuary's fault.Some things just aren't meant to be.Or maybe they are, but only for a while, only until something gets worked out that started long before in other lives.I came home one day, and she was gone.Gone to another Sanctuary, in another town, leaving a note asking that I not try to find her.By that time, I didn't have the heart to try.

The Holiday Season has always posed a unique challenge to those who lack access to essential resources. The expectations of the season alone can take a psychological toll, with people pressured to gift, travel or participate in events that cost money. Inflation has only exacerbated these problems. Wages and social support programs simply haven't caught up with the rising cost of living. Not even close.This means that 20 million pets currently live beneath the poverty line. Their owners now face a series of impossible choices--to meet their own needs, or the needs of their animals? What about their children's needs? What about needs that involve life-saving drugs? Say you decide to put your animal first, who will look after them if you get sick? At best, people are able to skimp, save and go-without sufficiently to keep things chugging along. At worst, a person or animal loses their health; or yet another animal ends up in a shelter system that is already strained close to breaking point. (at least, that's the case in Los Angeles).There's no easy solution to this increasingly untenable situation. But as Thanksgiving hurtles towards us, it's worth at least acknowledging that the problem exists. At PAWS/LA we see again and again members of our community step in to help get an initiative or drive over the finish line. For this, we're truly thankful.

We meet people where they're at ❤️That’s why we work to provide basic needs of food, shelter, health, and safety. When individuals are unable to meet their immediate needs, it becomes more difficult to focus on long-term goals such as employment, housing, or education.#basicneeds #community #judgmentfreezone

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NEW: Meals on Wheels, Etc., has been aiding the elderly in Central Florida areas with meal deliveries, transportation assistance and more recently with the weatherization of homes for the last 50 years. Read more about how the organization has contributed to the community in my latest article: https://lnkd.in/efA_TSsH

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Just Safety means addressing the needs of a whole person – not just one issue in isolation. Communities have always known how to create safety for themselves – taking a meal to a grieving neighbor, doing yard work for the elderly woman next door, hosting block parties and carne asadas that bring everyone together. But these efforts are completely overlooked (and underfunded) in our current concept of safety. #JustCommunitiesArizona #JustSafety #SafetyNotPunishment

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This is so well written