We Can Become a Stronger, Healthier and Equitable Society After the Pandemic
It has been one year since COVID-19 changed life in the United States. I’ve spent the last several weeks reflecting on the last year, a year highlighted by political division, social justice marches and a pandemic that led to the loss of more than 550,000 American lives. The year has had an adverse impact on everyone’s mental and physical health, including children, teens, young adults, and women.
But there is hope. There are so many inspiring advocates, innovators and educators who have been on the ground doing everything they can to save lives and provide families with the support they need to get through this difficult time. And while the pandemic exposed the very harsh inequities in our society, it also has led to real and necessary conversations about what needs to change. From health care to the arts, in every institution there is a robust conversation about what we will do to create more inclusivity and a sense of belonging, and how decisions will be made to focus on the needs of the communities we serve. As a result, we are seeing more creativity and empathy coursing through the work.
Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to partner with some of the social entrepreneurs who lead these efforts to create more equitable access to mental health and put our values to work in order to improve society for everyone. And one of the reasons I have enormous optimism about the future is that one of those partners, Kamala Harris, is now Vice President of the United States. We were part of a small group many years ago who helped to found the Center for Youth Wellness in San Francisco. Since that time, we have collaborated on efforts to advance children’s and women’s issues. Among our shared interests are expanding the arts to reflect the diversity of lived experiences and increasing accessibility to the arts, as well as the necessity of communities to have access to high quality public health systems. Just before the pandemic and shelter-in-place began, I served as Honorary Co-Chair of the Hearts event, supporting Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. VP Harris couldn’t be there in person, but sent along a short video honoring the heroes at the hospital who provide the highest quality mental health and physical health support for people from every walk of life, regardless of life circumstances.
As we look forward to a “new normal” after the last year, I am hopeful that we will carry with us the important lessons we learned this past year, and that are a centerpiece of the messages coming out of Washington, DC this year: that we may choose empathy over division, that teachers and health care workers are our everyday heroes, and that all of us can come together to end the pandemic and be a stronger, healthier and equitable society.