Episode 8—Cassie
COVID-19 has affected the way all of us work, and for many people the dominant experience of COVID-19 has been months spent working from home. Work from home wasn’t a widely available option before COVID, so for most this is their first long term experience working from home.
Working from home is hard, and it can have serious consequences for someone’s mental health. But working from home existed before COVID-19. For some it was a long dreamt of ideal work environment, but for others working from home was isolating, with limited opportunities for long term growth and career advancement.
And that’s especially true if you’re someone who already faces systemic challenges pursuing those goals in the first place.
Meet Cassie. She lives in Tennessee, just north of Nashville. She worked from home for 2 years, after she and her husband returned to the area, and right before COVID hit she had finally landed a new role, with a local start up. But within a week, the first wave of lockdowns began, and Cassie found herself working from home again, along with millions of others, who suddenly seemed to understand the negative effects working from home can have on a person’s mental health, something Cassie had been struggling for years to help people understand, even her own friends and family.
But there’s so much more to Cassie’s story.
So much has happened in 2020, that’s it’s difficult to remember everything, like how Nashville was devastated by a tornado that ripped through East Nashville, with winds speeds measured at over 175 mph, and decimated the nearby town of Cookeville.
The community response was swift and massive, but the storm’s timing was more than unfortunate, coming just a few weeks before the Nashville community locked down due to COVID, and before Cassie started her new job, the one she was laid off from just a few months later. So with time on her hands, Cassie volunteered, and witnessed the community’s response first hand. And later, when she was laid off due to COVID, Cassie stepped up again, finding a new way to put her time and talents to use making her community a better place.
If you haven’t had a chance yet, I hope you’ll find a comfortable seat, take a moment, and listen to Cassie’s story.
Nashville is still actively recovering from the tornado that struck Middle Tennessee in March. To support these efforts, consider making a gift to Hands on Nashville, an amazing local organization with a decades of experience working on the ground in the community.
About Hands on Nashville
Hands On Nashville (HON) builds capacity for individuals and agencies to meet needs through service. Its programs connect volunteers to opportunities supporting 100+ nonprofits, schools, and other civic organizations; help these partners reimagine volunteer potential; and bring awareness to the challenges facing the people and places in our community.
About Cassie
Hi! My name is Cassie Cummings and I am a first-time political candidate running for Alderman in Ward 6 of Hendersonville, TN. I am a fiscal conservative who believes that city tax dollars are being spent irresponsibly in many ways and want to see real change take place. This cannot happen without a diverse representation of community member experiences and perspectives. I hope to be a part of this change by helping diversify the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, of which only 15% are women, despite Hendersonville's population being 52% female. Not only is it past time for us to have more women in leadership, it is also time for the next generation to step up and help lead.
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