Jake Lippert had to get away from his family out of love. So, he moved out of his home and onto the driveway.
This story by Christine Ferretti originally appeared in The Detroit News.
Lippert, 33, is a Lansing-based home-care therapist who spends his days treating patients who need rehab. Amid the punishing COVID-19 pandemic, he had tried to keep his distance from his wife and young daughter with asthma, isolating himself in a guest bedroom and sanitizing his clothing and shoes after shifts.
Then last week that living arrangement changed when he happened upon a stranger with a safer solution: a 26-foot Coachmen Freedom Express RV just for him to use. It was delivered to his driveway, where he is camped out.
Lippert is among the medical workers across Michigan on the front lines of the crisis relocating to mobile homes, RVs and campers to keep their families safe. The idea is part of a global movement that began in March in Texas when two women launched the Facebook group “RVs 4 MDs to Fight the Corona Virus.”
“From day one, this has been such a crazy experiment to have random people just willing to part with a rather substantial investment for a question mark amount of time with a perfect stranger,” said Lippert, whose RV arrived Saturday from a woman who lives near Jackson.
The Facebook site is used to connect people willing to donate mobile homes and RVs to doctors, EMS and public safety workers and other first-responders looking for a safe space to quarantine and protect their families during the pandemic.
In one month, the social media group has gained more than 29,000 members and helped connect more than 1,050 essential workers with accommodations throughout the United States as well as Canada, Australia and Dubai, said co-founder Holly Haggard.
The effort began with a plea from Emily Phillips, a Texas resident and wife of an emergency room physician, who took to Facebook to ask friends and family for temporary housing solutions for her husband. A mutual friend connected Phillips to Haggard, who had a camper to loan out. The introduction sparked the first exchange.