Sudbury (Ontario, Canada) has come together in a big way to support frontline health-care workers worried about exposing their families to COVID-19.
A new citizen-led initiative called “RVs for Healthcare Workers” has made sure a number of frontline workers in the city have a safe refuge where they can self-isolate during the pandemic.
As of Tuesday, April 28, 13 RVs were in use locally and organizers have earmarked four RVs to go to the Manitoulin Health Care hospitals in Little Current and Mindemoya (two per site) should there be an outbreak on Manitoulin Island.
Chris Whitehead got the idea from a friend who works as a nurse in southern Ontario. A local RV dealership donated a unit where she could stay instead of potentially carrying the virus back to her family.
As the owner of an RV, Whitehead figured this would be a great way to give back.
This story by Colleen Romaniuk originally ran in The Sudbury (Ontario) Star
“I thought, you know what? That’s a great idea,” said Whitehead. “I have an RV sitting here doing nothing if anybody needs it.”
He created a Facebook post about his empty RV and his friend Kim Brouzes, who had been working on a similar idea, shared the post with her network. Within a day, the post had about 500 shares.