This column marks the beginning of a new contribution to The Lincoln County News – keeping the community informed about the work of a grassroots collaborative known as the Public Safety and Accessibility Collaborative. As co-chairs of the collaborative, we will write a monthly column during the weeks and months to come. There is much to share!

My name is Haley Jalbert. I grew up in Walpole, Maine, spending many days going to South Bristol to swim and fish with my parents and grandparents on the island. Throughout my teenage years, I traveled a lot. In my senior year of high school, I moved to Abu Dhabi because my father was working for a Germany company that built luxury yachts out of old, decommissioned battleships. Living in the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East was a significant change for me. During the eight months I was there, I made many friends from all over the world.

Greetings all! I hope everyone is doing well and taking care of yourselves and your neighbors. I hope your Easter celebrations brought you joy. It is hard being apart from our loved ones, but hopefully we will all be together again soon. Being healthy is the most important thing.

The second week of April has started and we both sit here in our dining room working on everyday items. We both have had a great deal of time to think and talk over the events of the past month. We have watched all the news on local TV and read our daily newspapers and have received many calls each day from our close friends near and far off.

Weird times to say the least, folks. I know the truckin’ business is suffering badly, as are most businesses. It has really sunk in how we Americans, as well as the rest of the world, have been focused on getting rich instead of getting ready.