How We're Serving Orlando During COVID (And You Can, Too!)

The country has been hard hit by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Central Florida even more so. For a community that is supported largely by tourism and the theme parks, their closure and the cessation of travel has had a strain on the general economy.

As realtors of the Abode Home Team and leaders of the Boutique Luxury Division at Keller Williams, we want to support the city we call home. Our community has been very supportive of us, so we want to support the community when they need everyone to pitch in and help each other out. After all, we're in this together, so it's incumbent on us to make sure we all get through it.

Here's how we're serving Orlando during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how you can help as well.

Care Calls

Think back to how we all felt at the start of the pandemic. It was pretty scary for everyone, including us. We had deals that we had to put on hold, we weren't showing properties or doing open houses, and we were even helping people get through their own housing crises. (One client was living in a mold-infested rental, and needed to get out and into a new house right away. That was considered essential at the time, so we were able to help them.)

The heart of our business is all about our sphere of influence — our friends, our colleagues, our partners, and most of all, our clients. We were very concerned about them.

So we started calling our clients to check in with them. We didn't talk about real estate, we just wanted to see how they were doing and how we could help. We had some great conversations with people and got to know them. We talked about their families, how they're doing with their kids, and about the trials and joys of home school.

These were nice, long conversations, some of them 40 or 45 minutes long, because people were home, furloughed, or were in a high-risk group and couldn't leave the house. They appreciated having someone to talk to.

Others were nervous, worried for their families, friends, and the people who were especially vulnerable to the disease. We got to learn about them too and hopefully put them at ease, even if it was only for a little while.

We talked with one client who we had helped buy a house in Winter Park about five years ago. He's retired and only works one day a week. He started walking about a half mile each day, and doing a little bit more each time. Now he's walking eight miles a day and is in great shape. He was able to use the time to slow down and create some peace for himself. He said he actually enjoyed his time outside, and said his calves are in great shape. (He even showed them off to us!)

How can you do your own version of care calls?

Even though we're seven months into the pandemic, it's not too late to start calling people. We're even going back to calling people we talked to when we first started this. 

It's a simple conversation. Just ask them how they're doing and let them talk. You'll figure out what to say as the conversation rolls on. But just ask "How are you doing?" and go from there.

And if you're in sales or marketing, it's a good way to stay in touch with your clientele, and to show them you care. A lot of businesses have had the opportunity to call their clients, but just haven't, but it's not too late.

Linda said her mom has even been making care calls. She's a very social person and missed seeing all her friends and going to her exercise class. So she took out her phone book and started calling her friends. She worked her way through her address book in a couple of months.

Second Harvest Fundraisers

If you weren't aware of the food insecurity in our society, you certainly saw it once the pandemic started. It happened almost overnight. We realized how we need to take care of people in our community, and then we saw how we had some people who had never been to a food bank as a client. They had only been there as volunteers, but suddenly they needed help.

Second Harvest is such a great organization that gives so much to our community. Second Harvest serves six counties and over 550 partnerships within Central Florida. They're a hub to get food out to all those points, with a system that is so precise and tight, they've got it down to a science. They distributed enough food last year for 73 million meals to food pantries, soup kitchens, women's shelters, senior centers, daycare centers, and Kids Cafes.

We have volunteered with them before, thanks to our assistant, Megan — it was her idea to begin with — and will help them in a number of different ways. For example, we held a canned food drive for them last year. We usually give our clientele apple and pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving as a show of appreciation. We told our clients that we would still give them a pie, but asked them to bring in some canned food for Second Harvest. Quite a few people showed up and said they didn't want the pie, they just wanted to drop off some food for the drive. We ended up collecting over 300 pounds of food that week.

This year, since we weren't able to volunteer in person, and because we now have a clientele with discretionary income, we decided to throw a virtual fundraiser for Second Harvest.

Our goal was to raise $1,000 in 24 hours. Our clients jumped right in and were excited to help us, and we actually raised over $3,000 in that 24 hour time. When you realize that Second Harvest can provide 40 meals for $10, you realize just how far $3,000 can go.

Find out more about Second Harvest at FeedHopeNow.org.

How can you support Second Harvest (or other food banks)?

It's so easy to set up a fundraiser on Facebook. You've seen people set them up for their birthdays, and it's easy to do it any other time of the year — it only takes five minutes. Plus, it's very easy for people to pay, so you can ask your friends to support you, and even invite them personally. Reach out to them and ask your friends to help.

There are still opportunities to volunteer, although we do know that Saturdays are their most popular day for volunteers, and there are no openings on Saturday for the next two months. But if you have a flexible schedule, work from home, or aren't working at the moment, and you want a break for a few hours, they have times available to help.

Donate Gift Cards

This past April, we sent out $20 gift cards to 25 clients, and told them about how people in Central Florida have lost their jobs and about how food insecurity has created a major stress for a lot of people. We said that if they wanted to use it, that was great, or if they knew someone in need, they could pass it along to that person instead. That gesture was well-received and it certainly helped the people who needed it. 

How can you support people with gift cards?

This one is pretty easy. Visit a local grocery store chain — Publix, Winn-Dixie, Safeway, Aldi — and purchase gift cards to the store or Visa gift cards. Deliver them to people in need, or donate them to a local charity or house of worship. You can send them anonymously to people you know or hand them to people you meet. The point is you can give a quick gift to someone who needs it.

If you're a business owner, this is a very easy, small thing you can do to help people cope with the pandemic. If you're part of one of the organizations that have benefited during COVID and you have some extra money, consider supporting an organization that's important to you. It doesn't have to be what's important to us at Abode, it should be important to you — a church, synagogue, mosque, school, nonprofit organization, arts organization, or even just a family you know personally.

Other Organizations You Can Support

There are hundreds and thousands of organizations in Central Florida that could use our help, and maybe there's one that's near and dear to your heart.

For example, maybe you're a supporter of the arts. Maybe you prefer seeing live theater (Theater On The Edge, Winter Park Playhouse, Mad Cow Theatre, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre), listening to live music (Orlando Philharmonic, Orlando Symphony Orchestra, Timucua Arts Foundation, Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts), or would rather visit a museum (Orlando Museum of Art, Orlando Science Center, Orange County Regional History Center).

Orlando Shakespeare Center, Photo by Ebyabe, Wikimedia Commons, GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2

If nature is more your thing, you can try some of the eco-based and natural organizations in the city (Leu Gardens, Mead Botanical Garden, The Nature Conservancy, Back to Nature Wildlife). Linda and her husband have also volunteered at the Audubon Society for Birds of Prey in Maitland, and are still trying to stay involved as much as they can.

And there are myriad social organizations that help the needy and the poor, such as United Against Poverty, Orlando Community & Youth Trust, Homeless Services Network, Clean the World, and Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida.

These organizations are also trying to survive the pandemic. Just like other retail and consumer businesses, these rely on in-person visitors and patrons. Many of them are finding new ways to go virtual, to offer limited seating and attendance, or just trying to raise funds. If you can support your local arts organizations, now is the time to do it.

In "Closing"

We hear it over and over: We're in this together. We'll get through this. We've got your back.

Or as Sonia Gandhi said, "Together, we can face any challenges as deep as the ocean and as high as the sky."

We truly believe this, but we recognize that it will take help from anyone who can give it. There are plenty of organizations that are dedicated to easing our burdens, feeding us, and enriching our souls. And we have family, friends, and neighbors who can use our help. 

But you don't have to help all of them, but you should help someone. Someone would love a call from you. Someone would appreciate your time. Someone would appreciate a small gift.

If you would like to get involved and help out, you're always free to join us in our support of Second Harvest and contribute if and when we host another virtual food drive. You can also volunteer virtually and be an online advocate for your favorite organization; share their message on social media and encourage your friends to support them. Or maybe you can donate supplies or funds, or take an in-person shift that are still accepting in-person volunteers.

Enjoyed these insights and looking forward to more?  

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Steven Ritz, Buyer Specialist - Call 321-277-8271 or email here

Linda Sitek, Listing Specialist - Call 407-963-6544 or email here