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KEEPING CONNECTED
How Capitol Hill Village Helps Members Interact During Covid by Elizabeth O’Gorek
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bout 40 people, most of them seniors, gathered on the plaza outside the North Hall at Eastern Market Monday, Oct. 19. Many carried American flags and homemade signs with hand-written slogans such as “VOTE”. Most of them carried their ballots. Socially distanced, but together, they marched from the ballot dropbox located near the Market to those all over the Hill, stopping at each to hear a short story from the history of American democracy. The event was organized by the Capitol Hill Village (CHV) Urban Walkers, part of the largely volunteer-driven community that helps Hill seniors age in place. You might think that seniors would be sitting back and waiting for COVID-19 to pass. After all, most of the membership is at or past retirement age, in the demographic most vulnerable to the pandemic. But if you thought that you’d be very, very wrong. CHV members are not the type to sit around and wait at any time, let alone in the middle of a national crisis. CHV has made changes in the way they offer ser-
Walk the Vote participants listen to remarks at Rosedale Library. Courtesy: Karen Stuck
vices, activities and engagement to members. But the commitment of CHV didn’t waiver. Members simply organized, planned, adapted and kept on going. “If you look at what these people have accomplished in their lives —where they come from, what
they’ve done —this is a high-powered group, just in terms of their experience and their abilities, there’s no question,” said CHV Executive Director Judy Berman. “It’s a resource that you won’t see replicated in a lot of places across the country.” December 2020 H 41
