A 'conduit' to community aid
A social worker en route to deliver meals for homebound, immunocompromised residents in Westchester was stranded on the side of I-95 with a broken-down car and only one place to turn.
The social worker called Anne Richards, who posted an urgent plea for help on a Facebook group she runs for Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow.
“I needed someone to pick up and deliver 48 meals, I pressed post and immediately, I had six people raise their hands,” Richards, 55, told The Post. “It’s the community that comes to task. I’m the conduit.”
Richards has been running the Facebook group for six years. She has steady volunteers who help her connect residents to resources amid the coronavirus crisis, including Julia McCue, who provides free food from her Horse Feathers restaurant.
At times people call for advice on pending evictions or severely ill family members. Sometimes, Richards is there to just lend a virtual shoulder to cry on.
“It’s very difficult for a lot of people to ask for help,” she said, adding, “If we can’t support each other, then what do we have?”
Richards doesn’t stop trying until she finds a solution: “It’s like throwing spaghetti at the wall . . . I don’t take no for an answer.”
“People stepped up to my side and helped me up through the darkest moments of my life,” recalled Richards, whose son suffered a traumatic brain injury in a 2007 car crash. “I aspire to be the stranger who is always there, who will help, who will find help. It’s an honor.”