Sudbury man offers up his RV for healthcare worker — now others are stepping up
CBC News | Posted: April 9, 2020 5:33 PM | Last Updated: April 9, 2020
Some healthcare workers would rather live alone, to keep their families safe during COVID-19 pandemic
This is the time of year when many northerners start preparing their recreational vehicles for the camping season. But with the coronavirus pandemic in our midst, some are re-thinking how their RVs will be used this year.
Hospital workers are worried about picking up COVID-19 at work and then sharing it with their families. Some doctors and nurses have started living alone, just to keep their families safe. Sudbury entrepreneur Chris Whitehead heard some of those stories and he wanted to help.
"I've had some spare time on my hands and [have been] spending a little bit more of it on social media. I saw a friend of mine, who's a nurse down in southern Ontario, had a local dealership deliver an RV into her driveway — she was just ecstatic to have that," Whitehead said.
"So I posted my RV up on Facebook and instantly received an outpouring of response."
Part of that response was from his friend Kim Brouzes, an athletic therapist in the city. She had already been working on a similar endeavour.
"I went from an incredibly busy schedule to a screeching halt on March 13, and I needed something to fill my day and my schedule," she said. "So I started looking and doing some research on other ways that we could help these workers and help these people in need. And so I happened to see Chris's post and contacted him immediately."
A community effort
They've formed a group on Facebook called called RVs for Health Care Workers, and started networking.
So far, Lougheed Funeral Homes have agreed to donate the use of their parking lot on Regent Street in Sudbury as a temporary depot. Palladino Honda, has also agreed to help out. As well, real estate lawyer Amanda Berloni has offered to write up lending agreements.
Commercial cleaner, Dr. Clean, has offered to clean and disinfect the RVs before and after they're used. And Jim's Portable Toilets has also offered to deal with grey and black water dumping. The city of Greater Sudbury has waived all fees for all permits to help make it easier to set up multiple RVs in one location.
"These are all coming as donations and community efforts," Brouzes said. "This doesn't cost our front line workers at all. It doesn't cost anything at all."
So far seven RVs have been matched with health care workers. But the requests are just starting to roll in.
"It's been pretty incredible," Whitehead said. "We have a lot of people offering their RVs ... it's just been unbelievable, the outpouring of support. I posted a video last night about getting my own RV ready and put it up on Facebook. I woke up this morning and discovered it had 7,000 views already. "
Brouzes says she thinks the demand for the RVs will surge, although she's hoping it won't be the case.
Whitehead added:
"We did talk about, you know, sort of a worst case scenario ...and we hope to God that that never happens in Sudbury."
Any health care workers that are in need of an RV at this time are asked to send a private message to the Facebook group.