Opinion: Immediate Problems are Best Solved Locally

If we weren't thinking this way two months ago, right about now most of us are in the midst of problem overload: health, employment, financial, childcare, food shortages, human connection, anxiety, you name it; and these problems are in addition to the existing problems (that are now exacerbated) that we face in society. Fortunately, we are all capable in one way or another of meeting extraordinary challenges through grit, ingenuity, and our continuing willingness to help others. Today, we want and need immediate solutions. And many of those solutions will come from people you know: family, friends, neighbors and local agencies. This is as it should be. When we dial 911, we do not expect a 2-minute response from state or federal government. Instead, we receive immediate help from first-responders in our local community. So, now we are all potential "first-responders" for our communities. Even as we are knee-deep in our own problems, we are an essential problem-solver for someone else in need--now, and in the future. Answer the call. The current health crisis will have lasting effects on our lives and our economy for months and maybe even years. The problems we now face will not magically disappear overnight. But we can work together over the coming months to help to lift each other up. What problems do you see developing in your community? Where are the holes? What skills or insights do you have that you can share? How can you start to plan now--whether it is through clubs, businesses, faith organizations, local government or your own social media activities--to define the problems and design the solutions that will make your community happier and healthier than it would otherwise be? We can't sit back and wait for solutions to come raining down from Washington DC. They just don't know what's happening in our own back yard. If we learn one lesson from this crisis, it is that we have to define and solve problems locally. And we need to get really good at it.