I Want to Start a Movement: Processes Matter

Years ago, I met a client who wanted to leave an institution. When I met her, she repeatedly said, “It takes time (to leave).” I felt so bad for her. She had been stuck for years and was having trouble keeping a sense of hope that she would leave one day. It was her stepmother who had been advocating for her that finally got her attention. When she finally moved out the institution, she delighted by the opportunities and possibilities it created. In her case, there was no process for exiting an institution. Once she was approved, there was no expectation that she would ever go back to the institution.

We all have expectations in this pandemic…ones around getting back to normal. Health experts say we need herd immunity, and a vaccine would help. Yesterday I had the opportunity to watch the FDA hearings on vaccine development, and it was so good to hear that in fact the vaccine development started in January. That was even before we knew there would be a pandemic! An agency in our government monitors viral activity which might become an epidemic or pandemic; that agency obtained the virus from China. They had started to learn about COVID-19 and took the first steps toward a vaccine immediately. Dr. Fauci was involved then, and early in the pandemic told us that it could take a year to create a vaccine. Now that I know about the vaccine monitoring agency, it makes sense why he said we may have one by late 2020 or early 2021. Vaccine development takes time; there are steps involved in developing something and thoroughly testing it to ensure our safety.

I don’t like to be the bearer of bad news, but we do not have a vaccine yet, and it won’t be until 2021 before we have something we can consider a safe option. Then we need a method to get it to the people to consider. The upside of all of this is there’s a documented process designed to protect the public, and it’s being pursued!

Just like creating vaccines, we need processes to help those we support (and ourselves for that matter) to reach dreams, stay safe, and promote well-being…and we need to know what they are! Once those are established, we need to track our progress continuously, explore our choices, and be transparent in our progress and our challenges. The processes matter, and just because “they take time” doesn’t mean we’re going to give up on the goals or on the dreams of those we support…or on ourselves.