After some 40,000 robocalls were sent out to city residents, the mayor's office was able to pin down some trends about what people need right now in the community during the COVOD-19 pandemic.
"The No. 1 issue we're seeing is food," Mayor Jeff Lehman said during Wednesday evening's general committee meeting, which was shared on the city's YouTube channel.
The robocalls also included an option to press "1" if a person needed immediate help. Lehman said 193 people used that feature.
On the callbacks to the city, he said 11 per cent were looking for information on municipal services, while 90 per cent wanted details on physical-distancing rules. Another 70 per cent were asking for assistance with groceries and food bank services.
"That food security piece has become a regular theme," said the mayor.
It has been a little more than three weeks since the health crisis struck. The city's emergency control group (ECG) was convened on March 13 and a state of emergency was officially declared in Barrie on March 23.
Lehman called these "unprecedented days."
"We have seen virtually every aspect of life change," he said. "For many in our community, both in the business community and all of our residents, it's not just been a lot of change to deal with, but some very, very crushing and difficult changes at that."
The robocalls allowed city officials to determine where the immediate impact of the crisis was.
"The two areas that we came up with for focus were our vulnerable individuals and our business community," Lehman said.
Those vulnerable people include seniors, those with mobility issues and marginalized citizens.
"The work that our community agencies have been doing is absolutely remarkable," Lehman said. "The support that the community has shown these organizations has also been remarkable."
The mayor's office has a list of some 12 local organizations that are helping on various fronts.
Lehman said the city has been "building capacity" around food-bank deliveries with hampers going to local people in need, as well as help from friends and neighbours. DriveWise, a local company, has also been used for deliveries.
Coun. Gary Harvey asked where the greatest need is at the moment and where the slack can be picked up.
"It would have said until the last three or four days that it would've been food security," Lehman replied. "But the capacity so far has met the demand. That is not to say we shouldn't be encouraging donations to our food bank and our charities. They are going to need to sustain a much-increased level of demand going forward.
"The system seems to be holding up," added Lehman, who noted local shelter organizations can also always use community donations.
The mayor said one area that could use some assistance right now is transportation.
"I think that's because some of the volunteer transportation arrangements have had to be shut down," he said. "We have a ton of people out there willing to drive for deliveries. That's not a particular concern, but I think in some cases it may be about transporting people, and that comes with a challenge for a volunteer base."
Overall, Lehman said he expects future challenges to be around food.
There are also Facebook groups — such as Barrie Families Unite, which has more than 8,500 members — devoted to helping people meet their needs.
Lehman said it's a "privilege" to see how businesses and individuals have adapted to change.
"The Facebook groups, it's hard to understate (their importance)," he added. "The group of admins that are running that group are dealing with constant posts, but there are people using the personal message function to allow people to exchange the information they need without having to post it online. It connects people for help."
Building community-needed infrastructure in Barrie to provide assistance to people in need has been crucuial, Lehman said. He said he hopes that the connectedness that's being forged now extends beyond the COVID-19 crisis.
"One of the gaps we saw early on was multi-unit buildings that may have tenants who are really struggling," he said. "Some of these buildings are doing it all themselves. They're wonderful, vertical neighbourhoods where neighbours look out for one another."
Barrie Housing has also reached out to its 953 households to make sure residents' basic needs are being met.
