Looking after our own shouldn’t be radical, it should be the norm.

This week, another deeply troubling report came out, this time about the treatment of elderly people in Irish nursing homes. Before that, it was the care of sick and vulnerable children under state oversight. These stories are heartbreaking, but even more than that they’re a wake-up call.

We cannot keep outsourcing care to faceless systems and for-profit corporations and expect different results.

There is nothing wrong with businesses making money if they’re providing good, ethical care. But when the drive for profit begins to outweigh the value of a person’s dignity, safety, and wellbeing, something has gone very wrong.

It’s time we ask ourselves:

• Why can’t we look after our own?

• When did we stop talking to each other?

• And how do we take some of that care and responsibility back?

We need to start functioning as real, connected, local communities again,not just neighbourhoods or social media groups, but places where people look out for one another.

We need to:

• Know what’s going on around us

• Stop over-segregating our lives by age, background, or circumstance

• Get to know the actual needs of our neighbours

• Ask what we can do together, and where we truly need help

Community doesn’t mean solving every problem alone.
But it does mean showing up, asking questions, and taking ownership of the culture we want to live in.

It starts with a conversation.
It grows with trust.
And it leads to action that matters.

That’s the kind of Virginia I want to live in and the kind of town I know we can shape together.