2020 Hometown Heroes

Page 88 2020 Hometown HEROES Magazine LINCOLN DAILY NEWS May 14, 2020 it “really helps us all to decompress and get away from each other.” Rhoades said her eight-year-old daughter naturally “understands more of why we need to adhere to shelter in place guidelines than the three-year-old.” It may be hard to know what to explain to young kids. A video Rhoades used to show when working as an educator showing how easily germs are spread helps and is great for kids to watch. Because Rhoades has the benefit of having family in China and Macau, she said “back in January and February we were already talking to them and hearing about how they were not allowed to leave their homes and most things were closed.” When everything started here, Rhoades said, “I explained that there was a sickness going around caused by germs. It’s possible to get the germs but not get sick, but we can still spread them. We talked about the many people in our lives that we love who are older or have underlying diseases that could have potentially serious effects from the illness.” Rhoades came from the approach that “we were doing this to protect each other. I made sure I didn’t make it sound scary but that they took it seriously. It helps that many of our family and friends are also taking it seriously.” As a nurse, Rhoades said, “I am likely going to be working here shortly at the Christian Village to help where needs are. It’s also my obligation to make sure I am not bringing the virus to the population here. That means my whole family needs to be strict about sheltering in place.” Getting some fresh air Rhoades girls doing water play CONTINUED u