When a crisis hits normal life can be turned upside down, and coordinating offers to help into practical support can be overwhelming.
I experienced this first hand when a friend was dealing with health issues that meant she was bed-ridden for 6 weeks. My friend needed support, and there were plenty of people who’d offered to help, but it took hours to coordinate people and make sure she and her 5 year old twins got the help they actually needed.
This was when Gather My Crew was born.
Gather My Crew is an online rostering tool that has been developed specifically to support people going through a tough time to ask for and coordinate the practical help they need.
Using the expertise of people who had ‘been there, done that’, Gather My Crew exists to make sure people get the right kind of help from all of their well-meaning friends, family, neighbours and colleagues – without all of the stress that usually comes with coordinating help when a friend or a family member becomes ill.
It is a way to ask for help - and to turn that help into a calendar that tracks and records who is doing what and when. It even sends reminders and updates to keep everyone connected throughout the time the help is needed.
How does it work?
It is really easy to set up a Gather My Crew account. Firstly, you register to use the online tool via our website (www.gathermycrew.org). Secondly, you identify all of the things you and your family will need help with over the coming weeks via our 'click and select' list. Thirdly, you invite your friends, family, neighbours, colleagues, fellow school parents to help out. And then you let the online rostering tool do the rest. This can all be set up in around 30 minutes – either by you or by a willing friend.
Gather My Crew is a registered charity. The online tool is free and easy to use.
You can find out more at www.gathermycrew.org.
Susan Palmer (M.Psych, MPH, PhD)
