The COVID-19 pandemic has been the most traumatic collective event of our lifetime. The first INFECTION of covid 19 was reported in the US on January 25th, 2020. We are in year 3, and over a million deaths in the U.S. alone, it is still unclear when the pandemic will end (despite government announcements that is has ended).

In a recent survey, the American Psychological Association found that nearly two-thirds of respondents said their lives have been permanently changed by the pandemic. The report also showed that a large proportion of the country has been living in “sustained survival mode” with significant consequences for mental health. The World Health Organization says the pandemic has sparked a 25 percent increase in anxiety and depression worldwide.

An estimated two million New Yorkers — nearly one in four — lost at least one person close to them to Covid within the first 16 months of the virus’s arrival, according to data, which was collected in mid-2021 by federal census workers on behalf of the city. The same survey found nearly 900,000 New Yorkers lost at least three people they said they were close to.