Guest Columnist - We all share in a hopeful future

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By Mike Coffman, Mayor of City of Aurora

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Over the past couple of months, we’ve faced many fears, doubts and struggles about how the COVID-19 pandemic will play out. But during that same time, there’s another sentiment I keep encountering when I speak with members of the Aurora community: hope.

Since I issued my Mayor’s Restaurant Challenge, encouraging residents to order food for takeout or delivery from a local restaurant at least once a week if they are able, I’ve had the chance to pick up food orders from many of Aurora’s great local eateries and to talk to the business owners about the innovative adjustments they’ve made to keep going. What strikes me is despite the financial hardships they’ve endured, despite the difficult decisions they’ve had to make, despite not knowing what each day will bring, there is an overriding belief that we will get through this and move forward.

As we slowly begin the process of reopening our communities, careful to keep the safety and health of our residents at the forefront of our decisions, it is that same sense of hope that I feel today.

I am hopeful because I see the resolve with which our residents responded when faced with this crisis, making sacrifices and selfless commitments to the broader community so we can emerge with a clearer path toward recovery.

I am hopeful because I see the commitment of the outstanding doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals at the Anschutz Medical Campus, the Medical Center of Aurora and other local providers, the first responders who have put themselves at risk in order to preserve our safety, and the residents who have reached out to them in gratitude and thankfulness for their work.

I am hopeful because I see the care and concern that people have for those who are less fortunate or in vulnerable populations, by wearing face coverings, practicing social distancing, and seeking the welfare and well-being of their neighbors.

I am hopeful because I see the way our community has come together to get through crises in the past and know that we will step up with the same level of unity and shared goals now.

I look forward to the day soon when I can meet with residents in person again, when we can resume those activities and interactions that identify us as a community, and when we can provide a well-deserved break and thank-you to those who have seen us through this crisis. In the meantime, I urge you to support your local businesses, lend a hand to your neighbors and watch for those ways you can help restore our communities and those who live in them.

The world that we are returning to is far different from the one we knew before this crisis began. I know it won’t be easy, and I know we must continue to provide for and not forget those affected deeply by this crisis, but so long as we share in the hope of a brighter tomorrow, we will get through this together.