Welcome to our fifth thematic edition of The Bridge:"Hindsight is 2020."

As we near the end of 2025, we are quickly approaching six years since the world was turned upside down by a global pandemic that eventually killed more than 7 million people and caused devastation that's still being felt economically, socially, emotionally and spiritually.

COVID-19 affected everybody — there were early retirements from folks who would still be clocking in each day if the pandemic hadn't hit; rehab and nursing facilities were maxed out and fought tirelessly to keep the virus from spreading to its most vulnerable residents; education changed overnight, affecting children’s development and special life events like graduating from high school or pursuing college and vocational degrees; healthcare workers were overworked and underpaid, often neglecting their own safety to keep patients alive; small businesses shut down and unemployment was at a record high; mental health conditions like anxiety and depression felt integral to pandemic life; and, most visibly, the tragic deaths of seemingly healthy people. The list could go on.

As if a global health crisis wasn’t enough to sort through, 2020 also brought with it the brutal and merciless murder of George Floyd, which quickly fueled local and global demonstrations of the Black Lives Matter movement. With each passing day it felt as if our world was spinning out of control.

Given the chaos of 2020, it’s not surprising that this edition of The Bridge was difficult for me to create.

As I reflected on the early days of the dual pandemic of COVID-19 and racial injustice, I looked back at news articles from 2020 — many of which I wrote when my byline was Dani Fitzgerald for the Beaver County Times. I remembered with both reverence and fury that 2020 (and 2021 and even 2022 for that matter) marked a series of complex and confusing moments that to this day I am unsure exactly how to process. The pandemic killed millions of people — people who might have been alive today if not for COVID-19. For that we mourned.

And at the same time Mr. Roger's quote "Look for the helpers" became an international credo that kept us both grounded and hopeful. And then, as much of the world was “looking for the helpers,” George Floyd was brutally, publicly murdered at the hands of an alleged helper who was sworn both to serve and protect him. Again, for that we mourned. And then in response, millions of people rallied together to say, "enough is enough!" It was for many a season of profound loss that also produced hope that we might be able to learn how to work together and unravel longstanding injustice and inequity.

Death and hope, hope and death, death and hope. A whiplash; an impossible rhythm to get accustomed to — but we were forced to. Perhaps the pandemic-era is what created cynicism and apathy that's so actively alive in many of us because the alternative meant processing, healing and then allowing those wounds to be reopened once again.

How do we hold death and hope together? I'm not so sure and I don't think that anyone truly knows.

When creating every edition of The Bridge, I try to ask myself what I want readers to to think, feel and do in response. For this edition, I hope that at least for a moment, readers will accept the invitation to pause, to sift through the weeds of distress, chaos and uncertainty and to be reminded of the moments where unity kept us going and where holding death and hope in tandem didn't destroy us but instead filled us and fueled us. I am hoping that together, by looking back on the stories of 2020, we can be reminded of just how much dignity, virtue and love we were able to muster even in these darkest of times.

Rather than rehashing the kind of fear and cynicism that were understandably generated by the events that unfolded in 2020, I hope readers will lean into hope and mine meaning and insight from those early days of chaos.

The stories included below certainly don’t represent all of the issues that COVID-19 raised for residents of Beaver County. Neither do they display the endless catalog of helpers that served our communities throughout and beyond the early days of 2020. For those we have missed, I am sorry that we were unable to foreground your story.

Because of the unfinished work that remains surrounding issues of racial injustice, our team at The Bridge is committed to continuing to tell the stories found in the "Hindsight is 2020" video below. As the video illustrates, we still have much to learn. More work remains to be done if we seek to move closer to the aspirations that were brought to the surface in 2020 and beyond.

We are communities and people in process. Thank you for subscribing to and reading The Bridge, so that we can be part of that ongoing process together.

Dani

Last note: be sure to hit "view entire message'" or "view in browser" once you've scrolled as far as your email will let you (there's plenty more to see 😊).

"HINDSIGHT IS 2020"

Hindsight is 2020 is a documentary series intended to reflect on the year 2020 and how those different experiences and forces impacted residents in Beaver County. This first installment is intended to reflect on the local Black Lives Matter demonstrations that occurred after George Floyd was murdered in 2020. The film is the start of a conversation about a time when Beaver County came together to demand justice for not only George Floyd but for systemic injustice.

Watch the full video on YouTube here.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE_iAE8fKKGFdEkyPN5E1JSDWtYr05Ibd

Community Builder Corps

"The Helpers" video series was a part of the Community Builder Corps, an initiative of RiverWise at the height of COVID that partnered with individuals and small business owners who were recently unemployed or underemployed due to COVID and provided compensation for community-centered projects.

"The Helpers" includes 12 videos of individuals and groups who tirelessly served the community during COVID. Watch the full playlist here.

Regional Resilience in Beaver County During COVID-19

In 2021, over the course of two months, regional leaders from four organizations in Beaver County — the Beaver County Partnership, RiverWise, the Beaver County Chamber of Commerce and the Beaver County Regional Council of Governments held three listening sessions to better understand the needs and opportunities that arose during the pandemic. Online surveys were conducted following the meetings in order to dig a little deeper into the issues raised during the listening sessions.

The result: "Regional Resilience in Beaver County During COIVD-19," a report that captures, summarizes and reflects on what emerged throughout that process.

Read the full report here.

PANDEMIC-ERA HEADLINES

Take a look at some local news articles during the pandemic about togetherness, weathering the storm and racial reconciliation.

Neighborhood North: Museum of Play now open to the community

The new Baby Bello in Beaver Falls will host lectures, meetings, music and more

Beaver County couple to match $10,000 in donations to Salvation Army food banks

Step by step: Coalition slowly helping ease tensions locally between police, black community

‘I saw myself:’ Hundreds march for justice in Beaver Falls

Artists illustrate impact of COVID-19

Business owners, activists recognized for commitment to Beaver County

Beaver County discusses racial inequity in virtual series

Report: Spirituality increased during the pandemic

"REFLECTING THE TIMES"

"I choose to reflect the times and the situations in which I find myself. That to me is my duty. And at this crucial time in our lives, when everything is so desperate, when everyday is a matter of survival, I don't think you can help but be involved. Young people — Black and white — know this. We will shape and mold this country or it will not be molded and shaped at all. So I don't think you have a choice. How can you be an artist and not reflect the times?" -Nina Simone

LOCAL PERSPECTIVES

"Art is a way forward through anything that strips us of dignity." -Pamela Rossi-Keen

The Genesis Collective was active in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd and in the depths of the COVID crisis. It became clear to Pamela Rossi-Keen, executive director of The Genesis Collective, that as the pandemic and systemic racism left people feeling powerless, art was a way forward.

"There was a period — and I daresay in many respects, we're still in that period in different ways — when nobody who was supposed to be able to lead us out of this mess of this public health crisis and age-old racism had anything hopeful or substantive to say," Rossi-Keen said. "But during that time, we saw artists telling the truth: reminding us of our shared humanity, telling the truth about what it meant to be a Black woman basically holding up the sky during this crisis, distilling what was valorous about us during said crisis. It was then that we realized this truth-telling power had to be organized, harnessed and deployed in our communities."

Nonprofit organization New Sun Rising asked six visual artists to create original works reflecting the impact of COVID-19 on their community. The public was invited to hear from the artists, witness their gifts, reflect on your own experiences and consider their role in defining tomorrow. Artwork was shared virtually and has been reproduced in numerous ways to engage the public. The Genesis Collective was created as a result of that project.

New Sun Rising describes the initiative on their website as, "The Summer of 2020. The Double Pandemics of COVID-19 and Racism. The Struggle for our Present and Future."

Below are three of the projects Rossi-Keen described in her quote:

"Tin Can Kids"

By Sorrel Stone

Check out more of Stone's work here.

"AVALANCHE"

By Janel Young

According to Young's webpage about the piece, "'Avalanche' addresses the compound, layered challenges that local marginalized and under-resourced communities faced during the pandemic, including COVID-19 complications globally, police brutality and social unrest on a national level, plus unhealthy environmental conditions when it comes to local water and air quality in Pittsburgh."

"Power to the People"

By Marlon Gist

Amidst the many challenges facing the world during COVID-19, the colorful and busy composition of this piece seek to display the humanity and hope that still existed throughout the pandemic. The piece seeks to encourage and remind us that all is not lost and that life can and must go on. Check out more of Gist's work here.

"Black Lives Matter"

By Dana Stevenson

Stevenson of Beaver Falls wrote a song about his experience during the local Black Lives Matter demonstrations in 2020.

Watch the full video here.

Community Matters: We were made for this, Beaver County

March 19, 2020

By Daniel Rossi-Keen

This month’s installment of Community Matters was originally written nearly six years ago on March 19, 2020. Below is an excerpt from the article, which you can read on RiverWise's website here.

Beaver County’s history of generational struggle has created within us dispositions and skills that are uniquely applicable to our present moment in history. Although it is true that we have never been in this exact place, we have certainly lived through periods of immense decline. We have witnessed economic distress. We have felt the strain that systemic collapse places on our institutions and our people. And, through all of it, we have figured out how to manage such decline with elegance and grace. We have learned to honor one another, serve one another, and continue to celebrate what we have instead of lamenting what we have lost.

Please do not think that I am minimizing the severity or complexity of what is happening right now. I am not. We have a real mess on our hands, and no amount of remembering the past will ensure that we move flawlessly into our future.

But, despite all the challenges ahead, I remain confident that residents of Beaver County will weather this storm too. I am convinced that we will continue to come together and rediscover what is common about our shared stories. I am certain that we will innovate and encourage others to do so, despite diminished resources. And I am sure that we will continue looking toward brighter days, creating in the present what we seek to become in our future.

Read the full article here.

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Daniel Rossi-Keen, Ph.D., is an author, speaker, entrepreneur, and community development advocate. He is the executive director of RiverWise, a nonprofit focused on organizing community voice and power so that residents can reclaim agency over the future of Beaver County. Daniel’s writing is featured regularly in “The Bridge,” a publication containing curated news and original stories for, by, and about residents of Beaver County. You can reach Daniel at [email protected].

NATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

What I learned from the aftermath of the Black Lives Matter uprising

May 28, 2025

By Nesrine Malik, The Guardian

"Five years ago, I didn’t trust the moment; did the world really need to see a man die on a pavement to realize racism existed?"

Click here to read the full article.

The many ways we helped each other during COVID

February 14, 2022

By Jill Suttie

A 2022 study explored what altruism looked like during the pandemic and how we might encourage more altruism in the future.

Read the full article here.

8 lessons we can learn from the COVID-19 pandemic

May 14, 2021

By Kathy Katella, Yale Medicine

The COVID-19 pandemic changed life as we know it. As people start to think about what returning to normal will look like, some are asking the question: What have we learned from this? Yale Medicine doctors share their thoughts.

Read the full article here.

Outbreak Voices podcast: Looking back on COVID-19, 5 years since it was declared a pandemic

March 9, 2025

by Ayesha Rascoe, NPR

COVID-19 was declared a pandemic 5 years ago. NPR asked three people who shared their experiences in a podcast series "Outbreak Voices" about how they think of those years today.

Click here to listen to the podcast episode. 

1A podcast: What's Changed Since George Floyd Was Murdered By Police

May 29, 2025

By NPR

It's been five years since widespread protests erupted after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin murdered George Floyd on May 25, 2020.

That murder, and the resulting national protests, led to numerous calls for police reform in communities around the country. What's changed since then?

Listen to the full podcast here.

THE WORK CONTINUES

Large movements, coalitions, reflections and advocacy didn't stop after 2020, both locally and nationally. While policy reform and system change are continually being pushed, there are Beaver County organizations who continue to see hospitality as a posture, creativity as a way forward and that the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice, as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said.

Some local organizations that come to mind include the Beaver County Community & Law Enforcement Coalition, the Shon Owens' Unity Week, SJO Cares, Neighborhood North Museum of Play, the countless local food banks and soup kitchens throughout Beaver County, The Cornerstone of Beaver County, The Genesis Collective's Black Creatives project, The Center for Hope, Undivided in Christ, Uncommon Grounds Cafe, Central Outreach Wellness Center in Aliquippa, The Baby Bello, and many many more.

Below are a few examples of the ongoing work:

He's a poet, an actor, an athlete. Creativity exists intermixed with the rest of who you are, according to a caption on the above YouTube video. Meach Taylor understands that and knows that no mode of excellence is barred from him. Art makes Meach brave.

Joi Waller's work is about connection: making it, celebrating it, fostering it. Joi is, in fact, seen and heard most accurately through her art, according to the above video's caption on YouTube.

OPPORTUNITIES & RESOURCES DURING THE HOLIDAYS

Christmas To-Go: Order by Dec. 18 from The Fez in Hopewell Twp. 724-378-1810 to order. Pick up from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Dec. 23 or 24.

Dec. 19: Community Christmas (live nativity), 5 to 7 p.m. at the South Side Historical Village at the Hookstown Fairgrounds.

Dec. 20: Cookie Walk, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Church of the Nazarene 423 Penn Ave., New Brighton.

Dec. 20: 10th Annual Holiday Model Railroad Open House, noon to 4 p.m., Rochester Area Heritage Society, 350 Adams St., Rochester.

Dec. 20 and 21: Beaver Valley Choral Society Advent Concert Series, 4 p.m. on Dec. 20 at Trophimus Center, 899 Maplewood Ave., Ambridge and 4 p.m. Dec 21 at St. Thomas More Catholic Church Resurrection Parish, 126 Fort Couch Road, Pittsburgh.

Now through Dec. 23: Christmas in the Park, 6 to 9 p.m. at Ewing Park, Washington Ave., Ellwood City.

Dec. 25: Christmas Day Dinner, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Beaver Falls Youth Center, 831 4th Ave., and hosted by the Beaver Falls Ministerium.

Dec. 31: New Years at Noon Pajama Party, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Neighborhood North Museum of Play, 716 14th St., Beaver Falls. Join the waitlist here.

Resources

The Women's Center of Beaver County has services for all victims and survivors of domestic violence and their loved ones. Please call the 24 hour helpline for assistance at 724-775-0131.

Warming/Cooling Centers in Beaver County (according to the United Way of Beaver County)

Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. (unless noted otherwise) when the temperature is below 32 degrees or higher than 90 degrees.

• The Cornerstone of Beaver County, 600 6th St., Beaver Falls
• New Brighton Municipal Building, 610 Third Ave., New Brighton
• Uncommon Grounds Cafe, 380 Franklin Ave., Aliquippa
• YMCA Beaver County, 2236 3rd Ave., New Brighton / (724) 847 3923
• Monday to Friday 5 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Saturday 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday 12 to 5 p.m.

Photo by Rustbelt Mayberry Photography

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The Bridge is a prototype for what RiverWise envisions as a growing center for relevant community news and resources for Beaver County residents.