Community Organizers in Geographical Communities during the COVID-19 Crisis

The Covid-19 pandemic that broke out in January 2020 in China brought upon many challenges and affected all areas of life. Since its outbreak many studies were carried out regarding various aspects of dealing with the pandemic, but only a few focused on the people who fulfilled roles in geographical communities. This study sought to look back at the experiences of people who had specific roles in geographical communities in Israel during the first and second lockdowns, and in the period between the lockdowns. Three main goals stood at the center of the research; The first one was to identify the challenges with which people who had roles to fulfil were faced, the second one was to identify and understand the factors that helped with crisis management, and the third one was to identify lessons and conclusions for the future.

Twelve (N=12) people participated in the research, all of whom had positions within their communities that meant they were in charge, in one way or another, with dealing with the pandemic within their communities. Eleven of the communities are rural and one community was situated within a town. Data collection was carried out through Zoom interviews, and participants were recruited either through professional contacts or via the internet.

The research findings focused on two major challenges that people who fulfilled roles in their communities faced during the pandemic. The challenge of “communicating the government’s instructions to the citizens”, and the challenge of “teamwork in managing the community during the pandemic”. The findings also brought up two factors that helped in dealing with the challenges; “Engagement and cooperation of people who fulfilled roles in the community” and “compliments for people who fulfilled roles in the community”. Finally, the research findings raised lessons and conclusions for future crises "on the way to institutionalization, decentralization and cooperation".

This research is unique since it focused on people who fulfilled roles in their communities during the Covid-19 pandemic. These people were of great importance in their communities since they are significant public figures who influence many people and are, therefore, played a key role in the management of the pandemic. Moreover, the Covid-19 crisis was different from previous crises that communities faced and had prepared for since it called for an unusual response by people who had community roles to fulfil. By identifying the main challenges and factors that helped dealing with them, this research provides lessons and conclusions that may contribute significantly to preparing for and dealing with future crises.