Trusted by Thousands of NWI Natives
Dear Explorers,
We hope this message finds everyone in a safe and relatively sane state. Similar to almost all of NWI, our little two-man operation has been profoundly disrupted by the excessive damage and power outages that took place as a result of Tuesday morning’s derecho storm. Both of us are safe, but only one of us has power at the time of writing. Amidst all of the chaos and regular responsibilities that come with life, as well as uncertainty about the recovery timeline across all of Northwest Indiana, it didn’t make sense to dedicate time and energy to a regular newsletter this Thursday.
In our minds, everyone’s focus right now should be on three things: yourself, your loved ones and your community. For those who have been displaced or experienced severe damage to your homes; for those who have no power and limited access to resources; and for those who are simply racked with anxiety at the uncertainty of this situation: we are right there with you. An unprecedented natural disaster tore through our homes, businesses and places of commune, and made everything in our already tumultuous lives that much more difficult. There’s no other way to put it: this sucks!
Everyone’s situation is going to look a little bit different, but we’re all making the same calculations right now. Figuring out the quickest and easiest way to get gas so you can charge your phone. Hunting down the one fast food place that’s open nearby so you can eat something that was freshly made. Sitting in a long line of cars, trying to get back home, before you realize you accidentally got into the line for a gas station five blocks north. Craving a quick feeling of normalcy, praying that your favorite coffee shop miraculously has power. It’s only been a couple days, but the unshakeable feeling of recovery being out of our grasps is unrelenting.
Luckily, none of us are alone. We’re all here, going through the same thing at the same time. Lean on your neighbors and loved ones right now and find solace in the fact that we’re all in this together.
There are tons of resources available and many more getting kickstarted right now across the Region to help Make this bad situation a little bit less severe. We’ve been trying to compile lists of resources, open gas stations, open grocery stores, third spaces with power, and restaurants that we can share on our Instagram. For the time being, you can find anything that we compile or see over there on Instagram at @nwi_explored. We will be as active as we can through the rest of the week and the weekend, communicating any mutual aid, cooling areas, updates and everything else we can find on our page as we become aware of it.
And the only thing we want to ask of the Explorers right now is this:
Send us an email at [email protected], OR, comment on our most recent posts or DM us on Instagram @nwi_explored with any tips about the following topics:
Mutual aid drives of any kind across the Region
Open gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, fast food, convenience stores, etc,. Include locations please!
Local Businesses that are offering assistance in the form of charging stations, free food, drinks, or shelter.
City run initiatives like food drives, charging stations, cooling stations, shelters - anything that can help someone in a dire situation.
Areas that are still inaccessible or under cleanup: we would love to be able to warn others about areas with downed trees, downed live wires, flooding, and anything that would put people in harms way
Updates from municipalities on regular services and the like. Trash collection, school delays, cleanup of debris — anything that would be of note to locals who are craving normalcy right now.
In times like this, be a good neighbor. Help where you can and ask for help if you need it. The only way we’re going to get through this is with one another. Wishing all of the Explorers a safe and speedy recovery through this.
Be safe and be good to one another! We’ll see you over on Instagram with any updates and resources.
Be safe NWI,
Eric & Luke,
The NWI Explored Team
“My hometown... was always there, at all times, unchanging. What I think... is not that we go back to our hometowns, but that someday our hometowns come back into each of our hearts.”
