Feeling Safe Outside

Tatiana Lubanko

This year has been one for the history books if I say so myself. As we wrap up the year, we have gone through multiple lockdowns, stay-at-home orders, and changes in normal life. With all of these changes it has been hard to keep myself busy and honestly sane. Having the constant uncertainty of what was safe and what we could do really confused me. That is when Chantal and I came up with the idea for Distance Assistance LA.

This website is not certified by a professional from the CDC, but rather what two college students in LA feel comfortable doing. For some, you might not be comfortable doing what we are comfortable doing and that is okay. We do want to give people the opportunity to do things they are secure with doing.

When deciding where to go throughout LA, we started with doing our research on the recommended guidelines by the CDC of staying safe. These guidelines include:

• Social distancing of 6+ feet
• Everyone wearing masks (from customers to staff)
• Washing hands thoroughly
• Sanitizing generously as often as needed and able (yourself and your surroundings)
• Keeping up with temperature checks (as this is often one of the first symptoms)

We used the guidelines above to judge whether we felt comfortable going and that is where our suggestions came from. I will repeat once more that these are not the solution to the virus, but rather suggestions if you choose to go outside.

From there we spent our time trying out these places from restaurants, to parks, to beaches, and hikes and trails. If we personally felt comfortable at these different establishments that is when we chose to put them on the website and our social media channels. As things are constantly opening and closing, we are trying to adjust to give people things to do depending on what is happening during that time. We are adjusting to best take-out spots when things are closed along with best beaches and parks to go to enjoy time outside and even enjoy those meals you just picked up.

Once we found out things to do, we also realized the importance of talking about how the pandemic has impacted everyone’s mental health. We both were honest about our own feelings and we believed it was an important aspect to our website. We researched many professionals and written articles by professionals on the facts about mental health and how to improve it. The page features articles on how to get help and where to reach out to in the Los Angeles area if they feel they need to talk to a professional. We hope this will help others feel that they are not alone, and we are all going through our own struggles during this unprecedented time.

Chantal and I thank you all so much for visiting whether that be our website, our Instagram, or watching our TikToks. We want to help others who might be feeling like we did with not knowing what to do during this time. We hope this really does help. Feel free to contact us and give us your recommendations of places that we can check out and let others know about as we strive to continue to give assistance while keeping our distance!