Mitzvah Toolkit: Caring Bridge and What Friends Do

A colleague recently used Caring Bridge in a very difficult situation, and another friend also mentioned it recently — so I thought this would be a good time to reprise this post from December 2007.

Here are two wonderful resources I hope we will never need to use. Caring Bridge is an online service that allows a person or family facing a crisis to stay in touch with family and friends through a free and easy-to-create web site. During a serious illness, hospitalization, or other life-altering situation, Caring Bridge facilitates communication by providing a template that includes a patient update journal, a photo gallery, and a guestbook for messages of support.

What Friends Do is a web-based concept that allows friends and family to come together as a team, via a centralized site, to offer coordinated and organized support during a health or other crisis. Once the group’s “coordinator” completes the sign-up process, a web site allows the team to: coordinate schedules for meals, childcare, errands and other needs; provide information updates via a team blog; share photos; and post messages of support. The main site also contains practical suggestions for how friends can help, as well as insight into maintaining a relationship with someone who is seriously ill or otherwise in crisis.

Today’ mitzvah: Check out Caring Bridge or What Friends Do for your mitzvah toolkit, to keep in mind in case a friend or family member might need them.

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