Scared, Unsure, Distressed—these are just some of the feelings or emotions that most of people are having since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses have been closed, government offices operations put to a halt, just to secure the safety of its employees and minimize the probability of the virus to spread in the community.

 But for some who do not have the luxury of staying at home, and keep themselves and their families safe because they need to work for the benefit of those affected by the pandemic, the challenge is to keep working and face the challenges of being front liners.

 Modern Heroes, as what front liners are fondly called, keep on working and serving the public despite the threat of the COVID-19 virus because their service are critical to the lives of public in general. They continue to perform their sworn duty as public servants of this country in providing the needs of every Filipino through its programs and services.

 The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office Caraga, being one of the lead agencies in providing aid through its programs and services, never cease to reach out to the families and communities in the region, specially those most affected by the pandemic.

 From the implementation of the Social Amelioration Program, to the delivery of food and non-food items to those most affected families, the agency has been actively engaging with the community, even though the number of COVID-19 cases have been increasing overtime.

The aforementioned services, including the regular programs of the agency, have been delivered to the people, because DSWD workers have never ceased to serve. Putting the welfare of the people first, DSWD workers have risked their safety and health, including those of their families, just to extend its maagap at mapagkalingang serbisyo to the people.

 But as human beings, the committed workers of DSWD do feel the pressures of their work. Several workers have expressed their frustrations of the situation, and stress has had an impact in their workload – affecting their performance of their duties.

 Imagine having to regularly face people and addressing their grievances and queries, conduct payouts and distribution of aid, and even welcoming Locally Stranded Individuals (LSIs) coming back to the region. These are stressful workloads given the current situation.

 With this, the DSWD Field Office Caraga management extended stress debriefing sessions for its workers who are experiencing mild depression, anxiety, and having a hard time in coping up with stress. The free service for the Agency’s employees are being done by the agency’s Registered Psychologists and Social Workers.

 Self-Care Sessions have been conducted focusing on the worker’s mental health. These includes activities and discussions on promoting Physical, Psychological, Emotional, Spiritual, Personal, and Professional stability and health.

It is the primary goal of the agency to serve the poor, marginalized, and the disadvantaged through its programs and services.###