About Spiral Village and Brian Fey
Spiral Village is lovingly dedicated to the memory of Brian Fey.
Brian was a very dear friend of mine for over 25 years. He did many great things in his life: bringing people together, building community, organizing events, practicing sustainable living, rescuing dogs and being a loyal, kind friend. You can read about some of his projects here:
[Coming Soon]
Unfortunately, despite all he did to build community for others during his life, Brian died partly due to a lack of community. His death was related to a treatable health condition, but a combination of factors - including lack of money and lack of access to transportation - prevented him from receiving timely medical care. He had many people who loved him (as evidenced by a massive outpouring of support from his family, friends and neighbors after he died) but tragically, no one was there to help him on the day he needed it most.
Leading up to his death, several of his friends had fragments of information about his situation. I knew his car had broken down and he lacked funds to get it fixed. I meant to send him some money but got busy and forgot. Someone else knew he was out of inhalers (he was asthmatic). Someone else had heard him say he thought he had an infection. Someone else lived nearby and could have easily driven him to the doctor.
But like many people when they're feeling low, he didn't reach out to ask for help, and his friends and family didn't think to check up on him. If we had put all the pieces together, we might have realized he needed the simplest kind of help – someone to give him a ride, and maybe a few dollars for medicine or to fix his car. We gladly would have done whatever was necessary to make sure he was able to see a doctor and fill his prescription. And if we had done that, he might still be with us.
Heartbroken doesn't begin to describe how I feel about losing Brian.
However, I made a promise to myself:
NEVER AGAIN.
Today, I'm making a personal commitment:
- to check in with the people I love regularly; and
- to know who to call if I have reason to believe they need a helping hand or a wellness check
That's what Spiral Village is all about. And I'm inviting you to join me. Let's work together to make sure the people we care about have access to the resources they need, when they need them.
Charlotte Thistle (Founder / Webmistress)
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