The last couple months haven’t been easy for any of us.

The conversations I’ve had with friends, colleagues and family over the last month have covered a range of topics, from anxiety and fear of contracting the coronavirus to the struggles of dealing with cabin fever and being stuck at home. We have discussed concerns about loss of income and job security and even a handful of people feeling overwhelmed because they’ve been working more hours from home and feel like they are stressed out and losing their sense of balance between their home and work life.

I’m no different, as the executive director and co-founder of Speak It Forward Inc., I have dedicated the last 10 years of my life to supporting underserved and vulnerable youth in my community and throughout the state of Michigan. While we have been honored with awards for our work and been highlighted as an important organization in our community, for the last two months, I have been told that I am not considered an essential worker. My life and job, like that of my coworkers, have been put on hold.

It has been hard to sit at home without answers. It has been hard to digest the overload of news articles that at times feels like they add more stress than provide relevant and helpful information.

Now, with concerns across the nation about our economy struggling to recover from this pandemic, many governors are feeling the pressure to lift the stay-at-home orders and allow non-essential businesses to reopen. Many are feeling relieved to get back to work, and yet the return to a sense of normalcy and social interaction is in direct opposition to the warnings from health and medical experts around the world, like Dr. Anthony Fauci, who are on record stating that reopening too soon could cause a resurgence in coronavirus cases.

However, despite the lifting of restrictions, new data from the Pew Research Center shows that 66% of Americans worry that state governments will lift restrictions on public activity too soon, and 73% of Americans are concerned that we have not experienced the worst of the outbreak just yet.

Those who wish to rush back to a “normal life” without further medical research and information are the clear minority. That gives me hope that, here in Michigan, we still want to work together, and, most importantly, believe and trust science, despite the protests that have been getting front-page news.

The state of Michigan is working hard to flatten the curve, but we still have more work to do.

It is important that we continue to follow the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order created by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Remember that the choices you make aren’t just for you, they are for the greater good of our communities and our state. Simple things like wearing a face mask when you go out, practicing safe social distancing habits, and washing your hands frequently and thoroughly to decrease the spread of the coronavirus could save your life or the life of someone you love.

We are all in this together.

We are all making sacrifices for the greater good.

We all want to return to some sense of normalcy without fear.

While we don’t have a cure or vaccine for the virus, yet, the best remedy to stop the spread of the coronavirus is to continue to do the hard work of staying home and following the advice of our medical experts, so we can save lives and safely reopen our state.

Gabriel Giron is executive director and co-founder of Speak it Forward Inc., where he dedicates his time supporting underserved and vulnerable youth.