They do the work, often invisible to the general public, they do what is necessary through good times and bad.

They take pride for work well done. Even in tough times. Even during a pandemic.

For the last 24 years, New Tripoli resident Flo Davis has worked as a support counselor at a nonprofit residential facility.

Though the pandemic continues its threat, the counselors have not abandoned their duty to residents.

“Typically, our residents leave in the morning for work and don’t return until the afternoon, but now we’ve been isolated since the quarantine,” she said.

“Most times, we assist in housekeeping and we do the major stuff.

“Basically, it’s care taking. I kind of look at it as taking care of all their needs, including cooking.”

Now that residents are at home, there’s a new facet to the work.

“We have all these games,” Davis explained. “We play bingo and we do crafty things plus there’s a huge yard.

“We’ve been keeping them pretty busy. We’ve been keeping longer hours since the quarantine, anywhere from 55-60 hours and even above with overnight shifts.

“There’s always someone at the house, 24 hours a day.”

Visitors are not permitted at this point.

“Typically, the residents have outside friends come to visit, as well as family members but, with the quarantine, no one comes to the house,” she said.

Like so many of us, the residents are coping with all the changes.

“I have a great group of guys and they pretty much go with the flow,” Davis said. “One guy calls his parents every day but he knows he’s safe at the house.

“They’re so used to seeing us. It’s about consistency and they know one of us will be there.

“Everything is running just like any other day. We take them for walks around the neighborhood and everyone has a mask.”

The human connection between counselors and residents remains strong even in these trying times.

“There’s so much love over at the house that it’s manageable for all us,” Davis said. “Those guys at the house need us and we need them. I need to be there for my own sanity. It is a crazy time but its manageable to me.”

Still, she worries about what other staff members do when they’re not at work.

“There’s no question it’s scary,” Davis said.

“When I lost my nephew, it hit home and made it even more real.”

This highly contagious virus is what keeps many people up at night.

“I feel safe, but I still think about what other staff members do when they leave work,” Davis admitted. “When I see my brother, I distance with him. It is risky every time I leave. Boy, is it tough.”

Despite the health risks, Davis remains committed to her work.

“I feel very blessed that I’m working and where I’m working,” she said. “The families and my individuals are amazing. I love them like my own family.”

That same concern for the community led Don Reppert to keep Plaza Hardware, New Tripoli, open from the very beginning of the COVID-19 crisis.

The hardware store, deemed an essential business, curtailed its hours at 2 p.m., but never closed.

“We wanted to be open for the community more than anything,” Reppert said. “So we restricted our hours so people who really needed stuff could get it.

“That was my choice, not everybody was happy about it.”

“We just as well could have closed but we kept things clean and I wouldn’t let anybody in.”

Instead, customers were able to use a window for orders and payment.

Reppert has no regrets about decisions he made in the last few months.

“I thought it went very well,” he said. “I had only two people who said they had gone to other stores and they could go in. That was their choice and I tried not to be nasty.

“Customers called or preordered or they came to the window, while we ran around to fill the order.

“It was difficult, but it worked. We were only open until 2 p.m. but when we got home, boy, were we exhausted. It was very tiring.”

It was largely a team effort that kept things moving at Plaza Hardware.

“It was everybody pitching in, my wife and my sons and me, Pam and Joe and Greg and a couple of the girls who work here,” Reppert said. “It was busy day in and day out.”

Reppert acted out of a sense of mission.

“I had to be here. There were probably three or four of us here at all times. I kept my employees.”

According to Reppert, customers basically needed “just essential stuff, and that’s what we’re here for.”

“They had electrical breakdowns. They had plumbing breakdown,” he explained. “People are in their house all day long, so it became essential to them. You need heat and air conditioning. It was service oriented basically.”

“Customers seemed to appreciate it,” he said.

“We have a pretty good neighborhood here. You’ve got to remember that. It’s a really, really good neighborhood.”

Now, normal business hours have resumed.

“I’m not looking for a pat on the back,” Reppert said. “I was doing what I thought I had to do in my heart.”