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My friend moved to Fairmont West Virginia a couple of years ago. She has always been a really outgoing person and is really having a rough time in Fairmont. She has two young boys in the 5th grade and a husband who works in technology. They relocated from Nevada, for work. She said she has tried to see if there are things to get involved in, but just can't seem to find anything. Any suggestions? She is miserable and it breaks my heart being so far away from my friend and hearing how unhappy they all are.
This is not a Fairmont-specific answer...
And as I'm not outgoing maybe I shouldn't be answering...
But anyway...
Are her boys into sports at all? Do they belong to any leagues? If so, there are probably lots of things she could do to help out the league. That might help her, help the league, and give her more time/compatibility with her boys.
OP - is your friend employed? If not, with hubby at work all day and the kids in school, she's probably bored. I know I would be. Has she looked into getting a part-time job? How about volunteer opportunities at church, school, Boy Scouts, 4H, etc?
If she's politically active every campaign needs volunteers right now - and you meet a lot of people very quickly.
I also met a lot of great local folks on the facebook group for my county. Has she checked the ones for Fairmont?
You haven't mentioned your friend's interests or previous activities. For one thing, in Fairmont she is located less than 20 minutes from Morgantown, and there is something there for virtually everyone.
Thank You Everyone. She recently did go back to work, hoping to get out of the house and do social networking. She ended up in a job where she works alone, unfortunately. I am extremely active in my community, I event chair for Relay For Life and I am very active with our schools PTA. I have mentioned both volunteering and getting the boys involved in boy scouts again. She says she has tried, but the school is horrible about keeping parents informed, nothing comes home in packets and they don't update their website (personally I would call them). She also said she tried the boy scouts, but again nobody seemed interested in returning calls. She thinks people just don't want to let outsiders in. Anyway, even though I am in California and can't help to much, I wanted to try something. I think she has gotten to the point where she is so depressed, she is giving up. As for hobbies, she used to do a lot of things. She enjoys crafts, reading, might enjoy volunteering with politics, she loves going to thrift stores, she used to sell Avon and she is a Scentsy rep so if there's any direct sellers, she would probably enjoy networking with them, her family goes bowling in Morgantown and goes to the movies a lot. Hmmm, I'm trying to think. We haven't lived near each other in so long, it's hard to think of hobbies. She is trying to lose weight, so maybe would enjoy some kind of support group there. She is in her 40's and I really think she would be willing to try different things, she has just lost motivation. I am hoping to light a fire. Her and her family are so great and we miss them sooo much. I want them to find some other families to connect with.
She could take a course or two at the community college (I think there's one in Fairmont). Either a credit course or a continuing education course. I know in the CC where I used to teach, we had con-ed courses in things like Italian cooking, floral arranging, painting with watercolors, various computer topics, foreign languages, golfing, motorcycle riding, etc. There has to be something there to interest her.
And if the PTA isn't very lively, she can volunteer to become the sparkplug. Send out a weekly newsletter or keep the web page up to date.
Book clubs, historical societies, volunteer in the gift shop at Prickett's Fort State Park.
If she likes to volunteer, the Pricketts Fort suggestion is an excellent one. She can also get some help with losing weight at the Y and also join Weight Watchers or a similar group. If she goes to church she can also network there.
Thank You Everyone. I found the local Weight Watchers for her and contacted the local Relay For Life. I think she is going to get involved in both of those. That should keep her busy for a while : )
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