by K Agbebiyi
This article was originally published at Prism
People with chronic pain know that familiar feeling of dread that happens during a period of particularly heightened pain, typically referred to as a “flare-up.” Flare-ups are destabilizing parts of our already destabilizing illnesses. They make it so that everyday tasks that we may not typically worry about are now even more time-consuming and sometimes simply impossible to reach. It can even be difficult to wash my face during most of my flare-ups. The repetitive motion of rubbing soap over my pores can end in tears because the nerves connected to my shoulder get upset. On my worst days, I have to crawl to get to the bathroom, and I’ll lay in bed for hours wondering if I can even make it.
During my flare-ups, I can barely do the daily tasks I need to function, but I also am unable to take time off of work. This is because I work in the nonprofit sector, the home of the typically underpaid and overworked employee. While we rarely see movement wins, people who work within the nonprofit industrial complex usually do this work because we have a passion for helping our communities. The same passion for helping our neighbors is rarely extended to us as employees, which is why nonprofits are often rife with serious union-busting efforts. Nonprofit management typically talks about extending grace, compassion, and services to the most marginalized of people yet fails to understand that their staff are often members of the communities they serve.