Scrolling through the Community Hand Up Facebook group, someone  is asking for a bassinet for her friend who has a newborn and has left an abusive relationship — another poster is giving away a free electric wheelchair.

No matter the circumstances, members of the Community Hand Up group are seeking to lend a hand.

In the group members of the community can post on the group when they need help with things such as food, clothing, other items or assistance. Members can also join only to donate. The only rules are that individuals cannot sell items or ask for money and all members must be kind.

Local Jillian Zerkle started the group as a way to make amends in the Cody, Meeteetse and Powell areas where she grew up. Zerkle was living in Worland while she was still active in her addiction and trying to support her boyfriend at the time and his family. Eventually she was arrested for theft, burglary and fraud. This was a wake up call for her to enter a treatment program. In this time Zerkle learned that she had been self medicating for undiagnosed mental health conditions including obsessive compulsive disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and agoraphobia. Despite her social anxieties, Zerkle said that she knew an important aspect of her recovery was making amends. For Zerkle this meant “whole communities at a time.” 

She remembered during her time living in Worland there was a blue box that would contain food items and other things to support those in need. Community Hand Up was born as a way for Zerkle to give back to the community and apologize as well as connect a new community of people. 

“Without being able to necessarily breathe in a meeting, I realized it was a lot easier to be social and be a part of the community through the internet,” Zerkle said. 

After starting the group things started to come together for Zerkle. Following the creation of the group Zerkle and her boyfriend received custody of his daughter. She also found a community and employment at a treatment center. As the group grew Zerkle enlisted friends, most of whom are also in the recovery community, to help manage the site. There are now four administrators along with one moderator who help Zerkle run the Facebook group.

“There wasn't a huge need for it at first, and then Covid hit right after [Community Hand Up was made], and it just blew up huge. I've seen incredible things on the site,” Zerkle said. “I've seen people get help with their vehicles and directions on how to get help with rent. It's not a site for people to be supported, but to have support through times of struggles and to supplement necessities that are hard for people to get.”

Now the group has just over 3,000 members who help sustain a caring and nonjudgmental community, Zerkle said.

She said she based the idea of the site around her mental struggles, because she was aware that people who are going through struggles may have a hard time asking for help. The group has served as a platform for Zerkle to make amends and openly discuss her past. Now she said she spends less time on the group but will continue to keep it running as long as a need exists in the community.

“Yeah, but I've always told them, like, as long as this is doing good for this community, you know, we'll keep it up and we'll keep it going and we'll keep you know, moving forward with it,” Zerkle said.

“I didn't imagine that it would be so easy to find the help that you need from your neighbor,” she added. “I know that some people know resources that other people don't, and having a place for them to find each other was a big part of it.”