There is clear scientific evidence that the world is experiencing a climate crisis. At the same time, many of us are dealing with a cost of living crisis, whether it’s being unable to find affordable housing, skyrocketing food prices, or child care that is out of reach.

Add to this the social unrest— often due to access to oil, water, and arable land — in many parts of the world, which has led to ongoing wars in places such as Ukraine, Palestine, Haiti, Syria, Sudan and Somalia. The exploding refugee crisis that is happening in so many parts of the world is a direct result of all of the above crises.

Taken together, this cascade of converging challenges is often referred to as a “polycrisis,” meaning that the economic, social, and environmental ills that are befalling the inhabitants of earth are all connected. No crisis exists independently; they are inextricably interwoven, and must be viewed and addressed as such.

If you’re anything like me, just reading the above three paragraphs may have your head swimming, trying to figure out how to understand, let alone face all of that danger and scariness. To be honest, at times it’s so overwhelming that I feel like sticking my swimming head right into the sand. But, as a wise woman — someone who had experienced a great deal of personal tragedy in her life — once told me, “Once you take your head out of the sand, you can’t put it back in again.”

And she’s right: I’ve tried! I cannot un-know all of this, and I feel an urgent need to do something about it.

So, what are we head-out-of-the-sand folks to do? Perhaps you are already doing something to address some aspect of the polycrisis in your personal and/or professional life. If you are, I applaud you, and you have my heartfelt thanks. If you aren’t, and you’d like to, I have a few suggestions for you to consider.

For “My Turn” to do something, I choose to stay small and local, and I choose to volunteer where I feel a strong sense of community. There are many organizations in our valley that are working to slow climate destruction and/or help us adapt to what’s coming. Here are just a few:

■Just Roots, https://justroots.org/.

■Drawdown Montague, https://www.drawdownmontague.earth/.

■Greening Greenfield, https://greeninggreenfieldma.org/.

■Climate Action Now: https://climateactionnowma.org/.

■Stone Soup Cafe, https://thestonesoupcafe.org/.

I’ve recently joined a new group called Resilient Greenfield, a citizen initiative that is looking to address the polycrisis through a mutual aid volunteer response network. Social isolation and loneliness can contribute to feelings of despair and hopelessness that go along with being overwhelmed, denial, and paralysis. Volunteering builds relationships by creating social opportunities and bonds between people that feel full of goodwill, synergy and hope.

Informed by the interwoven crises we are facing, Resilient Greenfield will serve as a community resource dedicated to supporting existing organizations and fostering collaboration to meet emerging needs throughout Greenfield and surrounding towns. Interested volunteers will be able to create a profile that will give them access to volunteer opportunities that they can sign up for across many partnering organizations.

We’re not live yet, but you should start hearing about us in a few months. If helping us organize sounds like good work for you, find us online: https://community.resilientgreenfield.org/home.

You don’t have to see how climate, economics, and social unrest are connected to reach out and help your neighbor. But once you know, and can no longer hide, responding gives you agency over our shared future. Mutual aid can be part of the solution to the climate crisis because we are supporting one another, making us all a little more resilient.

Emily Koester is a climate activist and a board member of Stone Soup Cafe who lives in Greenfield and works in early childhood education.