During a time of crisis, it is natural to want to help, express care, and give comfort to those most vulnerable. However COVID-19 sets many limitations on our ability to meaningfully connect with people. Some individuals must take extra precaution to self-isolate or are under institutional quarantine to stay healthy and safe. These stories highlight how communities are able to express human-centered design and connect with others in caring, thoughtful ways, despite the constraints of social isolation.
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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/sep/19/vigilantes-on-a-mission-to-reunite-owners-with-their-stolen-bikes
Donna Ferguson
The Guardian
19 September 2020
Text / 800-1500 Words
Facebook groups are reuniting bicycle-theft victims with their property by creating a place to report thefts and alerting others to be on the lookout for the bikes. A pandemic-inspired boom in bicycling, as a means to avoid public transportation, has fed a concurrent boom in bike thefts. Police praise the Facebook groups' public spirit and effectiveness, but warn of risks when confronting those trying to sell stolen bikes. More than 90% of bike theft reports to police hit a dead end, lowering faith in the police as a solution.
https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/09/how-one-pacific-islander-community-is-responding-to-the-pandemic
Wilfred C. Alik
Honolulu Civil Beat
11 September 2020
Text / Under 800 Words
Pacific Islander communities in Hawaii have formed their own Covid-19 task forces to stop the virus’ spread, rather than wait for the government to respond. Despite a lack of resources, the task forces conduct community outreach providing protective gear and food and have partnered with community groups, recognizing the role of active community engagement and participation to achieve success. The task forces use a model that recognizes the significance of cultural nuances and language challenges, which has added to its success in keeping the infection rate among Pacific Islander communities relatively low.
https://thegroundtruthproject.org/how-a-3-billion-usda-coronavirus-program-is-helping-feed-south-carolina-families
Sam Ogozalek
The GroundTruth Project
10 September 2020
Text / 800-1500 Words
A new initiative from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is helping connect farmers with those who are facing food insecurity during the coronavirus pandemic. The program, known as Farmers to Families, allocates monetary contracts to companies that go towards distributing boxes of produce to families. In South Carolina, one farm has been able to distribute over 5.2 million pounds of food throughout the southeast region of the state.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/09/08/lifestyle/when-bostons-public-schools-closed-march-their-gardens-went-untended-then-volunteer-effort-grew
Lisa Zwirn
The Boston Globe
8 September 2020
Text / 800-1500 Words
After Boston Public Schools closed in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic, about 70 volunteers tended schoolyard gardens at 14 schools to grow food for local families experiencing economic hardship. While students were not able to participate because of COVID restrictions, residents during the summer months cleaned garden beds and planted vegetables like eggplants, cucumbers, and peppers. Organizers expect to harvest about 300 pounds of vegetables by the end of September.
https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.01363
Rob Waters
Health Affairs
8 September 2020
Text / Over 3000 Words
Two community living facilities have played integral roles in combatting the spread of diseases throughout New York's history by relying on mutual aid models. In the 1980's the Manhattan Plaza residence started the AIDS Project, which "assigned care partners to every person who got sick and deployed volunteers to deliver meals and get people to doctors." Now, as the COVID-19 pandemic poses a threat, similar efforts are underway by a younger generation at the Manhattan Plaza as well as at Penn South where the focus has been on keeping senior citizens safe.
https://www.wbez.org/stories/seniors-struggle-with-isolation-in-the-pandemic-heres-how-some-organizations-are-trying-to-help/0b9e5131-12ad-4186-b296-504f623d276d
Edie Rubinowitz
WBEZ
7 September 2020
Radio / 5-15 Minutes
The COVID-19 pandemic has complicated how seniors are able to come together for companionship, but groups in Illinois are trying to utilize technology to address the problem. While the digital divide is a significant limitation to this approach, some seniors say "they are having new experiences, meeting new people and that their world has actually expanded since COVID-19."
https://montanafreepress.org/2020/09/03/telemedicine-and-montanas-digital-divide
Amanda Eggert
Montana Free Press
3 September 2020
Text / 800-1500 Words
What started as a small group of young adults wanting to help their aging parents navigate telehealth during the coronavirus pandemic, is now a multi-state program that provides devices to seniors and low-income people as a way to close the digital divide. The group has grown to over 300 volunteers and partners with local health care providers, who in turn help their patients set up their new devices provided by the organization.
https://sahanjournal.com/health/minnesota-covid-19-immigrant-outreach
Joey Peters
Sahan Journal
2 September 2020
Text / 800-1500 Words
To extend aid to the Minnesotans most vulnerable to the coronavirus, state and local health departments, backed by $4 million in state funding and by community groups' on-the-ground help, conducted an extensive campaign of culturally appropriate outreach to offer free COVID-19 tests and healthcare advice. The efforts have included one-on-one contacts, email blasts to free-school-lunch recipients, and TV and radio ads on media targeting Black, Latinx, immigrant, and refugee populations. Immigrant communities and people of color have been disproportionately hit by the pandemic.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/01/well/family/kids-food-hunger-volunteering.html
Richard Schiffman
The New York Times
1 September 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
High school and college-age volunteers in Culver City, California are playing a significant role in the creation of a food-distribution system that aims to help their neighbors who have been financially impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. While the project is having a positive impact on the community, it is also having a positive effect on the young voluteers by providing a sense of connection during this time of social isolation.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/can-greek-tragedy-get-us-through-the-pandemic
Elif Batuman
The New Yorker
1 September 2020
Text / Over 3000 Words
Theater of War Productions performs Greek tragedies, using the themes to encourage dialogue and healing from modern community traumas. Beginning with military audiences, participants were asked to discuss the themes in relation to their experiences in the military or as a military spouse. They have since expanded to include other problems, such as gun and police violence. Recently, actors read Sophocles’ “Oedipus the King” in their first virtual Zoom performance to about 15,000 people. Themes of leadership during a plague, “fake news,” and conspiracies resonated with audiences during the Covid-19 pandemic.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/well/family/meeting-people-pandemic.html
Julia Hotz
The New York Times
29 August 2020
Text / 800-1500 Words
Coronavirus-related loneliness increased demand for groups that help people make personal connections and new friends, even if at a distance. A New York MeetUp, “I wanted to do that … just not alone”, has seen attendance at socially distanced activities increase. “Living Room Conversations,” an online platform where volunteers host discussions on timely topics, saw 1,000 new members since March and a 62% increase in page views. The groups encourage vulnerability and connection, but are not meant to replace professional mental-health counseling for those who are struggling with loneliness and other traumas.
https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200821-the-rise-of-bartering-in-a-changed-world
Jessica Jones
BBC
26 August 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Bartering has surged in popularity as neighbors and community members seek hard-to-find items during the pandemic. Groups with thousands of members have emerged, and people are trading household items as well as their time in the form of piano lessons, help around the house, language coaching and more. Businesses have also benefited from bartering and have increased their yearly business by 10 to 15 percent by swapping services with other entrepreneurs.
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/how-to-design-a-street-for-hands-off-play
Elissaveta M. Brandon
Next City
25 August 2020
Text / 800-1500 Words
PLAY NYC, a nonprofit in New York, is reviving a historic pop-up playground concept, which started over two decades ago, in order to increase children's access to playgrounds and physical activity. The concept is simple—take over a street, build, and design an interactive playground, and follow social distancing guidelines, but every street and community comes with its own set of challenges. Most of the play streets offer "no -touch obstacle course, exercise activities, and learning experiences" across low-income neighborhoods in New York.
https://talkpoverty.org/2020/08/13/oregon-covid-19-prisoner-hotline
Celeste Hamilton Dennis
TalkPoverty.org
13 August 2020
Text / 800-1500 Words
Beyond These Walls launched a crisis phone line to provide emotional support for LGBTQ+ people who are incarcerated and to hold prisons and jails accountable for their virus-containment practices. Trained volunteers have fielded 369 calls so far, more than a quarter of which concern fears that reporting virus symptoms could land people in solitary confinement. Beyond These Walls and its coalition partners can provide safety by letting jailers know their practices are being monitored.
https://khn.org/news/helping-people-isolate-can-slow-spread-of-covid-19-experts-say
Martha Bebinger
Kaiser Health News
13 August 2020
Text / 800-1500 Words
In Massachusettes, contact tracers for COVID-19 are tasked with an additional responsibility that includes acting as a care resource coordinator to better help those they're interacting with make "the best choice for the public." So far, approximately 10-15% of those who have been contacted as part of contact tracing efforts have utilized the assistance service which has helped them stay isolated while still having access to necessities such as "food, medicine, masks and cleaning supplies."
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/10/no-one-should-go-hungry-sidewalk-fridges-of-free-food-help-americans-survive-pandemic
Frida Garza
The Guardian
10 August 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Community refrigerators full of free food for anyone in need have popped up in the New York metro area. "Fridge keepers" help keep the fridges stocked either personally or through the help of locals and restaurants who want to help their neighbors. With federal aid ending for those who lost their jobs due to the pandemic, some locals have relied on the stocked fridges for their next meal.
https://www.northcarolinahealthnews.org/2020/08/07/free-phones-masks-in-parks-rural-providers-get-creative-with-mental-health-outreach-post-covid
Liora Engel-Smith
North Carolina Health News
7 August 2020
Text / 800-1500 Words
Mental health agencies in North Carolina have partnered with a mobile phone carrier to provide data-enabled smartphones to individuals who lack access to technology during the pandemic. Because this doesn't provide a solution to all, however, mental health experts are also meeting with patients outside in social distanced settings.
https://www.boulderweekly.com/news/on-dangerous-ground
Emma Athena
Boulder Weekly
6 August 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
When an eviction moratorium expired and the government's pandemic aid spigot closed, Boulder County non-profits and public agencies mounted a coordinated response to address a looming homelessness crisis. A gusher of donations created an eviction legal defense fund, a rental assistance program, and other aid to people struggling to pay utility and food bills. In just three months, 800 households received help in forestalling evictions while thousands more received legal and humanitarian services. Despite the community support, housing risks remain without a resumption of emergency government aid.
https://bhekisisa.org/article/2020-08-03-how-to-save-a-life-easing-grief-from-inside-covid-icus
Joan van Dyk
Bhekisisa
3 August 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
To combat the grief, trauma, and frustration caused by COVID-19 hospitalizations where families are cut off from loved ones and from most information about their care and condition, the staff at Vincent Pallotti Hospital created a new way of capturing doctors' updates on patients that improved the flow of information. Instead of recording their observations and treatments on paper charts, doctors enter the information on an online system. Volunteer counselors with access to that information then update families daily, relieving some stress and bringing solace to families and patients alike.
https://chicago.cbslocal.com/how-a-rapid-response-team-in-chicago-is-working-to-fix-decades-of-neglect-in-black-latinx-communities
Dorothy Tucker
Samah Assad
Carol Thompson
WBBM-TV
31 July 2020
Broadcast TV News / 5-15 Minutes
Spurred by the high concentration of COVID-19 deaths in Black and Latinx neighborhoods on Chicago's South and West sides, city government teamed with multiple community groups to form a Racial Equity Rapid Response Team to distribute protective gear, food, financial aid, and other help in the hard-hit neighborhoods. The help included more than 1 million masks, 6,000 boxes of food, 250,000 information flyers, laptops and free internet access, and $380,000 to help pay rent and utilities. The deaths and desperate need for help stem directly from decades of racial disparities in food and health care access.
https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/what-vermont-and-its-history-might-teach-the-nation-about-handling-the-coronavirus
Bill McKibben
The New Yorker
28 July 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Vermont has seen very few cases of COVID-19 compared to its neighboring states after implementing early preparedness protocols. While part of the success could be due to the small and homogeneous population of the state, the credit also goes to the governor ceding communications to health care officials and local media suspending comments on coronavirus-related pieces to mitigate the spread of misinformation.
https://www.azcentral.com/in-depth/news/local/arizona-environment/2020/07/22/the-navajo-nations-wait-for-water-persists-with-few-answers/3224889001
Ian James
The Arizona Republic
22 July 2020
Multi-Media / Over 3000 Words
As the coronavirus spreads throughout the Navajo Nation, many people don’t have access to water to even wash their hands. For generations, the Navajo people have suffered with this lack of water infrastructure, but some solutions have been implemented. For example, the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health has built about 100 hand-washing stations and delivered them to homes in need. Many people are hopeful they will receive more funding to build a more robust water system, but the scale of the problem and the cost of building it are big challenges to overcome.
https://www.mcall.com/news/local/heroes/mc-nws-hometown-heroes-diaper-drive-promise-neighborhoods-20200720-c5tfn5dxzrfirkfuesqfa3sdby-story.html
Kayla Dwyer
The Morning Call
20 July 2020
Text / 800-1500 Words
An anti-violence program served as the spark for a “diaper drive” that delivered more than 163,000 donated diapers to 1,100 families as the coronavirus shutdown took hold, a charity drive enabled by a gang truce – and run by gang members themselves. Members of the Latin Kings, Crips, and Bloods, working through the Zero Youth Violence program of the organization Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley, benefited from years of work to strengthen community relationships as a means of conducting “violence interruption” work.
https://missionlocal.org/2020/07/the-latino-task-force-emerges-to-take-on-covid-19
Lydia Chavez
Mission Local
10 July 2020
Text / Over 3000 Words
The Latino Task Force emerged in response to Covid-19 and has effectively provided services to the Mission District’s Latinx community. Formed by longtime grassroots activists turned influential community leaders, the Task Force and its volunteers provide Spanish-language information, food aid, and funds for out of work or sick residents. They also run the Hub, a physical location where, among other services, residents can get help applying for assistance. While information quickly becomes out of date and individuals' needs change, the Task Force has successfully listened to and responded to community needs.
https://www.neoch.org/cleveland-homeless-blog/2020/7/6/westside-hotel
Rachel Dissell
Ginger Christ
Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless
8 July 2020
Text / 1500-3000 Words
When COVID-19 emergency plans by Cleveland agencies to reduce crowding in homeless shelters excluded people still living on the streets, the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless developed a plan to house people in hotel rooms. Raising money for the plan on the fly, the organization arranged for daily health screenings, meals, and other services for residents. After private donations got the program up and running, Cuyahoga County and federal agencies joined private funders to pay to house more than 380 people.
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