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.
To explore stories about Care & Compassion, click on our collections or any of our tags below.
http://broadview.org/markham-vaccines-church
Diane Peters
Broadview Magazine
7 May 2021
Text / Under 800 Words
A community effort spearheaded by a local church and a software company is helping senior citizens in Markham, Ontario secure Covid vaccine appointments. Ahead of the vaccine rollout, a reverend and a parishioner began collecting senior's information via an online form, which allowed them to streamline the signup process. The effort's success has attracted surrounding communities who are now working with the duo to reach their seniors as well.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/05/nyregion/vaccinations-asian-americans.html
Amanda Rosa
The New York Times
5 May 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Community centers in New York are playing a crucial role in helping to connect the city's Asian residents with Covid vaccine appointments. From training translators on medical lingo to collecting local resident's information for online scheduling, these community organizations are "filling the gaps government agencies have left behind."
https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2021/05/04/a-communitys-response-reflections-from-the-white-mountain-apache-tribe-a-year-into-the-covid-19-pandemic
Alberto Mariani
Cronkite News - Arizona PBS
4 May 2021
Photojournalism / 800-1500 Words
The White Mountain Apache Tribe in eastern Arizona was able to slow the spread of Covid in the community by implementing a daily routine of "contact tracing, surveillance of high-risk individuals, and vaccinations." Since starting the regimen – which includes going door-to-door to community members' houses to monitor potential exposures, symptoms, and to offer vaccines – the tribe has curbed the spread and hasn't reported any more deaths in months.
https://klcjournal.com/sedgwick-county-black-community-covid-19
Audrey Korte
KLC Journal
4 May 2021
Text / Over 3000 Words
To help protect the predominantly Black community in Sedgwick County, Kansas, the county collaborated with local leaders and residents to create an information and messaging campaign that specifically addressed community concerns. Although the funding allocated to these efforts wasn't as plentiful as community leaders were asking for, the targeted outreach has helped to increase communication and trust around public health messaging.
https://www.technologyreview.com/2021/04/28/1023983/india-covid-crowdsourcing
Varsha Bansal
MIT Technology Review
28 April 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
In India, citizen-led small-scale digital efforts are helping to connect Covid-19 patients with the resources, supplies, and medical equipment they need to survive. The citizen groups are largely using online platforms to crowdsource what they need, with some matching buyers and sellers and others "debunking inaccurate leads."
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/these-new-york-neighbors-are-building-their-own-safety-net
Julia Hotz
Next City
27 April 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
Neighborhoods throughout New York are banding together to create their own mutual aid networks to help their community members during the coronavirus pandemic. From grocery shopping to fundraising for resources such as diapers, these groups are filling gaps to help meet community needs.
https://www.npr.org/2021/04/26/988165812/how-a-u-k-imam-countered-vaccine-hesitancy-and-helped-thousands-get-the-jab
Frank Langfitt
NPR
26 April 2021
Multi-Media / 5-15 Minutes
Sheikh Nuru Mohammed uses weekly sermons as imam at Al-Abbas mosque to dispel false information about the COVID-19 vaccine, inspiring hundreds of skeptical congregants to get vaccinated. He also turned the mosque into a vaccination center and 50 mosques have since done the same. Mohammed’s public vaccination and his sermons, which emphasize getting information from experts not social media posts, make an impact because it is coming from a trusted source rather than government officials. The mosque also delivered over 15,000 doses to people in the area, making an important connection with the local community.
https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2021/0420/How-one-Chinatown-curbs-anti-Asian-violence-and-unites-a-city
Francine Kiefer
Christian Science Monitor
20 April 2021
Text / Over 3000 Words
Anti-Asian hate crimes during the COVID-19 pandemic have sparked a movement nationwide to stand up against bias and to help protect those most vulnerable to attack, the elderly. In one of America's oldest Chinese enclaves, Oakland's Chinatown, Compassion in Oakland has attracted thousands of volunteers of all races and ethnicities to chaperone the elderly on their errands and to patrol the streets as additional eyes and ears for the police. Shopkeepers and residents feel safer. And, among the volunteer protectors, bridges are being built where tensions and rivalries have long existed.
https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1420463/community-pantry-not-charity-but-mutual-aid
Nikka G. Valenzuela
Philippine Daily Inquirer
18 April 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
Community pantries in the Philippines are providing fresh produce and basic neccesites to Filipinos struggling with food insecurity during the pandemic. The pantries have sprung up in multiple cities, with cash and food donations pouring in from across the country.
https://www.ideastream.org/news/clevelands-211-helpline-has-helped-thousands-get-vaccinated-for-covid-19
Conor Morris
ideastream
15 April 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
In Cuyahoga County, Ohio, a phone line has helped tens of thousands of residents access information about Covid-19 as well as make appointments to receive their vaccinations. The helpline is a "natural extension of the services" already provided by United Way of Greater Cleveland’s 211 HelpLink.
https://www.rappler.com/moveph/coronavirus-pandemic-neighbors-look-out-for-each-other-sorsogon
Mavic Conde
Rappler
12 April 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
A kindness station was set up in Sorsogon, Philippines, to provide relief for those experiencing food insecurity. Donations have provided funding for rice, instant noodles, canned goods, some produce, and even PPE for frontline workers in the area.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/courtwatch-prince-georges/2021/04/08/dc63e064-2e96-11eb-bae0-50bb17126614_story.html
Katie Mettler
The Washington Post
9 April 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Court Watch PG acts as a traditional court watch program for Maryland's Prince George's County, but with a twist: the two formerly incarcerated women running it turned adversity, in the form of the pandemic's shutdown of trials, into opportunity in the form of a nationwide crew of volunteers watching over Zoom. The watchers attend bond hearings, where people jailed on pending charges try to gain pretrial release. After observing thousands of hearings, Court Watch PG has exposed flaws in the system, which it pushes to reform through the more than 100 "accountability letters" it has sent justice officials.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/australia-coronavirus-aboriginal-indigenous/2021/04/09/7acd4d56-96a4-11eb-8f0a-3384cf4fb399_story.html
Rachel Pannett
The Washington Post
9 April 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
Indigenous Australians have fared far better than tribal regions in other parts of the world during the coronavirus pandemic due to a collaborative and proactive health campaign between health experts and aboriginal leaders. According to an Australian epidemiologist specializing in public health, “This is a most amazing response to the pandemic from a community that is so marginalized. This is probably the best evidence we have that if you put Aboriginal people in charge, then you get better outcomes.”
https://www.yesmagazine.org/health-happiness/2021/03/29/covid-seattle-neighborhood-food-insecurity
Lornet Turnbull
Yes! Magazine
29 March 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
In the South Park neighborhood of Seattle, community efforts during the coronavirus pandemic have resulted in the creation of a system that battles food insecurity. Spearheaded by the community center, a local non-profit, and a local restaurant, the community has built and expanded a kind of coordinated mutual aid that helps residents maintain access to hot meals and pantry items.
https://scienceafrica.co.ke/community-health-volunteers-shielding-families-from-covid-19
Henry Owino
Science Africa
27 March 2021
Text / Over 3000 Words
In Nairobi, community health volunteers have played a crucial role during the coronavirus pandemic by providing reliable health care information to residents. They also have been a key resource in delivering essential medications to "clinically vulnerable families."
https://crosscut.com/news/2021/03/what-wa-can-learn-native-communities-vaccination-plan
Manola Secaira
Crosscut
22 March 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
Washington state’s Native communities have led the way in distributing the Covid vaccine to their communities' most vulnerable and are now helping to vaccinate those who are outside of their tribes. Their success is due to a combination of factors, including direct outreach to those who needed the vaccine the most. According to the Seattle Indian Health Board CEO, “That’s the difference between state, county systems and other public health systems They’re not serving people [directly] every day.”
https://reasonstobecheerful.world/the-deal-thats-saving-san-franciscos-restaurants
Nicole Gluckstern
Reasons to be Cheerful
5 March 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
To save dozens of restaurants in San Francisco during the coronavirus lockdowns, a restaurant owner launched an organization that "provides monthly contracts to its restaurant partners to cook meals for underserved populations." The organization, which has 160 restaurant partners so far, helps fill the gaps left by the government-funded Paycheck Protection Program.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/03/02/nation/those-frustrated-with-vaccine-system-crew-volunteers-is-ready-help
Felice J. Freyer
The Boston Globe
2 March 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
A community effort is underway in Massachusetts to help people secure Covid-19 vaccination appointments, despite a confusing government roll-out system. The Massachusetts COVID Vaccination Help volunteer group is composed of volunteers from across the state, who are using their free time to help individuals schedule appointments. Although there are concerns about privacy, users thus far have commended the group's persistence and success in booking appointments.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/01/turbovax-vaccine-website-huge-ma
Miranda Bryant
The Guardian
1 March 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
Frustrated with the Covid-19 vaccination system in New York, a local software engineer created a "much-needed vaccination appointment-finding bot" that shares available times and locations on a website and Twitter. Although the website was not built "in the way that modern websites are supposed to be built," it has still been extremely popular and users have reported successfully booking appointments because of it.
https://www.yesmagazine.org/health-happiness/2021/02/25/bread-baking-mutual-aid
Lynn Freehill-Maye
Yes! Magazine
25 February 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
A community effort to help provide food to those who are food insecure during the pandemic has brought together local bakers to bake bread for food banks. The initiative, known as Community Loaves, has amassed 700 volunteers and donated 15,000 loaves to 11 food pantries across the Seattle area, and is now also gaining momentum in Oregon.
https://www.wbez.org/stories/an-evanston-teen-saw-how-hard-it-was-for-the-elderly-to-find-vaccines-so-he-built-a-website-to-help/bb26a327-68a2-466c-a9ce-1ef4bf4c5d5b
Edie Rubinowitz
WBEZ
21 February 2021
Radio / 3-5 Minutes
When a teenager in Evanston, Illinois realized that senior citizens were facing difficulties securing Covid vaccination appointments due to technology barriers, he created a website to help eliminate some of the technological barriers. The site aggregates available appointments in the area so seniors don't have to go searching for them, which has consequently helped reduce stress for users of the website.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/how-some-frustrated-covid-19-vaccine-hunters-are-trying-to-fix-a-broken-system
Danny Westneat
The Seattle Times
17 February 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
Retired software engineers in Washington have joined together and created a website that aggregates all available COVID vaccine appointments by using "screen scrapers." Although the site doesn't allow the visitor to book an appointment, it has routinely averaged "10,000 visits a day from anxious shot hunters."
https://nextcity.org/daily/entry/brooklyn-coalition-fighting-isolation-seniors-low-tech-conference-calls
Emily Nonko
Next City
11 February 2021
Text / 800-1500 Words
To address the growing isolation facing senior citizens, a Brooklyn-based organization started an initiative called The Sharing Network to connect volunteers with seniors via telephone calls. Taking the participants' interests into account, the initiative has expanded to include the moderator-led discussion groups that focus on a wide variety of topics, with more than 70 seniors signing up to be included.
https://tol.org/client/article/ppe-for-the-people.html
Kathrin Yaromich
Transitions Online
10 February 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
During the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic, volunteers across Belarus worked together to collect and deliver personal protective equipment to frontline workers, despite the Belarusian government denying the spread of the coronavirus. Using social media to organize, the volunteers "served as a kind of SWAT team able to bypass the bureaucracy to obtain the necessary equipment."
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/09/nyregion/vaccine-website-appointment-nyc.html
Sharon Otterman
The New York Times
9 February 2021
Text / 1500-3000 Words
Online volunteer assistance efforts in New York have played a crucial role in the dissemination of the COVID-19 vaccine, while city and state appointment systems have caused confusion or created barriers for many. Although these efforts can't address all barriers, such as lack of computer access or literacy, they have been used by thousands of people each day to find available appointment times.
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