Ways to Help with the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Boston Area/Massachusetts
     • Immigrant Focused
• New York Area
• National
• ​​​​​​​Support for Workers in Food Supply Industry
• ​​​​​​​Donate Time and Care

BOSTON AREA/MASSACHUSETTS

The CJP Coronavirus Emergency Fund (Council for Jewish Philanthropies) is providing food, financial assistance, and other services to isolated individuals and families who face severe hardships as a result of social isolation, lost wages, and health challenges.

The Restaurant Strong Fund has been set up to support full-time Massachusetts restaurant employees impacted by the Covid-19 closures. 

Solidarity Supply Distro provides free groceries for all, both for delivery and pick up, with its funds managed by the Lucy Parsons Center.. The Material Aid and Advocacy Program is offering material aid to people experiencing homelessness. Violence in Boston Inc and Food for the Soul Grove Hall are providing lunch and dinner for Boston Public Schools students and accepting donations of funds and hygiene supplies.

The Boston Foundation’s COVID-19 Response Fund is awarding one-time operating grants on a rolling basis to a broad array of local nonprofits too long for me to list, whose operations in support of vulnerable populations have been stressed by the outbreak. Their first round of grant-making included six organizations that specifically help immigrants and the undocumented.

The Newton Covid-19 Care Fund will help cover the cost of basic needs—food, medicine, childcare, rent, utilities, etc.—for qualified applicants. 

New England Grassroots Environment Fund has launched a COVID-19 rapid response funding opportunity – for small grassroots group in the NY/NE region

IMMIGRANT-FOCUSED (Boston area)

The Disaster Relief Fund has been created to support immigrants (majority undocumented) in East Boston and surrounding areas. The fund is run by the Center for Cooperative Development and Solidarity (CCDS), a small nonprofit dedicated to fostering the development of cooperative businesses within the immigrant community of East Boston.  This fund was created not only to support the urgent needs that this immigrant community is facing right now, but also to further CCDS’ mission of creating cooperative economic alternatives to fight the rapid gentrification of East Boston and the subsequent displacement of the working-class immigrant community, a process which will be accelerated by this crisis. CDT member Jonathan Rosenthal is an advisor to CCDS and is part of the committee overseeing the fund.

A consortium of Boston area immigrant justice organizations have set up the Massundocufund, a special COVID-19 relief fund to assist undocumented and mixed status households.

Cosecha is an activist immigrant-led organization that has set up an Undocumented Worker Fund. They are asking people to sign a pledge to donate part of their stimulus check to undocumented families.

SUPPORTING NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITIES:

Navajo & Hopi Families COVID-19 Relief:  Providing relief support for Diné & Hopi Families affected by the COVID-19 crisis - https://www.navajohopisolidarity.org/

www.navajorelief.fund - Sihasin bee Nihxidziil is an on-the-ground community of volunteers purchasing and delivering supplies to high risk areas. Our contributions and donations will go toward the wide-scale effort to strengthen the Navajo communities impacted by COVID-19 by providing critical supplies including needed water, food, sanitation/cleaning, and other priorities identified by community leaders.

NEW YORK-FOCUSED:

Afya Foundation - afyafoundation.org (distributes in Harlem and Hudson, NY, an underserved community, and worldwide). Amazing track record with many tons of donated supplies delivered. 

Make the Road NY works with latinx, undocumented, Amazon workers and other communities hardest hit by Covid - maketheroad.org

NATIONAL

One Fair Wage Emergency Fund, created to help service workers.

The National Domestic Workers Alliance Coronavirus Care Fund will provide immediate financial support for domestic workers

Bernie Sanders’s organization identified the following six national charities, to which you can donate with one link: the Restaurant Worker Disaster Relief Fund provides direct financial support to restaurant workers in need; the Workers Fund provides direct aid to gig and low-earning contract workers; the National Bail Fund Network’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund gives direct aid to organizations working during the crisis to free individuals in jails and immigration detention centers; CERF+ COVID-19 Response Fund offers a safety net and disaster aid for artists and artisans during the crisis; the Rent Zero Tenant Organizing Fund supports tenants across the country to win eviction moratoria and no rents during the crisis and recovery; and the Amazonians United Mutual Aid Fund is organizing a mutual aid fund for Amazon warehouse workers.

Feeding America supports a nationwide network of 200+ foodbanks

UNITE HERE Education and Support Fund, a nonprofit organization supporting hospitality workers who have been displaced or laid off.

SUPPORT FOR WORKERS IN FOOD SUPPLY INDUSTRIES:

Red Tomato https://redtomato.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI08PQ8fPZ6AIVxJ6zCh355grREAAYASAAEgILIfD_BwE

Farm Aid https://www.farmaid.org/

NAMA (support small-scale fishers) https://www.namanet.org/

Keeping food service workers employed while feeding frontline medical personnel: https://offtheirplate.org/

5 things you can do to support food workers http://foodchainworkers.org/2020/03/5-things-you-can-do-to-support-food-workers/ 

TO DONATE TIME AND CARE (NOT $):

Mutual Aid groups: Volunteers walk a dog, shop, provide virtual companionship, etc.

Massachusetts Jobs With Justice has this collation of resources and mutual aid groups

The Asian American Resource Workshop has created a wider ranging sheet of resource sand mutual aid groups, with information on how to combat prejudice.

JCRC of Greater Boston (Jewish Community Relations Council) has a long list of volunteer opportunities of many types, related to Covid-19 – you can find it at https://www.jcrcboston.org/covid-19/.

About Fresh produce deliveries: ​​​​​​​As the COVID-19 crisis continues, the situation of thousands of Boston households is growing more desperate - especially for those with restricted mobility due to the virus or other circumstances. About Fresh is delivering hundreds of boxes of fresh produce to these households every day - and we depend on volunteers to make that possible. If you can donate 4 hours of your time once or twice a week, it will make an enormous difference to us and the households we serve.