Five ways to help your neighbors during the coronavirus pandemic
Angela Harris’ first-grade students weren’t surprised when she told them about a Google form she made to help keep them safe as Milwaukee Public Schools shut down amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“They were like, ‘Ms. Harris, you’re always doing this stuff,’ ” she said. “And I was like, ‘Yeah, well, I want to make sure if you need food, or someone to talk to, or a babysitter, you will have those things even if you don’t see me for two weeks.’”
The form allows people to request and offer help for a variety of needs, from child care to financial support, which could become immense if the virus continues to spread and force shutdowns.
The form is just one of many ways Wisconsinites are finding to help one another and maintain community bonds even as they become more physically isolated.
Here are five ways you can help.
Remember both your neighbors and strangers
At a time when people are stockpiling supplies and hunkering down in their homes, it’s important to be proactive about offering and asking for help.
With the form Harris created, people can volunteer to provide child care, deliver meals, help people sign up for health insurance, offer transportation, lend emotional support or give a financial donation, among other options.
Harris said she was inspired to create the form by a friend in another city who had done the same thing after a school district closed. Harris was worried about her students.
“One of my biggest worries is my students,” she said. “I’m just really concerned about where they’ll get their food and the things they need.”
Harris created the form Thursday night, went to work the next morning and realized that afternoon that 200 people had already responded. Several organizations also reached out, offering to help her organize assistance.
Harris is planning to meet with the organizations in the coming days to collaborate and make connections with people who have filled out the form.
“This is way bigger than me and something I can’t do by myself,” she said. “I welcome the assistance and support.”
Volunteer at a food bank or pantry
At food banks and pantries, staff members are worried as streams of volunteers cancel amid what they expect will be growing needs.
Sherrie Tussler, executive director at Hunger Task Force, said the greatest need is for volunteers to assemble boxes of food for low-income seniors. She said the organization has only about 3,500 prepped out of the 10,000 needed.
“If people are able to come in and help, we would be very appreciative,” Tussler said. “With seniors being most at risk, we want to make sure we can get food to their doors.”
At Feeding America, communications director Scott Marshall said the slowdown of volunteers has left a backlog of food that needs to be sorted. He said the organization is cleaning more frequently to keep volunteers safe. He hopes the safety measures encourage more people to help.
He meant they will work together in smaller groups. So they need more people but will break into smaller groups so that individuals aren’t exposed to as many others.
“With people being sent home from work, the potential for people losing wages and schools closing, we’re concerned there’s going be a jump in the need for our services,” he said.
Many volunteers have also stopped helping at Interchange Food Pantry. Staff there have also taken steps to make the work safe. Patrons no longer enter the pantry itself, but fill out forms indicating which items they’d like. Beginning Saturday, patrons will be able to leave a cellphone number and wait in their cars for their orders to be filled.
Interchange director George Neureuther said the pantry provides food to anyone, regardless of ZIP code and without requiring any proof of need. Anyone who needs food can simply show up. Pantry staff do request identification cards for all family members who will be eating the food, though they are flexible (they’ll accept a report card as an ID for a child).
In addition to needing volunteers, food bank and food pantry staff said financial donations are important, especially as shortages grow and fewer people can volunteer.
Stand up to racist harassment
As COVID-19 has spread, so has antiAsian harassment and violence. Experts in disrupting racism say there are things everyone can do to stop it.
If you witness racist behavior, experts say it’s generally helpful to make the people being harassed aware that you are there to support them and take cues from them, while also avoiding escalating the situation.
Depending on the situation, a bystander might ask the person being harassed if they want to move elsewhere together or if they want the harasser to stop. Another tactic: simply striking up a conversation so the person knows they are not alone.
“If you stand with them, and you have more privilege, it can really support them in interrupting the interaction,” said Lucy Duncan, who conducts bystander intervention training for the American Friends Service Committee.
Even if bystanders do not intervene during an incident, Duncan said it is still helpful just to be a witness to the event and to offer support afterward. Most important: Don’t do nothing.
“This is a time for us to understand that, in all of the crises that are happening in this moment, that we are really there to take care of each other,” she said.
Duncan recommended people practice how they would respond to different situations in advance. YWCA of Southeastern Wisconsin offers an “Unlearning Racism” course that helps participants consider strategies for intervention.
Martha Berry, chief racial justice officer for YWCA of Southeastern Wisconsin, said it’s an important time for people to challenge racist beliefs.
“People’s underlying messages of racism have always been there,” Berry said. “This is a way of keeping us separate from each other. How do we find our way back to each other?”
The Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance has published anti-discrimination materials that can be used in workplaces. The organization urges employers to anticipate discrimination against workers and clients and be prepared to support them.
Support small businesses
As fear mounts about attending public events and visiting public spaces, some small businesses are facing big drops in sales.
While the Small Business Administration is offering low-interest “disaster assistance” loans during the outbreak, some business owners are struggling to keep up with costs and employees are losing shifts.
Wendy Baumann, president of the Wisconsin Women’s Business Initiative Corp., encouraged people who are healthy enough to be out shopping or eating to choose small businesses first.
“We don’t want them to go away in these turbulent times, and everybody can play a part,” Baumann said.
Venice Williams, who makes natural remedies with Alice’s Garden Urban Farm, held a special pop-up Friday for
“This is a time for us to understand that, in all of the crises that are happening in this moment, that we are really there to take care of each other.” virus-related supplies, from immunesystem boosting tea, to the “So You Work With Children?” hand oil. (Her products are available for order: venicewb@gmail.com.)
If you can’t visit a business in person, consider other ways to lend support, such as buying gift cards to use in the future.
WWBIC also supports businesses in applying for zero-interest loans via Kiva, a micro-lending platform where anyone can contribute to loans to support businesses of their choosing. Kiva recently announced it would allow more businesses to be eligible for loans and lengthened the grace period for paying the loans back.
Donate blood
Though health officials aren’t expecting any need for blood transfusions related to coronavirus, blood is still needed for surgeries, emergencies and other issues. And like many other things, blood drives have been canceled and donors have been wary of donating.
At Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin, staff are frequently cleaning and creating space buffers between people to maintain a safe environment, hoping that those who are healthy will step up. Versiti normally has at least a week’s worth of blood on the shelves; now it has just three days’ worth.
“If you’re healthy, please come in and donate, because a number of people won’t be able to for various reasons and our usual way of getting blood is diminished,” said Thomas Abshire, chief medical officer at Versiti.
Abshire is also encouraging businesses and other organizations to consider hosting drives because so many have been canceled.
“We’re here to serve the community in a safe way, and we really need everyone now to literally roll up their sleeves and volunteer to give,” Abshire said.