Safety looks like full bellies in a pandemic

New and existing community response and mutual aid networks, such as the Maine Coronavirus Community Assistance Facebook page, serve as stopgap measures so people struggling with the economic costs of the Covid-19 pandemic can get more immediate aid than from state bureaucracies. The crowd-sourced format also allows for more targeted aid, like when one of Maine’s 20,000 members received firewood, food, and even over-the-counter medication. The Maryland page has marked over 200 posts as having received assistance. To run smoothly, the pages need volunteer moderators to fact-check and maintain civility.

Two women living on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming helped to provide mutual aid when they saw many families in the area facing difficulties during the onset of the pandemic. The pair set up a fundraising page and a Google form to raise funds and track peoples' needs and started distributing goods like groceries, diapers, and hand sanitizers to over 300 families on the reservation.

The Ajo Center for Sustainable Agriculture has helped the town of Ajo in Arizona distribute affordable and nutrient-dense food to the community after the coronavirus pandemic created a significant financial strain on many families. Additional support has come from the town's participation in the Environmental Protection Agency's program Local Food, Local Places which "provides technical support and expertise to help towns leverage food systems to boost economic development."

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.

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.

Community Services Unlimited (CSU) is a local organization in Southern California that is helping to increase access to healthy foods for families all year round, but especially now during the Covid-19 pandemic. Unlike many food aid programs, the goal of CSU is not just to provide food, but to "create more empowered food communities" by teaching the local community valuable and usable skills around food production and distribution.

Pascua Yaqui and Tohono O’odham tribal leaders took quick action to support members during the Covid-19 pandemic. They instituted a curfew, required face masks, and ensured that tribal members had sufficient food and supplies. The Pascua Yaqui’s information technology team created an app for residents to easily provide household information and request food, household goods and cleaning supplies. Federal rescue money allocated to the tribes has not arrived, so the tribes created their own systems of caring for their tribal members by securing essential goods and distributing them to those in need.

In Georgia’s Athens-Clarke County, schools and the community have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by setting up a food delivery and pickup program for students and families that experience food insecurity. Busses have been repurposed to deliver fully prepared meals, with the county also offering pick up and drive-thru options as well.

Community networks acted to keep people in Kashmir fed throughout COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns. The Bonamsar mosque provides donation-funded monthly meal kits and small cash payments to people in need, including cooked food for those in immediate need. Tiffin Aaw provided meals to residents during political turmoil and shifted to serving warm meals to COVID-19 patients and their medical and family caregivers that couldn’t afford food. Both services included the culturally traditional food that has led the region to have the country’s highest nutritional health.

When the coronavirus pandemic forced a restaurant in Vermont to close its doors and lay off hundreds of employees, the owner worked with investors to shift his business model so that he could provide meals for those now without work using the backlog of perishable foods. His initiative has now expanded with donations and contributions from community corporations and has even received funding from the state as it has grown to include “collective community gardening.”