From Councilmember Brad Lander <[email protected]>
Subject Coronavirus: What kinds of resources & mutual support do you want?
Date March 11, 2020 3:45 PM
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Dear John,

Our community comes together during times of crisis. After Hurricane Sandy, we did all we could to take care of the frail elderly displacees at the Park Slope Armory and to support those hard-hit in Red Hook and the Rockaways. After the 2016 election, we gathered together to put our anxiety into action to protect immigrants, defend women’s rights, and fight white supremacy.

We can’t come together in person to confront the coronavirus. In order to help contain the spread of the virus, the best public health advice now is to avoid large crowds (if you want to see why “social distancing” helps to save lives, read this [[link removed]] ).

But maybe we can come together to do some of that organizing and community building online.

So I’d love to hear from you: As we gear up for what will likely be several weeks of stress, anxious news, and increasing disruptions to daily life, what kinds of online resources and connections would be helpful? [[link removed]]

If enough people are interested, our office will try to help neighbors come together virtually to get answers to questions about the City’s response to the outbreak, hear from public health experts (e.g. about how to care for vulnerable people in our lives), find things we can do to be helpful to those in need, or maybe just create fun and informative programming in case we end up spending a lot of time at home for a while.

Tell us how our office can help support your family and our community. [[link removed]]

Would you want to hear from public health professionals about supporting loved ones who are isolating? Learn from an educator about how to talk about the virus with your children? Brainstorm with librarians about what kind of family programming can happen online? Join in a big online texting effort to encourage people to fill out the Census?

We’re eager for your ideas too. [[link removed]]

The City and State are taking serious steps to curb the spread of the virus. Here are the most recent updates from the City’s Department of Health [[link removed]] and information from the Department of Education [[link removed]] , and you can sign up for updates by texting COVID to 692-692. And we are pushing for action to help the most vulnerable people weather the economic hardship that coronavirus is bringing, including calling for gig companies to provide paid sick days [[link removed]] to independent contractors and providing loans to small businesses [[link removed]] .

We know that many of the people on this list are fortunate to have paid sick days and health insurance, and hopefully some resources to prepare. Many community members do not. Gig workers without health insurance, people without stable housing, and the many Americans who cannot afford a $400 emergency need more support. There’s a lot we can do together, even virtually, to support all members of our community. Give us your ideas here.

Public health officials are recommending physical “social distancing,” but we know that isolation has emotional consequences of its own. So let’s take the conversation online and find ways to support each other through this stressful time.

Brad

456 Fifth Avenue, 3rd Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11215
718-499-1090
[email protected]

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