As colleges and universities across the United States have shifted to online classes and shut down their campuses, not every student simply has the ability to move home. To help support these students, many of whom are low-income or international, the Stay Together Appalachian Youth Project began working with local communities to find housing for displaced students, as well as to provide other support like money or supplies.
Read MoreUpon seeing a need for educational resources to support the out of school transition due to the COVID-19 outbreak, two high school seniors in the San Jose area stepped up to fill that gap. Sarika Sriram and Uditha Velidandla coordinated 90 volunteers to offer free tutoring in a range of school subjects. So far, over 350 students have benefitted from these comprehensive online learning sessions.
Read MoreTo reach kids who must stay at home as a result of the coronavirus and may not have access to reliable internet, teachers in Tennessee's Shelby County schools are recording easily accessible TV lessons. Though teachers can no longer get the same level of feedback from students or adjust to their on-the-spot questions, the lessons are to some degree interactive and aim to reinforce lessons students learned before schools went remote.
Read MoreLocal staples in Latino neighborhoods like carnicerias, liquor stores, tienditas, and gas stations are standing strong on the front line to continue to provide essentials people need during the coronavirus. As other supermarkets are ransacked, these businesses make sure to remain well-stocked with policies that limit the number of items and customers. Locals testify to the importance of having a corner store that anchors the community together during this crisis.
Read MoreA coalition of local groups in the Cowichan region focused on the welfare of vulnerable populations during COVID-19 opened five tenting sites that have provided people experiencing homelessness with safety, meals, and access to service. The temporary solution, pending the opening of 100 units of housing to open in 2021, has uncertain financing after its initial $392,000 phase. But, almost immediately, the well-managed sites have had a visible effect: many fewer people wandering the streets.
Read MoreIn an effort to help get accurate information to the communities who are being disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic, a program called Live Chair Health has started to train barbers "on chronic issues that disproportionately affect Black communities" and teach them "how to have conversations with their clients about the diseases." Aside from providing COVID-19 information, the initiative has helped patrons access primary care and address other medical issues such as high blood pressure.
Read MoreThe 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."
Read MoreWhen the coronavirus pandemic shut down school buildings and led to many people working from home in New York City, a city child care program was launched to give children a place to go while they were learning from home. However, the program failed to accommodate children with disabilities who required the assistance of a paraprofessional. After realizing the gap in care, the city is now working to increase access.
Read MoreWhat began as informal online gaming sessions grew into a group of hundreds of LGBTQ gamers, calling themselves Charlotte Gaymers Network, that fostered community and a safe place to gather during the pandemic. Though most of the network's events had to be held virtually, that ended up meeting a need, as more traditional in-person meeting spaces for Charlotte's LBGTQ community had shut down. The group promotes inclusivity in gaming designs and uses events like a tournament to build its following.
Read MoreChicago Connected is a $50 million four-year program that has already provided high-speed broadband to over 40,000 households in need, representing around 64,000 Chicago public school students, and plans to expand. On-the-ground community outreach in multiple languages was key to connecting residents to the program quickly, which was needed as school went virtual due to COVID-19. The public schools helped identify eligible low-income students whose parents were then contacted by outreach workers.
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