Upper Manhattan Mutual Aid for COVID-19

New York City is hit hard by the pandemic, and people with disabilities and the elderly are really hurting.  It is especially hard - and possibly dangerous - for them to go out and shop for what they desperately need. They tell us that they do not feel safe. They tell us that their food stamps and social security payments are simply not enough. Single moms with kids to take care of, job or no job. They asked for someone to help them. That’s us. That’s you, too.

This is what we do. Through social workers, independent living centers, and our website, we are connected to a person who urgently needs help and we take their shopping list and buy as much as we can. Then we carefully pack and safely deliver food, cleaning supplies - even medicine - right to their door. Then the process starts again. And again. And again.

We have many neighbors contacting us. Some request specific grocery items or baby items, while some are happy with a generalized grocery run. Our volunteers go out and shop for the neighbors, and deilver the items to them. The volunteers try to use the local pantries also to keep our costs down. We also buy grocery items in bulk and store them in our apartment pantries. The delivery volunteers can pick up items from the apartment pantries for the neighbors. We also have access to a commercial kitchen space, where the local neighbors can stop by and pick up food items.

We plan to spend $1200-$1500 per week and support 25-30 families per week. Thus, we will be spending the $5000 amount in one month and support 100-120 families with it.

We see long lines in front of pantries. In the summer a million people would apply per week for unemployment. COVID-19 has not only caused health crises for the people, it has also applied financial strain on everyone, especially those who are not in the upper strata of the society.

Our work has allowed us to keep our spirits up in these challenging times. The smiles and ongoing relationships with neighbors has enriched our lives. We are working on ways to involve these neighbors with us, so they can also contribute to keep the community strong.