Thank you for everything you are doing to help slow the spread of COVID-19. As we move into Phase III of the reopening, it’s important to keep social distancing and wearing face coverings to preserve the progress we’ve made. As we continue to work together to protect public health, we also can’t forget about the other ways COVID-19 is impacting our community. Below are some ways you can help your neighbors as we work together to get through this public health crisis. If you’re looking for more ideas, visit our COVID-19 page.

• Donate to the Somerville Cares Fund: Thanks to the community’s generosity, more than $400,000 in direct aid has been distributed through the Somerville Cares Fund. Unfortunately, the fund is depleted, and there are still many Somerville residents, workers, and parents of students in our schools who are in dire need of help. The Community Action Agency of Somerville, which is distributing funding, has put together some stats that highlight the need in our community:

• • The fund needs a total of about $2.5 million to fully meet the needs of everyone who applied for assistance. Help with housing costs has been the largest request, with $1.5 million needed to cover requests.
  • 50% of non-English speaking applicants and 47% of English speaking applicants report having no income since the beginning of March. 71% of all applicants report having lost more than half of their income.
  • 62% of Somerville Cares applicants have children.
  • Fund recipients include house cleaners, babysitters, contractors, waiters, cooks, and drivers who have not been able to work or who have had their hours reduced because of COVID-19.

• Join our 10,000 Masks Drive: More than 3,500 homemade reusable cloth masks have been donated as part of our 10,000 Masks Drive. So far, nearly 1,600 have been distributed to seniors through the Council on Aging, 230 have been given to residents by our Immigrant Services Units, and 80 have been distributed to shelters. The rest are currently being processed for distribution. If you’re interested in making some masks for neighbors in need visit our website for a suggested pattern to use. To donate the masks, please put them in a sealed bag and put them in the book drop-off slot at either the Central or East Branch Library.

• Give items or time: There are various community-led initiatives like Mutual Aid, Buy Nothing, Freecycle, and other similar groups where community members sometimes ask for help with items or an errand. This is another way you can get involved, help your neighbors, and maybe even get rid of some clutter around the house. If you plan to give something away via one of these groups or offer to help someone out, make sure you do it safely. Arrange for contactless pick-up or exchanges whenever possible, and if you’re meeting someone in person, consider having a member of your household wait for you or let someone know where you’ll be.

• Do what you can to keep everyone safe: The simplest thing you can do to help our community is to continue to follow COVID-19 safety protocols. That means wearing a face covering in public, not gathering with people outside of your household, and staying at least six feet away from others when you’re running essential errands. These small steps go a long way in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and saving lives.