Organizing Resources for Coronavirus Response

Coronavirus is deeply impacting our communities. Below you will find a list of ideas and resources compiled from across the state of how rural Oregonians are meeting each others’ needs and calling for structural change at this moment. We will be updating this page with resources as we receive them. Send us any resources and ideas that you have found helpful and office@rop.org.

[Update] The Oregon Worker Relief Fund provides financial support directly to Oregonians who have lost their jobs yet are ineligible for Unemployment Insurance and federal stimulus relief due to their immigration status, and now face hunger, homelessness, and economic hardship. To apply, call 1-888-274-7292.

Emergency financial assistance is available to Oregonians, regardless of immigration status, facing life disruptions under COVID-19. People facing job loss, lost wages, evictions or inability to pay a mortgage, behind on bills, inability to pay for childcare, outstanding medical bills, or other issues are welcome to access these funds between now and December 31st. Visit savefirstfinancial.org/covid-19 or call 503-688-2659.

This list was started after the 3/18 Rural Community Coronavirus Response strategy session. You can watch a recording of that call here.

Communities are creating new ways to support each other and build the infrastructure we need.

In Gilliam, Wasco, Deschutes, Umatilla and many other counties, Facebook groups have popped up for this purpose.
The Clatskanie Co-op in Columbia County has offered support for communities wanting to create internet co-ops or set up a shared mobile hotspot for people to connect to in a library or school parking lot! Email office@rop.org to get connected to Deborah Simpier with the Clatskanie Co-op!
In Yamhill County, organizers with Progressive Yamhill are posting bilingual paper flyers around their neighborhoods to both build up a list of contact information as well as assess what people need and what they have to offer each other.
In Benton County, the Coalition of Graduate Employees is using a Google survey system to coordinate community member’s needs and match them with volunteers.
In Linn County, organizers are using a platform called Recovers, to help each other out.
SIEU created a tool to find out what public benefits you are eligible for, and how to apply.
Guide for dealing with a pandemic in organizations that work on issues of Domestic Violence.

Food access and distribution is an important piece of this crisis:

Reach out to your local School District, particularly McKinney-Vento liaisons, to encourage schools to deliver food via school buses to anyone who needs it.
Connect with key partners like the Oregon Food Bank, farmers markets, and local food producers.
Yamhill County organizers created a google spreadsheet to share resources in their area.
Food-related resources in the Rogue Valley can be found here.
One positive example is Berea Kids Eat, a year-round child nutrition program in rural Kentucky partially funded through the USDA Summer Food Service Program.

Multilingual resources to get the word out about Coronavirus and Responses to it:

Apply pressure to the inhumane systems of detention and deportation Here are some of those resources:

Call Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at (503) 326-2059 to demand safe and healthy conditions for asylum seekers and immigrants. Let them know that they must close ICE offices across the state and stop check-ins for all asylum-seekers and immigrants.
Demand the release of all people in detention. You can use the #FreeThemAll: A Toolkit to Support Local Demands for Mass Release of People in ICE Custody from Detention Watch Network to demand an end to immigrant detention. Este kit de herramientas también está disponible en Español. (The toolkit is also available in Spanish.)
Your group can sign on to An Open Letter to the Immigration Authorities in Oregon to have these and other critical changes be made immediately. Also, share with others these Multilingual resources on COVID-19:

Call on our elected officials to use their positions of power for the benefit of all Oregonians.

Rogue Action Center has shareable graphics with calls to action for city and Jackson County leadership and resources for working with your city council in Southwestern Oregon.
Sign and share the Color of Change petition demanding the release of people particularly vulnerable to Coronavirus in prisons and jails.
To pressure your elected officials most effectively, call and write them yourself. You can find their contact information here.

Updated November 17, 2020