Coronavirus Crisis Resources for Students and Workers

Find out how you can get help, give help, and organize during this crisis.

Review Our Justice Demands and Contact Your Lawmaker to Support Them: Now more than ever our lawmakers need to fund public colleges and universities. We demand a commitment to fully-funding campus budgets AND to reimbursing colleges and universities that have unexpected expenses due to the crisis.

Weekly on Fridays at 12PM: PHENOM Organizers Check-In Chat. A call for all PHENOM organizers, members, and advocates. The discussion will be around supporting each other, supporting our communities, and continuing our organizing efforts amid the crisis.

Student Worker Advocacy: PHENOM’s UMass Boston chapter is advocating continued pay for student workers. Students receiving work-study will be paid through the semester. Students who work on campus, but don’t have access to remote work, will not. The chapter is collecting stories from UMB student workers. They will use these to press campus decision-makers, move lawmakers, and post on social media. They will also be hosting live interviews of student workers vis Zoom.

Blog Posts: We need students, faculty, and staff to continue sharing your stories. If you would like to share your experience as we urge our leaders to meet PHENOM’s demands, you can write a blog post for our website. Blog posts can be related to any of our demands or any of the current challenges we face. Find an example of Vanessa’s blog post here.

Video: We need students, faculty, and staff to continue sharing your stories. If you would like to share your experience as we urge our leaders to meet PHENOM’s demands, you can record a video of your story. Blog posts can be related to any of our demands or any of the current challenges we face. Find an example of Izabel’s video here.
- Send videos to Sydney at sydneylittle902@gmail.com

Grant Writing: PHENOM needs help applying for grants and raising funds from sustaining members over the next few weeks. Please email Sydney at sydneylittle902@gmail.com to help us make sure PHENOM weathers this crisis.

Uprooted and Rising Resource Sheet for students and organizers: Includes resources for mutual aid, food access, and remote/digital organizing.

Massachusetts UnDocuFund: Currently raising funds to assist victims of the coronavirus crisis and economic collapse, which has caused thousands of undocumented workers to lose their jobs and livelihoods without access to benefits.
Pioneer Valley Workers Center: Undocu-workers Solidarity Fund aims to raise $50,000 to distribute in small grants to many undocumented workers across sectors in Western Massachusetts, including restaurants, farming, and construction.

New SNAP Benefits: SNAP benefits have been expanded during the COVID-19 crisis.
- Find more info here

GE Workers Petition: Union workers in Lynn are demanding that GE hire unemployed workers to make PPE and ventilators.

Massachusetts Nurses Association Demands: MNA has compiled a list of demands to protect health care workers. They are asking folks to call or write to legislators.

- MNA Donations: MNA is seeking donations to protect frontline healthcare workers.

#NoBodyIsDisposable Petition: Sign petition to resist discriminatory policies in healthcare during the COVID-19 crisis.

Decarceration Week of Action: Support decarceration efforts by participating in the remote week of action. Tools include phone/email scripts, tweet templates, contact info and more.

MEJA Education Justice Demands: The Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance publicized a list of demands to ensure education justice during COVID-19. Read our demands and take action.