Community COVID-19 SUPPORT
Last updated on April 22, 2020
Dear Community,
We have compiled below mutual aid initiatives servicing our wider Arab, Palestinian, refugee, and immigrant communities throughout North America. We invite you to join these many opportunities to volunteer, donate, and share resources as we support our communities in the face of this global pandemic. If you would like to contribute to this list, please e-mail the Palestinian Youth Movement at palyouth.usa@gmail.com with the relevant materials, including location, graphics, links, and descriptions. Read our full statement calling for collective responses to the COVID-19 pandemic here.
Until Return and Liberation,
The Palestinian Youth Movement
MUTUAL AID INITIATIVES
SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA
EAST SAN DIEGO COUNTY
The Majdal Community Center of El Cajon is coordinating a mutual aid initiative to support our Arab refugee and immigrant community members. If you are seeking support, please fill out the following assistance form: bit.ly/ArabSDSupport. If you have other questions or would like to volunteer please e-mail majdalcenter@gmail.com
METRO DETROIT - ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN
WASHTENAW COUNTY
With the outbreak of the coronavirus, members of the Michigan Arab community, including PYM-MI, have banded together as the Handala Coalition to organize coronavirus relief efforts for our community. We believe that through collective solidarity we can overcome the problems we face as individuals and as a people. Volunteer, fill out an assistance form (available in English and Arabic), or donate to our relief fund. Link: bit.ly/HandalaAid. Contact: handalacoalition@gmail.com.
TORONTO, ONTARIO
The Palestinian Youth Movement Toronto Chapter has launched a mutual aid network to support the Arab community in Toronto & the GTA during these uncertain and difficult times. Please don't hesitate to request support, our community keeps us strong! Follow the button below to fill out an aid form, volunteer, or donate: https://linktr.ee/arabmutualaid.
HOUSTON, TEXAS
The Palestinian American Cultural Center of Houston has joined a coalition of Arab organizations in the Houston community to carry forward mutual aid relief efforts to serve and support the Arab community of Houston. Our first step as the Houston Arab Community Mutual Aid Coalition (HACMAC) is outreach to our community so that we better understand the needs of the community in this trying time. Volunteer or fill out the assessment form here: linktr.ee/houamac2020. Contact: houamac2020@gmail.com.
LEBANON
BEDDAWI, BURJ AL-BARAJNEH, MAR ELIAS REFUGEE CAMPS
Support our people in Lebanon facing the COVID-19 Global Pandemic! We are launching a fundraiser to deliver necessary food packages to refugee families in Lebanon.. As Palestinians in exile globally, we carry the responsibility to act and leverage resources in defense of our people, wherever they live, and in support of their steadfastness. A donation of $50 will sustain one family for one month. Our goal is to support 1,000 families across three refugee camps. Please help us reach our goal by donating today and sharing our fundraiser! Donate: bit.ly/refugeesupportcovid. Full statement: www.pymusa.com/refugee-support-covid19. Contact: palyouth.usa@gmail.com
Resources
SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS
To all community members who will be observing the month of Ramadan: With Ramadan just a few days away, we would like to remind you to please be careful as you shop for groceries and always remember to wear a mask. Local grocery stores are providing different options for pick-up and delivery. Above, you can find store hours and pick-up/delivery options. We have also included links directly to their sites for your convenience.
If you have any questions, please contact the San Antonio Arab-American Community Center on Facebook: www.facebook.com/aacc.sanantonio.
We hope that you have a generous, healthy, and blessed Ramadan!
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES, ORANGE COUNTY, INLAND EMPIRE
Though the Arab American Civic Council is not a public health organization, we recognize that we must all support each other during this time by sharing resources and best practices in order to support the most vulnerable in our community. With the help of many volunteers and partner organizations, we created a resource guide for the Arab community in the Greater LA Area. Access the guide here (bit.ly/ArabResourcesCOVID) and other resources in the graphics below
Stop LAPD Spying Coalition Resource
“Not a Moment in Time… Building Power Not Paranoia.” The zine is a community resource made by Stop LAPD Spying Coalition in collaboration with the Palestinian Youth Movement and Bby Anarchists. It serves as a living document as part of an ongoing series in response to COVID-19. Visit Stop LAPD Spying Coalition for more information on this resource by clicking here.
“We must continue to advocate and agitate for the overturning of unjust systems and structures whose oppression will only sharpen in the weeks to come, and to remember that health-care and human wellness are not abstractly “humanitarian”—they are political, first and foremost.”