Greetings from the Staff Council Office! Just a quick note to say we'll continue sending out weekly bulletins of resources to help you deal with the impact of COVID-19, in addition to our regular Staffline publication, which will come out as usual on the first business day of the month.
Each week, we'll feature new resources (or ones new to us). In this issue, we also highlight some active local organizations that need help, if you're able to offer it.
We've also created an index (PDF), organized by topic, of all the featured resources in these weekly bulletins, which will be updated every week. We hope you'll find this helpful.
Please feel welcome to submit resource suggestions to us at staff.council@uvm.edu.
We're in this together!
- UVM Staff Council Office
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The Office of Emergency Management (OEM) maintains a valuable hub of information related to COVID-19. It includes all the relevant UVM communications and policies, and links to a number of excellent external sources of constantly-updated information.
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Commit to Get Fit @HOME will now be done through Zoom videoconferencing, so anyone can participate from anywhere.
They are offering a special one-time price of $25 for the whole 13 week program (Normally $113). This includes three individual dietitian counseling sessions for each participant. Enroll by April 6th. See the flyer for more details.
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The UVM Women's Center is offering a virtual Parenting Group meeting on Tuesday, March 31st at 1:00 PM to anyone who might benefit from being connected to other parents right now. Write to CatarinaCampbell@uvm.edu to be added to the Microsoft Teams meeting.
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The UVM Interfaith Center has posted a helpful list of resources that might be helpful for gaining perspective, strength, and spiritual sustenance during this time of social distancing and isolation. Check it often for updates.
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Lindsay Foreman leads an online meditation session every Wednesday from 4:30-5:45 which is open to the entire UVM community. Simply follow this Zoom meeting link to join.
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Here is some more local VT information, including info on food pantries and grocery stores, to help if your family is experiencing income loss and/or food insecurity (see more on the live spreadsheet we're maintaining):
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BlueCross BlueShield of Vermont has released a significant update - read the full announcement to learn about a new special enrollment period, coverage of COVID-19 testing, and more.
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VSECU is offering loans to members AND non-members who are struggling financially as a result of the crisis. To access the loan, you must have lost income due to:
- COVID-19 illness,
- Quarantine,
- Monitoring,
- Reduction in hours, or
- Missed pay to care for a family member.
(And don't forget the UVM Staff Council Staff Emergency Loan Fund.)
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- Created in response to the COVID-19 crisis, Vermont Art Online is a resource that lets families, students, educators, and the public enjoy Vermont’s history and science museums and art galleries from the comfort and safety of their own homes.
- Storytime from Space sees astronauts reading kids' books from space!
- #SaveWithStories is a group of celebrities reading books to kids.
- Audible.com is offering free kids' books (in several languages) and some classic literature.
- The National Emergency Library has just made 1.4 million books available.
- JSTOR is offering free access to 6000+ books and 400 journals.
- Fender is offering 3 months of free online guitar lessons.
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There are a variety of organizations that are offering ways you can help right now in the battle against Covid-19 and its secondary impacts:
Other lists of volunteer and donation opportunities:
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Here are a few other great resource lists we can recommend:
Be sure to use and share this index (PDF) which we'll continue to update each week with the resources featured in these bulletins.
If you know of additional campus or community resources you'd like us to feature, please contact us at staff.council@uvm.edu. And as ever, please reach out to us with any questions or concerns. We want to hear from you!
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