Welcome back to the weekly COVID-19 resources bulletin for staff, created by the Staff Council office.

Check out our index (PDF) of resources.
The Office of Emergency Management (OEM) maintains a hub of information related to COVID-19.
Human Resource Services also hosts a variety of helpful resources, including COVID-19 Notices and Forms and COVID-19 FAQs (PDF).
If you have a specific issue, you can contact your Staff Council Representative directly.
Check out UVM's Safe and Healthy Return to Campus Plan (PDF ).
The two Q&A return-to-campus sessions for staff which have already occurred are available to watch here. Upcoming staff-centered Q&A sessions will take place on Wednesdays from 12-1 on the following dates:
- August 5: Updates on faculty, programming, and technology in the classrooms - Michelle Paavola
- August 19: Student experience, the Green and Gold Promise, move-in and student expectations
If you know of other resources we could feature, contact us at staff.council@uvm.edu.

We continue to invite you to anonymously share how you're doing during the pandemic through a simple questionnaire. All comments are read carefully and shared with UVM Senior Administration.

COVID-19 Survey - Let Us Know How You're Doing

~ The UVM Staff Council Office

Quick links to content:

Food and Nutrition
- BTV: Free cucumbers
- BTV: Free lunches and snacks
- Farmers to Families Food Boxes
COVID-19 & Racism
- Beyond Brave Spaces: Conversations to
  Inform & Move to Action Together
Vermont Multilingual Coronavirus Task Force videos
Arts & Education
- Free NYTimes subscription through UVM Library
- Vermonting - SevenDays' local travel guides
Ways to Help
- Donate cooking, growing, or food items to Food Not Bombs

Here is some more food-related information that you may find helpful (see more on the PDF index of all resources, which we update weekly):

Food Not Bombs is giving away cucumbers - just come by 32 Hungerford Terrace in Burlington. There is a stocked outdoor fridge with cucumbers and other items, and today (Friday the 31st) there are crates of cucumbers and possibly some zucchini to take. There will also be some containers with vinegar, and you can harvest some of the flowering dill from the front garden.
Food Not Bombs also shares lunch and snacks every day at 1pm at the lowest level of the Marketplace parking garage in Burlington. They're preventing food waste and breaking down the false separation between "the charitable" and "the needy" -- so all are welcome to partake, regardless of food insecurity status.
Food distribution by VT Foodbank is ongoing. Next week's dates/towns are as follows:
- 8/3: South Burlington, St. Albans
- 8/4: Rutland, Bethel
- 8/5: Brattleboro, Springfield
- 8/6: Newport, Brighton
- 8/7: Barre, Hartford/WRJ
  
  To see an extensive list of dates, times and locations, call 2-1-1 or visit: humanresources.vermont.gov/food-help or call 2-1-1. Make sure you pre-register before going to the food distribution site.

The impact of COVID-19 on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) continues to be much greater than on other groups. Racism is a risk factor for dying of COVID-19.

To help us understand the dynamics that are having such a devastating impact on on BIPOC during this pandemic, it helps to become familiar with what racism is, the many forms it takes, and how we as individuals and as a society perpetuate it.

How is Racism a public health issue and education crisis? Join the Division of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for two live events where participants will learn from top local and national experts about these timely issues that cannot be ignored. Speakers will share their knowledge and how applying an equity lens can make positive and sustainable differences.

Not Just COVID: Examining the Centuries of Health Care Inequities and Racial Trauma

Date & Time: Wed, August 5, 2020 from 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EDT

REGISTER HERE.

This session creates space to:

Explore the history of racial disparities in health care
Examine racial trauma and the impact on mental health
Explain how to move to action together
Address audience questions

Pandemic Pods, Hybrid Schedules, and Remote Instruction: Solutions or Perpetuating Inequitites?

Date & Time: Thurs, August 6, 2020 from 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM EDT

REGISTER HERE.

This session creates space to:

Explore the history of PK-12 schools in America
Examine racial disparities in PK-12 schools in America
Explain how to move to action together
Address audience questions

The Vermont Multilingual Coronavirus Task Force offers a growing number of videos intended to disseminate information regarding Covid19 in the main languages that are spoken in the Burlington, Vermont area. Please use and share them widely. A script appears in the description of each video in the language of the video. Videos are currently available in Arabic, Bosnian, Burmese, French, Kirundi, Maay Maay, Nepali, Somali, Spanish, Swahili and Vietnamese, and this collection continues to be updated. Check back regularly!

The UVM Library now has an institutional subscription to the New York Times. Create your free account through the library.
Seven Days' ongoing "Vermonting" section features curated excursions to fun and educational places to visit and explore while staying local in Vermont.

Each week we've featured ways you can help, through donations or service. We encourage you to check out the index of all the ways to help which we've featured to date in this PDF.

Here is another way to help:

Contact Sam Bliss of Burlington's organization Food Not Bombs to help by donating food or ingredients, cooking, or growing food items. You can also drop off food items at any time at the outdoor donation station at 32 Hungerford Terrace. Put things that need to be cold in The People's Fridge and things that squirrels might like in the critter-safe crate.

University of Vermont Staff Council
http://www.uvm.edu/staffcouncil/
(802) 656-4493
staff.council@uvm.edu