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

Here is some more food-related information that you may find helpful (see more on the PDF index of all resources, which we update frequently):
  • Today, Friday, August 14, from 4:30 - 6pm, the City will be distributing seedlings and starters for free at Biben's Ace Hardware (1127 North Ave in the New North End), 405 Pine St (the City Arts building in the South End), and in the St. Joe's school building parking lot on North Street (across from the Brixton Halal in the Old North End). Please come by and take a couple, tell your neighbor, or take a couple for your neighbor! This is part of a partnership with Red Wagon Plants, which has generously discounted or donated many of the plants. Starts will include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, scallions, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, and more. 
     
  • Food distribution by VT Foodbank is ongoing. Next week's dates/towns are as follows: 
     
    • 8/17: South Burlington, St. Albans
    • 8/18: Rutland, Bethel
    • 8/19: Brattleboro, Springfield
    • 8/20: Newport, Brighton
    • 8/21: 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.
This week, become more familiar with some of the many local Vermont organizations and groups who are working on racial justice right here in Vermont.
  • The I Am Vermont Too project shines a light on the experiences of people of color (POC) across Vermont. The project is an opportunity for reflection and dialogue for people who may be unaware of their perpetuating racial stereotypes and harm. POC are invited to post photos.
     
  • The Vermont Racial Justice Alliance is under the leadership of a people-of-color led Steering Committee and assisted by a network of individuals and organizations across Vermont. Their focus is on mitigating the direct impact and dismantling the root (systemic) origins of racism in Vermont.  We are placing a priority on policies that generally affect change across a broad spectrum, including housing, education, employment, health services and economic development and the criminal justice system. Learn more
     
  • Migrant Justice's mission is to build the voice, capacity, and power of the farmworker community and engage community partners to organize for economic justice and human rights. 
     
  • The Root Social Justice Center is a Vermont-based, POC-led nonprofit organization focused on racial justice organizing, community advocacy, and relationship-building programming. They are led by their Root Collective and their Collaborative Directorship team who help the organization maintain the integrity of their beliefs, purpose, and vision.
     
  • The Association of Africans Living in Vermont (AALV) helps new Americans from all parts of the world gain independence in their new communities through a range of integration services, including bridging case management, workforce development, behavioral health awareness, and interpreter services programming. With support from their multicultural, multilingual staff, their clients are able to smoothly transition to living and working in Vermont.
     
  • The mission of the Champlain Area National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (Champlain Area NAACP) is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate race-based discrimination.

COVID Support VT offers self-help tips, resources, and a way to connect to existing mental health and community services. Explore their site to learn more about your stress triggers, how to manage your stress, and what to do if you, or someone you care for, needs more support. Try out their Stress Triggers Inventory to help you understand and think about what causes your stress.
The Clemmons Family Farm website features a number of enriching and fun online resources:
  • The Storytelling Room is a collection of storytelling videos about the farm itself, or about the Clemmons family history, spanning 150 years -- such as Great Grandmother Margie, who "ran away twice from a White family who 'owned' her in Louisiana in the year 1903." 
     
  • "Juneteenth In The Air at the Clemmons Family Farm" was recorded live on Zoom on June 21, 2020. It's a 1.5-hour, interactive, community-building arts and culture program featuring a history talk by Professor Bill Hart, the live storytelling of Mrs. Lydia Clemmons Senior, and an aerial interpretation of these historic times, created and performed by artist Ms. Pamela Donohoo. 

Each week we've featured ways you can help others affected by the pandemic. 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: 

  • Do your shopping at a Black-owned business. The pandemic is disproportionately affecting Black-owned businesses. According to an analysis of government data by Robert Fairlie of the University of California, Santa Cruz, more than 40 percent of Black business owners reported they weren’t working in April, when businesses were feeling the worst of the pandemic’s economic consequences. Only 17 percent of white small business owners said the same. Learn more, and find local Black-owned businesses with this handy spreadsheet that lists restaurants, grocery stores, salons/barbers, healthcare professionals, educators/consultants, performers/artists, tradespeople, retail/shops, photographers, and graphic/web designers. 
University of Vermont Staff Council
http://www.uvm.edu/staffcouncil/
(802) 656-4493
staff.council@uvm.edu
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