How to Help Vulnerable Families When You’re Social Distancing

P eople are sharing creative ways to support those most vulnerable to COVID-19 and its repercussions. These include grocery shopping for elderly neighbors to help limit their exposure to others, donating to nonprofits providing resources to families living paycheck to paycheck, and ordering takeout from restaurants to help reduce their financial shock as people stop patronizing stores. (Independent Women’s Forum has collected several stories on this.)

Now that people are practicing social distancing, it has become more challenging to help children and families who may be struggling as schools have closed and unemployment numbers continue to skyrocket. Here are a few suggestions for ways you can safely support the children and families in your community.

1) Prepare a meal or a care package of basic supplies such as toilet paper, disinfectant, diapers, formula, and hand soap and drop it off on their doorstep. No human contact is required to leave a meal or supplies for those who may have lost their paycheck right now or have their hands full with children unexpectedly home from school or day care. For some people, getting to the store may be a challenge, and accessing products that are in high demand may be particularly difficult for them. (Try to get to stores when they open to better your chances of getting hard-to-find items like toilet paper and sanitizing wipes. But be mindful that some stores reserve the first hour they’re open for the elderly and immunocompromised.)

2) Give a gift card for a grocery store or neighborhood restaurants they can get meals for takeout or delivery. A gas card (if they have a car) could also be helpful to make sure they are able to access essential services or reach their place of employment. With gift cards, you can support local businesses while helping a family in need.

3) Check in with people. Reach out via text, phone call, email, or video chat to families who may be struggling. You can even play games online or through phone apps. (My family particularly enjoys gathering via Zoom and playing Drawful 2.) Even if you can’t provide material assistance, listening and checking in with someone can help them cope with the stress they are facing and mitigate social isolation. Loneliness can be as damaging to a person’s health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, the Federal Health Resources & Services Administration warns. Social connections not only may benefit people’s mental health (including your own), but through them you may also be able to learn about particular challenges that families are facing and help them find innovative ways to address them.

4) Help with child care. This one should be undertaken with caution and appropriate discretion, particularly given that outbreaks and restrictions will vary in different states and regions, as people are supposed to avoid gatherings and limit contact. Many child-care centers and schools are closed. While some people have jobs that can be done via telework, those who can’t need reliable help so they can continue to provide for their family and to care for others.

This need is particularly urgent for low-income families as well as for people on the front lines such as medical personnel. (Check out how medical students in D.C. are helping provide child care for health-care professionals.) If you are well and live alone or in a small household, consider assisting one family with babysitting or child care so that the parents can still work, if they are able to. (Do not do this with multiple families; limit your exposure to other people.)

5) Become an online volunteer tutor. With many children home from school right now, educational supports may be particularly useful for some to make sure they continue to learn outside the classroom. There are several places online where you can sign up to become an online tutor and get matched with a student. (For example, some college students in Wisconsin are volunteering to tutor younger students online during the pandemic.)

6) Sponsor a college student. Many colleges have sent students home for the rest of the semester. For some students, such as those who have aged out of foster care, as well as international or low-income students who may not be able to travel home, this has presented a housing challenge. Several schools fortunately are making exceptions to allow those students to remain in the dorms, and the Department of Health and Human Service’s Children’s Bureau also has urged state agencies to work with colleges and universities to make sure that former foster youth have housing during this crisis. But there are still students in need.

Consider opening your home to one of these students. If you have children who have returned home from college, ask if they know of anyone who needs a place to stay. You also could reach out through your faith community to see if people know a student who could use a room. Students who have been able to remain on campus are likely facing extremely limited campus services and may have lost the campus jobs that helped pay for daily expenses. They could benefit from additional outside support such as meals or a check-in.

One organization that is mobilizing resources for students who are former foster youth is Together We Rise. Their website has an option for contributions to necessities such as groceries and laptops for displaced college students trying to continue their learning. It also has emergency-support forms both for students in need and for those who can help, such as people with available housing and businesses that would like to partner.

7) Support women facing unplanned pregnancies and single mothers. In the heightened stress of this pandemic — separation from friends and family, postponed pregnancy appointments, etc. — emotional and physical supports are critical for women as they try to prepare for an unexpected baby or provide for their children. Consider donating to or volunteering at crisis-pregnancy centers or efforts like LoveLine, which creates gift registries, helps pay rent, and connects women to local resources.

It will take all of us pitching in to weather this global health emergency. Thank you to the many people out there who are finding innovative ways to lend a helping hand to their neighbors in need.