[Fdu] COVID-19: resources on campus and beyond; organizing initiatives

Mon Mar 30 09:32:52 EDT 2020

	[from The List organizers ]

Dear friends,

We hope this note finds you and your loved ones - near and far - as well 
as possible. This is a brutally hard time and we send our love and 
thoughts to you all.

Between family and community care, navigating online work and teaching, 
and other commitments, organizers of the List have been (slowly!) having 
conversations about the role of the List in this moment. We are aware 
that we are still in the early stages of what promises to be a marathon 
not a sprint, and so we have been thinking about ways that List members 
might contribute to these longer term efforts.

As many will recall - the List was formed in an exceptional moment - 
albeit one at a very different scale and of a very different kind. The 
2015 CUPE strike was, however, also a moment of round the clock work, 
tremendous collaboration, and relating to each other differently and 
better. Some faculty on this listserv tithed their incomes and shared 
resources with their grad students who were on the picket line. Many of 
us feel parallels in this moment, in terms of the possibilities for 
working together and in our responsibilities to share resources.

We see a role for this network that connects us, while we also respect 
that many have zero capacity at the moment. Below we outline a few ways 
that you can get involved.

Sending you our warmest wishes for your wellbeing, and our gratitude for 
the contributions you are each already making.

The List

 1.

    Resources for mutual aid on campus

As you are already aware - the pandemic has become a deeply uneven 
crisis of livelihoods. We see the University as having a responsibility 
to step up, but we also know there will be many who fall through the 
cracks - especially international students, low income students, and 
BIPOC students. Please consider if you are in a position to contribute 
to a fund that we will raise now and figure out how to distribute in a 
fair way.

  *

    We encourage faculty and librarians who are able to consider giving
    something substantial - eg. your expected PTR for the year? If you
    are able to help out, please send an interac e-payment to
    openletterutfaculty at gmail.com <mailto:openletterutfaculty at gmail.com>
    using the password: mutualaid

  *

    We invite List members who are keen to form a subcommittee to define
    means of distributing resources to email us at this address.

 2.

    Sharing your experiences and ideas

  *

    Many of you are doing ingenious work with your efforts to respond to
    this moment through the invention of creative online pedagogies or
    helpful technical practices. We have set up a google doc to help
    archive this work and share ideas:
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gHIN9vpYh5bOyBJtOO9tYS3vIS1L26riHVDEuuyKAWc/edit?usp=sharing

  *

    Many of you also have amazing ideas for initiatives you would like
    to work on with others. We have created another google doc for you
    to outline your ideas, provide your contact details and ask for
    help. Please note - this is not a space for you to suggest work that
    others can do -- but for you to outline ideas that you need help in
    actualizing!https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Fy5rzBOeg_O8rJpG5gIIhnCAvVs4iOvT-e-PiIjHHOs/edit?usp=sharing

 3.

    Supporting community care initiatives in the city

We know you are already doing a lot. We recognize that and appreciate 
it. For those of you who are looking for ways to help some of the 
communities being hit hardest in the city -- please consider supporting 
the initiatives below.

    Black Creek Community Farm
    <https://resourcemovement.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e4d6335220eb0973a496a65d&id=48cc303df6&e=d2c08cab40>is
    sending boxes of fresh food to folks facing food insecurity in the
    Jane and Finch community Black Lives Matter - Toronto has
    established the “Black Emergency Support Fund”
    <https://resourcemovement.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e4d6335220eb0973a496a65d&id=ae3720924d&e=d2c08cab40>The
    Daily Bread Food Bank
    <https://resourcemovement.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e4d6335220eb0973a496a65d&id=03e39a212a&e=d2c08cab40>continues
    to feed vulnerable communities during this crisis The Disability
    Network of Ontario
    <https://resourcemovement.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e4d6335220eb0973a496a65d&id=159f6f74e6&e=d2c08cab40>is
    providing food, baby, home, and health supplies to people with
    disabilities and low income seniors in Hamilton (etransfer to
    care at djno.ca <mailto:care at djno.ca>) Emergency Fund for Toronto’s
    precarious workers
    <https://resourcemovement.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e4d6335220eb0973a496a65d&id=d0c25e267d&e=d2c08cab40>Foodshare
    Emergency Food Box
    <https://resourcemovement.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e4d6335220eb0973a496a65d&id=640669f3c6&e=d2c08cab40>(Foodshare,
    focused on Jane-Finch) Glad Day Lit
    <https://resourcemovement.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e4d6335220eb0973a496a65d&id=8f27421e73&e=d2c08cab40>has
    established an emergency survival fund for LGBTQ2S artists,
    performers, tip-based workers at Glad Day. Glad Day Bookshop is also
    offering 50% off food
    <https://resourcemovement.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e4d6335220eb0973a496a65d&id=16f71e57d0&e=d2c08cab40>for
    those financially impacted. Migrant Rights Network
    <https://resourcemovement.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e4d6335220eb0973a496a65d&id=77a59671e0&e=d2c08cab40>is
    providing frontline support for migrant workers who are being left
    out of most response plans No More Silence
    <http://nomoresilence-nomoresilence.blogspot.com/>is providing
    frontline community care, groceries, medicines, etc  to elders and
    Indigenous women in the city. They are accepting e-transfers to
    support this work The Stop
    <https://resourcemovement.us17.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5e4d6335220eb0973a496a65d&id=8df520dc49&e=d2c08cab40>is
    providing emergency food relief

-- 

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