Neighborly actions are cool and fun

Helping more people get vaccinated, housing stabilization and Safe Lots, and housing support for Damany in particular!

Hi everyone,

Here are a few more things we can do for and with our neighbors, this week into next. The first is time-sensitive which is why you’re getting emails two days in a row.

TOMORROW, 5/26, 5:30-7pm, meeting at West Elmwood Housing (224 Dexter St, Providence): Help share vaccine information, and register people who want to register, in a part of the city where people have lower vaccination rates. This is particularly important as RI is lifting the mask mandate soon (foolishly & dangerously, in my opinion) and people who work service jobs or in other crowded settings will be at additional risk! Bonus points if you speak multiple languages spoken in Providence, but you can help with this even if you do not. Thanks to Jackie for the tip!

BY 5/28, 12pm, remotely: The CDC moratorium on evictions, which right now is all that’s standing between some RI residents and homelessness, expires June 30th. Getting local protections in place by May 30th would help a lot! Please write to your RI legislators and remind them that we still need their support and advocacy for Bills H 5309 and S 0183, which would institute a moratorium on evictions (unless there is a threat of harm to the landlord, tenant or neighboring residents) and mortgage foreclosures during any declared state of emergency in Rhode Island. You can also sign this petition for the same thing, but a letter is better, especially if you live in a district where more people own rather than rent (since legislators from those districts may think their constituents don’t care about this).

Anytime this week (I think?), remotely: You can support Safe Lots—parking lots where people whose cars or RVs are their only shelter can park without fear of harassment or further displacement—in a couple of ways: if what you have to share is time, you can write to RI Senate President Ruggerio (sen-ruggerio@rilegislature.gov), Speaker of the House Shekarchi (rep-shekarchi@rilegislature.gov and cc his assistant Lynn DiPetrillo, ldipetrillo@rilegislature.gov) and Governor McKee asking them to designate Safe Lots according to the guidelines in this article. And if what you have to share is money, you can donate to these independent “proofs of concept” that people are putting together, which I’ve definitely shared before. As far as I know this is not intensely time-sensitive, but if it becomes so I will update you.

Anytime this week: Damany is trying to find a stable living situation and to finish school. He doesn’t have family in the US. Let’s get him $7K for housing to start. (I have also shared this before, and am boosting it because fundraisers lag sometimes.)

With love,
Kate