From Distancing To Solidarity: UIA Responds to COVID-19

United Interfaith Action of Southeastern Massachusetts (UIA) is engaged in ongoing work to discern how best to support the Greater New Bedford and Fall River areas of Massachusetts during the COVID-19 crisis. Currently, UIA is structuring its efforts around COVID-19 emergency response and legislation with a view toward systemic change.

We have established the following Solidarity Response Teams to transform distancing to solidarity.

Outreach: Leaders are contacting community members to check on their well-being, their needs, and the resources they have to offer. Outreach conversation also invites members to envision a more equitable community beyond the crisis. UIA is creating an ongoing collective of needs/resources for mutual aid (ex. online tutoring, delivering groceries to shut-ins, offering meals to frontline workers, or translating for a family in need)

Legislation: UIA is making calls, collecting e-signatures, and writing letters in support of state and federal legislation to ensure the most vulnerable are supported. State legislation includes moratorium on evictions and foreclosures, expanded paid leave, access to testing and safe quarantine (esp. for homeless & incarcerated communities), and the decarceration of groups of detainees at BCHOC to reduce overcrowding and viral spread.

Spiritual Support: Faith leaders are organizing virtual prayer groups and meditations to support spiritual and emotional needs.

Emergency Response Fundraising: UIA is committed to raising at least $15,000 from individual donors to complement the grants we are receiving from donor organizations. The combined support will enable us to respond to the community requests we are receiving at this time, which include grocery store gift cards, bill payment, and buying goods to donate. Before the fundraising even began, UIA secured temporary accommodation for a family while the local housing agency found more permanent housing. We also provided grocery store cards to families in need and are continuing to collect goods for the New Bedford homeless community. UIA leaders have also offered meals to our own constituency who are frontline response workers and are helping provide grocery deliveries to immune-comprised neighbors who are shut-in. While UIA is historically not an emergency response organization by mission, we cannot ignore the crisis we are facing and want to offer support as we are able to strengthen our community. This is essential to get to the space to fight the larger battles for systemic change beyond our current context.

We are deeply grateful to Fish Family Foundation, Combined Jewish Philanthropies Donor Advised Fund of Greater Boston, Episcopal City Mission, and the Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts for their grant support at this time.

Additionally, UIA is committed to systemic change and is strategizing ways to continue current issue work: closing the funding gap for low income students in public schools, advocating for drivers licenses for undocumented immigrants, developing implicit bias and language training for local police, and helping create equitable access to vocational education. This moment magnifies the brokenness of our systems and provides an opportunity to extend empathy and envision a new narrative. To that end, UIA will continue in the Fall to hold its School of Prophetic Action which trains leaders in organizing and broad community listening that leads to transformative action.