In light of the pandemic, and the lack of group activities or events, here are some links that we hope will be helpful to you as we fight this pandemic.

Stay safe. Stay healthy!

1) Bill Pay Help. Here are the links for help with utilities: SRP, APS. If you need help with eviction assistance, here’s a link. The most recent governor’s order put a temporary hold on evictions.

2) Quick Job Placement. Groups like Local First Arizona and Pipeline AZ moved quickly to re-tool their websites to help people who have lost jobs to find new work.

Websites are crucial now, since we can’t have in-person job fairs or events.

We know that areas like food delivery, health care and supply chain are hiring quickly to respond to the virus.

I’ve been in touch with people associated with these groups. I’m impressed and proud of them. I’m particularly proud of Local First Arizona.

Their many years on the ground advocating for local businesses gave them the tools to act quickly.

See also, this link for the CARES Act small business loans.

Please share the links, above, with your friends and loved-ones who need work right away.

3) Urban Gardening Knowledge. I’m benefiting right now from my garden. It means fewer trips to the store and a place to de-stress from the news.

While I’ve been learning (through lots of failure) for many years, I know many people want to start now. There is no better time.

In fact, if you get going right now, you can get a crop in before the heat sets in. If you plant in the shade, pick the right crops and water regularly, you will do well.

If you want to do even better, check out the webinars events at Urban Farm U. You can learn while you quarantine.

Also, here’s a quick article on how you can compost if you live in an apartment.

Since I’m a show-off, I’ve added a picture here of my compost bin, which I just opened up and found teeming with life and more perfect compost than I need right now.

It’s relatively easy to get started in composting. And, even if you don’t grow food, you can use it around your property. Maybe even give it away. But, I bet if you start doing it, you’ll find uses for it.

Here’s a video that I did last year about how easy it is to compost. Here’s a throw-back video I did over a decade ago, showing different types of compost bins I’ve built.

4) Teaching at Home. I know so many parents are now finding themselves teaching at home. So, I reached out to my friend and teacher, Chico Robinson.

He shared this valuable FREE resource from the Kahn Academy. He says this is particularly good for math and science, with videos and interactive lessons.

He suggests this PBS Kids website for resources for younger kids. If you are teaching music, you can get this website free for 30 days.

He also sent me this site, as a standards-aligned resource for many grade levels, as well as Infercabulary, which is giving 2 months free on their service.

If you want access to coloring activities from all over the county, try out this site from the New York Academy of Medicine.

5) Abatement for Small Businesses. Small businesses, like restaurants and bars, still have to pay sales taxes and liquor license payments (often paid monthly, like a loan).

There is precedence in other states to defer penalties if businesses can’t pay taxes. The group of small businesses we are talking with are hoping for an abatement on liquor licenses and late tax fines, too.

For now, the most recent Executive Order just prohibits evictions for residences and businesses. (Look to the bottom of the page for a link to the actual EO language.)

These same businesses are concerned about whether they can or should use the SBA Loans and how to understand the guidelines, since they have already closed their businesses or events. For instance, do they need to open up and re-hire in order to get a grant or a loan? If they do, aren’t they endangering the public when people are working in close proximity?

Things are moving quickly. But, I hope these links help.