Here is a link to many coronavirus resources
A new group has formed in Pinellas County to distribute resources to the people who need it most during the coronavirus pandemic.
Lisa Perry with the Common Ground Project says the new effort is called “Pay it Florida, Pinellas.”
“A strong grassroots coalition called Pay It Florida has come together and we are operating out of Pinellas County. We are asking other communities around the state to do the same and focus on localized efforts. It’s a play off of ‘Pay It Forward’ but we’re Pay It Florida.
“Our mission is to really uplift and supplement the needs of the most vulnerable communities that are in our neighborhoods as they face health and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our community coalitions will stand up and protect our neighbors in the absence of effective governmental leadership on both and state levels. The Pay It Florida Pinellas coalition will join forces with the community by creating protection kits. In our protection kits we include a face mask, whether that’s industrial face mask or a handmade one. We also have gloves, hand sanitizers and then how to care for your mask because that is not necessarily getting out to community members as well as informational resources both from the city and Congressman Crist’s office are all included in the kits.”
Listen:
“We’re advocating on a federal and a state level for action by our governments to effectively lead and protect our communities. And we will act to hold them accountable and demand that these policies are enacted as this crisis grows and our health care workers are facing severe strain and our economy and our community will be impacted greatly and it’s going to go on for an incredibly long time so this is a long-term campaign. Some of the things that we are asking Gov.
DeSantis to do is to hold a special session to increase unemployment benefits, Medicaid expansion, paid sick leave and then creating emergency consumer protections as well as addressing unemployment insurance and strengthening voting access.”
Listen:
Carla Bristol is with St. Pete Youth Farm:
Here is more information provided by Pay it Florida:
DROP SITES:
ATWATER”S CAFE (895 22nd Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33705)
Monday- Friday 10am – 2:00pm
Saturday 10:00am – 1:00pm
Sunday 12:00pm – 3:00pm
THE GOSPEL MINISTRIES (4030 15th Ave S, St Petersburg, FL 33711)
Tuesday 5pm – 7:00 pm
Saturday 10am – 12 pm
DONATIONS NEEDED:
Fresh produce, meats, seafood, non-perishable food items, baby supplies, toiletries,
paper towels, cleaning supplies, used tablets or laptops, children’s books and
activities
Please email [email protected] to contribute any of the following donations:
100% cotton fabric, bandanas, elastic, large elastic bands, empty prescription
bottles, hand sanitizer or soap, latex or nitrile gloves, homemade face masks,
one-use facemasks, brown paper lunch bags, ziploc sandwich bags, 1 or 2.5
gallon ziploc bags
To join our Mask Maker Team please fill out the following Google form:
https://forms.gle/CFDJtCdW1zQohDer9
Contribution link:
https://fundly.com/south-st-pete-covid-19-response-fund
According to the Florida Department of Health website, updated Wednesday afternoon, there are now more than 22,500 positive coronavirus cases in the state. 596 people have died in Florida. Nearly 3,200 people are hospitalized, which is a number that continues to increase.
There have been 24,582 coronavirus deaths in the U.S. The CDC updated those numbers Wednesday afternoon. There are now more than 605,000 positive COVID-19 cases in the country.
Listen to the 5:30 p.m. WMNF News headlines for 15 April 2020:
Listen to the 4:30 p.m. WMNF News headlines for 15 April 2020:
Listen to the 3:30 p.m. WMNF News headlines for 15 April 2020:
Below is information about applying for unemployment compensation, provided by Hillsborough County Emergency Operations Center
Unemployment forms available at drive-through locations seven days per week.
Hillsborough County has opened drive-through services at two libraries to offer unemployment forms to those who do not have access to a printer.
Residents can go to the Jan Kaminis Platt Regional Library, 3910 S. Manhattan Ave., and the Jimmie B. Keel Regional Library, 2902 W. Bearss Ave., to pick up the printed forms used to apply for unemployment assistance. Once completed, residents can also drop off the forms at either drive-through, and library staff will mail the documents for them.
Hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week. The libraries are otherwise closed to the public, and the two library drive-throughs will be open exclusively to distribute and collect unemployment assistance applications.
Additional information on how to file for unemployment benefits and other reemployment assistance is available at the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.floridajobs.org%2FReemployment-Assistance-Service-Center%2Freemployment-assistance%2Fclaimants%2Fapply-for-benefits&data=02%7C01%7CSean%40wmnf.org%7C7cbf4175280c42eed75d08d7e16ea0c5%7Ceff8000820724c42b3fe736c3260d23f%7C0%7C0%7C637225737583476010&sdata=Y8LQiRceeHY3nFx2acNGX8p5bcfWdGRA05mwSOkSbOc%3D&reserved=0).
