Join us for weekly virtual Community Conversation Mondays at 4 p.m. To register for our next virtual meeting, contact Madeline Falcone.

• December 14 Community Conversation: Resources shared
• December 8 Community Conversation: Resources shared 

We encourage members of our community to call 211 or visit their WEBSITE if they need help. Pennsylvania 211 East is a free, confidential, non-emergency, 24-hour information and referral service that connects Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon County residents with the health and human services they need.

• PA 211 is counting on you to help them stay up-to-date with any changes to your operations. You can provide updates directly to 211 by emailing houser@uwlanc.org.

Child abuse and neglect is, unfortunately, an everyday issue. At a time when parents are worried, stressed and stuck at home, we’re seeing a significant drop in child welfare referrals. Undoubtedly,the rates of abuse and neglect are rising, but the referral sources — schools, youth programs, houses of worship — are closed.

If something does not look safe, sound safe or feel safe, report it.

• HOTLINE 1-800-932-0313
• To connect a family in need with resources:
  • Lehigh County 610-782-3200
  • Northampton County 610-252-9060
• If you suspect immediate danger, call 911.

Outreach Materials

Click on the images to download resource guides.

For Community Members: Available in English and Spanish

 
For Essential Workers: Available in English and Spanish


For Parents: Available in English and Spanish
 

For Schools
 

For Service Providers

Be sure to use the cloth face covering correctly! Find more information from the CDC HERE.

Live daily briefings from Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Levine:  www.governor.pa.gov/live/ or  Facebook

AARP Network of Age-Friendly States and Communities webinar series brings together local leaders and advocates who are involved in the age-friendly efforts throughout the nation. To learn more, click HERE.

NEW! Rental Assistance: Individuals facing eviction due to COVID-19 can access rental assistance through the CARES Act. Click HERE for details.

Utilities will not be turned off in Pennsylvania during the COVID-19 outbreak. For more information, please click HERE.

PPL has stated that it will not cut off service to any customer for unpaid bills until further notice and will reconnect service for any customers who were disconnected recently.

Guidance for homeless shelters can be found HERE.
Due to the COVID-19 crisis, the Greater Valley YMCA - Allentown Warming Station and Bethlehem Housing Program have been temporarily suspended.

Service Electric made a commitment to join the ''Keep America Connected'' pledge to:

• Not terminate service to any residential or small business due to the inability to pay their bill.
• Waive late fees that residential or small business customers incur because of their economic circumstance related to the coronavirus pandemic.
• Open its Wi-Fi hotspots to everyone.

Additionally, SECTV will offer free 10x5 Internet service for 90 days for new customers during this ongoing national emergency. For more information on modem access and the 60-day financial grace period, please contact a SECTV Customer Service representative:

• Toll Free in PA (800) 232-9100
• Toll Free in NJ (800) 225-9102

or visit the WEBSITE.
 
RCN’s Lifeline program has provided a discount on phone service for qualifying low-income consumers to ensure that all Americans have the opportunities and security that phone service brings. Requests may take up to 14 business days in order to be processed, For more information and to apply, visit their WEBSITE.

Foreclosures and evictions for mortagages insured by the Federal Housing Administration will be suspended until the end of April.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court prohibited evictions, ejectments, or other displacements from a residence based on failure to make a payment through April 3.

The national nutrition lunch programs will continue, under the Seamless Summer or the Summer Food Service Program. Lehigh Valley Food Policy Council is working on this.
 
Second Harvest Food Bank serves 60,000 people each month in Carbon, Lehigh, Monroe, Northampton, Pike and Wayne counties and will continue to deliver to their 200 nonprofit agencies. To find your local food pantry, visit the 'Find Food' tab on the Second Harvest Food Bank website.

School districts and nonprofit agencies are coordinating efforts to continue to provide meals to our children, despite schools being closed. The Morning Call has compiled a list of these sites and continues to update it as more districts post their locations. Many of our local students and families are dependent on the meals that schools provide. For an updated listing of meals click HERE.

Greater Valley YMCA will continue to serve youth meals from 4-5 p.m. Monday through Friday:
·       Allentown (425 S. 15^th Street, Allentown)
·       Bethlehem (430 E. Broad Street, Bethlehem)

Resilient Lehigh Valley has created a user-friendly guide with mental health resources. Click HERE to access this list of helpful resources.

Social Emotional and Mindfulness Lesson Plans
Click HERE to access ready-to-go lesson plans and videos featuring ways to reduce anxiety and stress and increase sense of calm and mindfulness for elementary students, secondary students, school staff and parents and caregivers.
Lesson plans were developed by Lehigh University College of Education, Shanthi Project and Wildlands Conservancy in partnership with Resilient Lehigh Valley, Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit 21 and Colonial Intermediate Unit 20.

Monthly Trainings
Join Resilient Lehigh Valley for a series of free monthly virtual trainings on critical topics highlighting local leaders and local best practices. The goal of these trainings is to continue building more and better tools in our practitioner toolbox, deepening our trauma informed practices, staying connected to one another and providing care for the caregivers.

• Wednesday, April 29 at 2 p.m.: Best Practices in Telehealth and Virtual Check-ins
• Wednesday, May 27 at 2 p.m.: Recognizing Signs of Vicarious and Secondary Trauma

Promise Neighborhoods of the Lehigh Valley has produced a series of multi-language video messages from trusted messengers:

• La Familia De Paula proveé información importante
• Bushe Family and COVID-19

Lehigh Valley Health Network Coronavirus (COVID-19) Preparedness and Care Guide: English | Espanol  
Flyers and graphics are available HERE.

Pennsylvania Department of Health – Translated materials are available HERE.

Free outreach materials including videos and graphics are available at www.pacast.com.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Fact Sheets available in multiple languages HERE.

Paycheck Protection Program Resources:

• For guidance from the Small Business Administration (SBA) on the Paycheck Protection Program, click here.
• For guidance from the Treasury Department on the Paycheck Protection Program, click here. 
• Paycheck Protection Program application is available here.  
• The Chamber of Commerce has also issued updated guidance for small business and nonprofits. Click here to access their guidance on calculating your loan amount. 
• Independent Sector has issued guidance on the documents nonprofits need to prepare in order to apply. Click here for their fact sheet. 
• For additional clarification on applying, we recommend you contact your SBA regional office, which can be found here or an approved SBA lending institution in your community.  
• U.S. Small Business Administration: Find Eligible PPP Lenders
• National Development Council: Helping Borrowers Complete Strong PPP Applications PowerPoint
• PPP Employee Wage Calculator
   

U.S. Department of the Treasury: The CARES Act Works for All Americans

Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry: Keep Yourself Safe at Work During a COVID-19 Pandemic

The Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofit Organizations offers a variety helpful resources for nonprofits at www.pano.org including information about:

• Legislation
• Advocacy
• Unemployment Compensation

Pennsylvania CareerLink Lehigh Valley: Unemployment Compensation, Wages and Workplace Guidance

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) (S. 748) provides significant funding for businesses, hospitals, schools, and social support programs, among many other things. For more information and to check out theor website, click HERE. For a quick overview guide on the nonprofit loans available, click HERE 

SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loans offer up to $2 million in assistance and can provide vital economic support to small businesses to help overcome the temporary loss of revenue they are experiencing. These loans may be used to pay fixed debts, payroll, accounts payable and other bills that can’t be paid because of the disaster’s impact. The interest rate for non-profits is 2.75%. SBA offers loans with long-term repayments in order to keep payments affordable, up to a maximum of 30 years.

Terms are determined on a case-by-case basis, based upon each borrower’s ability to repay.
Businesses may obtain information and loan applications by calling the SBA’s Customer Service Center at 1-800-659-2955 (1-800-877-8339 for the hearing impaired), or by e-mailing disastercustomerservice@sba.gov.
Loan applications can also be downloaded at www.sba.gov/disaster. Applicants may apply online using the Electronic Loan Application (ELA) via the SBA’s secure website at https://disasterloan.sba.gov/ela.

FamilyWize provides discounts to lower the cost of prescription medications - whether individuals are insured or uninsured.

Senator Browne's office published a COVID-19 Resource Guide for Municipalities, Nonprofits and Community Organizations to connect individuals, families, and groups with federal, state, local and private sources of funding. To access the resource guide, click HERE.

The Greater Lehigh Valley Chamber of Commerce and East Stroudsburg University's CARES Act webinar shares legal, accounting, and baking insights from three Lehigh Valley professionals. To view the presentation, click HERE.

Tech Soup is a company dedicated to helping nonprofits worldwide. They provide a litany of services including tech training resources. They just made their “Working Remotely” training track free for everyone right now. This is normally a $100 track of courses and includes training on the apps and services we have available through O365. If you have any staff members that are struggling to grasp these apps, this is where they should start. The training track includes the following courses:
·       Coronavirus Mitigation Resources
·       Cybersecurity 101 and 201
·       OneDrive 101
·       Planner 101
·       SharePoint 101
·       Teams 101
·       Teams 102
 
Any staff member can sign up for these courses by creating a free account with Tech Soup. These are class type courses, so they range from 30 minutes to 3 hours depending on which ones you decided to take. Here is the link to the courses.
 
·       Need help with insurance and/or COBRA? Capital BlueCross will continue to be available to assist people with options. Those who lose their insurance can contact Capital BlueCross at 855-505-2683 or rosann.humphrey@capblucross.com.
·       Several nonprofits are accepting "COVID-19" time as outside of any sick or vacation time.

RCN is offering 60 days of free internet to students K-12. Call (866) 926-6704 to enroll in the LIfeline Internet Program.

Service Electric is offering free wi-fi, modems, and breaks to customers for 60 days. Call (800) 232-9100 to speak to a representative.

 

Translators are needed.  You can sign up to volunteer HERE or visit the following links for more information:

• Allentown Volunteer Medical Reserve Corps
• Bethlehem Medical Reserve Corps
• Northampton County Citizen Corps

Finger printing is now being done in additional places.  A current list of open fingerprint sites is available HERE.

Volunteer Center of the Lehigh Valley is posting and sharing volunteer needs in the community. If you need assistance, especially tasks that can be done virtually, visit: https://www.volunteerlv.org/partnership and for updates on the Volunteer Center's COVID-19 action plan, visit: https://www.volunteerlv.org/covid-19.
 
ESSENTIAL VS. NON-ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES (PENNSYLVANIA)

• For a list of COVID-19 business resources, click HERE.

PANO (Pennsylvania Association of Nonprofits) sent an email last evening asking all members of the PA Congressional delegation to support the following stimulus package for nonprofit charitable organizations:
·       $60 Billion in emergency stimulus aimed to help adversely affected charitable organizations.
·       Universal charitable tax deductions.
·       Extends payroll tax credits to all charities, regardless of size, that provide paid family leave, and sick time pay.

This is consistent with the National Council of Nonprofits advocacy letter HERE. If you have the opportunity to engage in advocacy, you may want to echo these points to present a consistent "ask".