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Our conversations have ranged from city responses to COVID-19, to resources like the virtual communication tools Online Town and Sococo (shoutout to Madeleine Hykes in Hartford), and our answers to questions like: what’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? Thanks to Dominic Difiglia and Megan Blahuta for sharing information on our mid-April hangout about the Good Neighbors Network, a new Buffalo initiative to alert neighborhood volunteers to those in need.
What's happening with... 
A closer look at what the VISTAs have been working on. 

Experience Matters 
The Columbia, South Carolina team is continuing with their planned program schedule but is moving everything online. They are testing Facebook Live and IG Live and considering using Zoom, to see what works best for the program. The VISTAs, Deva Kellam and Trinice Harmon, also called and emailed over 100 teens to assess their needs and to provide information about resources, such as nearby meal pick-up locations, free Wi-Fi access, and online tutoring opportunities. The St. Paul, Minnesota team is refocusing their work on COVID-19 response efforts until they can implement the small home repair program. VISTA Jack Smyth is helping to increase the capacity of local organizations’ COVID-19 response however possible, such as by creating a database of public health information.
 
Guiding Opportunities 
The team in Oakland, California rapidly pivoted their work from planning and facilitating large community meetings focused on educating the public about Opportunity Zones. Now, their department focus is supporting local businesses that are struggling to keep afloat during this time of massive shutdowns. For the VISTAs, this means calling business owners to assess their needs, informing them of the resources that are available to them, and guiding them through the different application processes that can be difficult to navigate.

Love Your Block 
In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the team is shifting their original mini-grant program to instead award ten $500 grants to people who are supporting their community. The VISTAs, Renee Addleman and Christian Cassidy-Amstutz, are collecting stories via residents nominations for acts of kindness related to COVID-19 recovery. The mini-grants will help recipients continue and expand their efforts, like coordinating food pickups or making masks and DIY hand sanitizer. In South Bend, Indiana, the team is considering a similar project as one aspect of their program pivot. Along with the city lead, VISTAs Heaven Hudson and Ryan Ryker have developed a multi-pronged approach that includes offering mini-grants for “acts of kindness;” and providing “virtual neighborhood” packages to neighborhood associations. These packages include membership to a virtual meeting space (e.g. Zoom), an online training session for the chosen platform, and continued support from the team.
Jake's Fun Fact
of the Month

Mantis Shrimp Sea GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

The mantis shrimp is an incredible animal and should be your new favorite. These marine crustaceans have rainbow-tinted carapaces and can grow to over 12 inches in length. But the fun doesn't end there! Mantis shrimp have spring-loaded claws that can strike with the force of a 0.22 caliber bullet. These claws move so quickly that they create an underwater shockwave that can also stun or kill. To top it off, mantis shrimp eyes have more photoreceptors than any other recorded species. They potentially see a broader spectrum of color than we can even imagine.
Photo credit: Brian Rea
VISTA Leads Go Outside 
Check out these accounts from VISTA leads who are trying to maintain a balance between inside life (ninety-five percent of our cumulative time) and outside time. This month, we’re forcing ourselves to go outside on a regular basis and wrote about our favorite walking routes. 

























 

Crown Heights to Prospect Park

I moved to Brooklyn in early March and was soon under stay-at-home restrictions, so my exploration of Crown Heights has been limited to evening walks. I've found some great routes for walking to Prospect Park, though! I'm fortunate to live in an area with many tree-lined streets, and the historic brownstones add to the mystique. When I arrive at Prospect Park, I usually seek out this gigantic pink magnolia tree, which is in full bloom right now.

- Jake Moore


Around the Block

On day 25 of quarantining at my parent’s house, I started waking up 20 minutes earlier to take a walk around the block before work. I shuffle down the sidewalk in my pajamas and look at the trees and the excited robins hopping between branches. By the time I get back and open my computer, I’m one cup deep in caffeine and I actually feel awake. A few Wednesdays ago, I woke up with a crick in my neck and tried to turn my head (to an impressive degree) during my walk. Mid-stretch, I saw a cat taking a nap on top of our neighbor’s arbor. Quarantining means that I look at the same rooms and the same things all of the time. I adore my morning walks because the trees are budding, there are new tulips in my neighbor’s front yard, and because—one time—there was a cat on top of the arbor.

- Madelyn Carlson


Bronx Zoo

I live in Little Italy in the Bronx so there are a few scenic routes I can take to get some exercise and be partly around nature. My favorite route is walking down my street and up along the Bronx Zoo fence to the Fordham Road gate entrance. It is a good distance for exercising that doesn’t take too long (about 30 mins walking at a casual pace). Along the way, I look across the street at the blooming cherry blossoms in the New York Botanical Garden. When I feel like taking a longer route, I cross the street on my way back and walk home next to the garden.

- Andrew Dippel

Check it out...

Coronavirus Guide from Senior Planet: This organization offers multi-week technology courses, most of them free, that help seniors learn computer basics and develop life-enhancing computer skills including digital photography, social media, online job searches, even how to make a website.

Kittens at the Georgia Aquarium: The Humane Society partnered with the Georgia Aquarium to videotape kittens marveling at fish and jellyfish.

Virtual Tours of NYC Cultural Institutions: Many museums, parks, performing arts centers, and libraries have provided virtual access to their buildings and collections. Among those are: The Frick Collection, Guggenheim Museum, Metropolitan Opera, and American Museum of Natural History.

The Attic and Closet Show #159: Recorded from the confines of their attic and closet, Reply All hosts, PJ Vogt and Alex Goldman, opened their phone lines and captured updates from listeners about the shutdown in Paris, quarantine gripes from a woman in New Jersey, and news from a homesick traveler in Tokyo.

#StayHomeSaveLives campaign video: Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot reinforces the importance of social distancing through comical situations at home.
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