Friday, July 10 - SWMA Resource Library
Sunnyside & Woodside Mutual Aid has compiled and curated a resource library for neighbors. Providing information and support, the resource library can facilitate the first step towards getting neighbors the assistance they need.
Covering a wide range of categories, find information on Food, Housing, Legal Support, Undocumented Immigrants, General Health, Mental Health and Emotional Support, Community Safety, Composting, Flyering, as well as links to nearby mutual aid groups, the city-wide resource library, and the national mutual aid hub.
Free Food Pantry Saturdays
For food assistance, find us on Saturdays from 1 pm - 3 pm. We will have stations set up at 46th Street-Bliss @ 7 train station; 61st St-Woodside @ 7 train station; and by Woodside Houses @ Broadway & 49th.
No matter your situation - you can get nutritious food!
Get Involved
Mutual aid is about fostering reciprocal support and greater connection within our communities. Sunnyside & Woodside Mutual Aid [SWMA] empowers individuals in our neighborhoods to actively contribute and take care of each other.
Need help? For everything from food assistance to legal advice, click here.
Interested in joining SWMA? Get more information here or find an overview of our existing working groups from the June 13 newsletter. Think you can contribute to one? Is something missing from the list? Let us know!
For more, find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or help us spread the word the old-fashioned way! And if you live elsewhere, find out about nearby mutual aid and community support networks here.
Cooling Assistance
As the temperatures rise, the New York City Human Resources Administration and ACCESS NYC have developed a program to help eligible households buy and install an air conditioner or fan. For more information and eligibility requirements, click here.
If not eligible or interested in other options, the NYC initiative Cool It! provides alternative ways to find relief from the heat for city-dwellers this summer.
Complete the Census
The 2020 Census is happening now! Everyone living is the US is counted and all are able to respond online, by phone, or by mail.
Census results help determine how billions of dollars in federal funding flow into states and communities each year. And remember, when you respond to the census, your answers are kept anonymous. They are used only to produce statistics, determining where to build roads, hospitals, schools, and so much more!
To complete your census online today, click here. Or call, 1-844-330-2020.
2020 Voter Registration Deadlines
To register for the November 3 general election, applications must be postmarked no later than October 9, 2020 and received by a board of elections no later than October 14, 2020 to be eligible to vote. For more information on registering to vote, click here.
The Sunnyside Essentials Media Swap [SEMS] is a free neighborhood exchange of books and other media, like DVDs, CDs, video games, and board games. It was born out of the need to unload these things with no place to go to during the COVID-19 crisis and to provide reading material to the neighborhood when most libraries and bookshops were closed.
On Sunday July 5th, representatives from the Department of Parks and Recreation threatened to send in sanitation trucks on Tuesday morning because of a 311 call, which described the free library/media swap as a dump. Neighbors acted swiftly and called on local representatives to stop the destruction of what has quickly become a community resource.
On Tuesday July 7th, local Councilmember Jimmy Van Bramer provided updates to our neighbors. While NYC Parks was still determined to remove the free library/media swap and rainbow art if not attended to at all times, Van Bramer refused to comply with such demands and made explicit his support for SEMS.
In the meantime, organizers of SEMS urge individuals to immediately call 814-791-9497 when anyone is seen messing with the art, the red donation box, or the tables. If possible, they urge neighbors to say they are in charge of the books: this will invoke 1st amendment rights, which protects books and those who distribute them. Any government official will be unlikely to continue the sabotage or demolition of the site.
Donations are accepted and sorted on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 am until late at the corner of 43rd Street and Skillman Avenue. [Please note: only books, DVDs, CDs, video games, and board games will be accepted. No electronics or toys can be accepted at this time.] The tables remain on site until it rains.
P.S. Don’t forget, if you plan to protest, Amnesty International has developed a toolkit for how to do so safely and Mask On Zone has created an Anti Surveillance Protest Guide.