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As members of the ���ߺ��� community step forward to help serve those most vulnerable during the COVID-19 pandemic, ���ߺ��� doctoral student Kaleb Germinaro created a of places for families to access meals, learning resources or support around the Seattle area. The map is open for others to edit and add to it.

Germinaro was inspired to create the map after seeing so many individual groups share that they had free resources for families, but no one was congregating them all into one easily accessible place.

Germinaro was also thinking of the students he coached on the Ballard High School football team, and how they and their families would be faring while schools were out — some students lived too far from the schools to access free meals that some are still providing for students amidst closures.

“I think my biggest concern is food insecurity because the system is already not made for people who are struggling to do well,” said Germinaro, one of the College's Community Partner Fellows. “When a broken system actually breaks, those people are going to be experiencing even more hardship.”

All of Germinaro’s classes have been moved online, but the field work Germinaro had planned — working with the students of color on the football team — has been cancelled for the spring quarter. As he and other students in the ���ߺ��� are facing similar roadblocks, some are considering other ways they can help out as schools across the country have been closed, whether that’s assisting parents in some way or creating virtual community-based lessons.

Story excerpted from a by Kate Stringer, communications specialist for the UW Graduate School.

Contact

Dustin Wunderlich, Director of Marketing and Communications
206-543-1035, dwunder@uw.edu