Neighbors work to help each other during Coronavirus pandemic

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- As concerns around Coronavirus (COVID-19) continue to rise there’s another side to the pandemic. 

Strangers are willing to help one another see this through. The internet and social media are bridging the divide.

“The idea was to create a place where you could connect folks who were in need with folks who were providing resources," Angela Harris, chair of the Black Educators Caucus, said.

Harris created a Google document amid the order to shut down Wisconsin schools over Coronavirus safety.

Her efforts have now become a Facebook group called Milwaukee Community Care and Mutual Aid.

“A young lady reached out to me who’s a school bus driver, she will not be working.”

Harris is a first-grade teacher at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School in Milwaukee.

She was inspired to create the form after seeing its success through a friend in another closing school district.

“A lot of us don’t know our neighbors and this is a perfect time for us to get to know our neighbors," she said.

Jessalynn Curtis is someone else wanting to help.

She is offering to grocery shop for the elderly and the immune-compromised or any person who cannot or may not want to leave their homes.

“I think in a time like this it’s so easy to think well, somebody else will do it," Curtis said.

Both women call this an uncertain time, but say it’s sparked opportunities for kindness.

“A lot of people want to help and they don’t know how they can help," Harris said. "So I just felt like this was an opportunity to really bring Milwaukee together.”

To contact Curtis about grocery shopping, you can email her at [email protected].

To contact Harris, and the Milwaukee Community Collective, email [email protected].

You can also use this form and provide more information.