Support During the COVID-19 School Shutdown

BEAM is thinking of all of you during the schools shutdown. We hope you are home, healthy, and safe and we encourage you to remain home to help your loved ones and community stay safe as well. We are collecting resources and next steps below. This page will be continuously updated whenever we have new information.

COVID-19 Updates & Testing

  • Get updates: Get the latest COVID-19 news from New York State here. Sign up for smartphone alerts from New York City by texting COVID to 692 692.

  • Stay up to date on tools, resources, and supports made necessary during this time. WhileAtHome is a clearinghouse for credible information and action steps.

  • Read Chalkbeat’s Frequently Asked Questions about the school closure, including info on state tests.

  • Making and wearing face coverings: To slow the spread of the coronavirus, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is recommending that everyone wear face coverings when in public places where it is difficult to maintain social distance (like grocery stores and pharmacies).

    A NOTE OF CAUTION: Some have expressed concern that for people of color, covering their faces in public may cause them to be treated with suspicion, or the use of certain bandanas could be wrongly associated with gang activity, putting them in danger. (For more about why people of color, particularly Black males, may feel unsafe covering their faces in public, see articles here and here.)

  • New York testing: Drive-through testing is now available by appointment in New Rochelle, Coney Island, Queens, Staten Island, the Bronx (see below) and Jones Beach-Long Island. Tests are free regardless of insurance or immigration status. The drive-thru sites are by appointment only. To make an appointment, call the New York State COVID-19 hotline at 888-364-3065. Walk-in testing sites in New York City are planned.

  • Bronx-based mobile testing center: The Bronx now has a mobile testing center located in Co-Op City, at the Bay Plaza AMC Theater parking lot, 2210 Bartow Avenue. The site will prioritize tests for individuals that are among the highest risk population. Residents who want to be tested must make an appointment by calling (888) 364-3065. There will be no walk-ins allowed and all patients must be in a vehicle. The center is open Monday - Sunday, 8am - 6pm.

Accessing Housing, Benefits, and Financial Support:

Food & Groceries

  • Free meals for ALL New Yorkers: Any New Yorker who wants one can get three free meals a day at more than 400 Meal Hubs across the city. Pick up 7:30AM - 1:30PM Monday - Friday at more than 400 NYC sites. Find locations and read more here.

  • NYC food delivery assistance: The City of New York is providing assistance to New Yorkers during the COVID-19 crisis by delivering meals to those who cannot access food themselves. Find out more here.

  • Reserve food at local food pantries: Pick up a bag of groceries at the local food pantry. Text FOOD to 726879 to sign up via chatbot. The app is in 9 languages and includes 170 pantries across all 5 boroughs. View a map of food pantries here.

  • Locate a local food bank: Food Bank for New York City and City Harvest.

  • SNAP Benefits for online grocery shopping: SNAP Benefits can now be used to shop online for fresh produce and groceries. Read more here.

  • Expensify is devoting all its charitable funds to match SNAP grocery purchases up to $50 per family. Find out how you can get reimbursed here.

  • In addition to free meals provided at schools near you, restaurants around the city may also be providing free food. Please check out this map for restaurant updates and for the

Tutoring Support:

  • AP Online Review Lessons: College Board is providing free AP Online Review Lessons for their new AP test on Youtube. The AP Online Lessons can be viewed live or on-demand. The videos can be found here.  

  • NYPL Tutoring: The New York Public Library is offering free tutoring in any subject from 2-11pm daily. You can find instructions and details here. You will need a public library card, but you can sign up for one on the website.

  • Free tutoring: The Tutorverse, a NYC-based leader in supplemental learning, is donating free seats in its online classes and workshops to families who are being affected financially by COVID-19. Subjects include 8th grade readiness, Algebra I, Living Environment, and SHSAT workshops. Click here to apply for a free seat.

Free Online Learning Resources:

Technology / Internet:

  • iPads for students: The New York City Department of Education wants to make sure every student who needs one has a device to learn remotely. To help students stay connected during emergencies, they are lending internet-enabled iPads to support remote learning. To request a device, call (718) 935-5100 (press 5), or fill out this form (available in English, Español, 中文, বাংলা, Русский, العربية اردو, বাংলা, 한국어, Français).

  • Internet access: Several providers are offering free/low cost internet service.

Holistic and Mental Health Support:

  • Help with mental health: New Yorkers can call the COVID-19 Emotional Support Hotline at 1-844-863-9314 for mental health counseling.

  • How to talk to children about COVID-19: Resources for discussing COVID-19 with children, teaching and explaining social distancing, and books and activities to help manage kids’ worries. You can find the details here.

Job Opportunities

LEVEREDGE

LeverEdge works to get students lower interest rates on student loans than they could get on their own. Their mission is to increase access to and reduce the financial burden of higher education. This is a great match for people with experience in and/or studying business management.

  • Click here to learn more about LeverEdge.

  • Click here to go directly to their job listing page, which has listings for full-time jobs and internships.

CLOUDFLARE

Cloudflare is a web infrastructure and web security provider. This is a great match for people with experience in and/or studying programming, web security, information technology, computer engineering, etc.

  • Click here to learn more about Cloudflare.

  • Click here to go directly to their job listing page, which has listings for full-time jobs and internships.

EXPANDED PATHWAYS FELLOWSHIP

The Pathways Fellowship is a 10-month program designed to provide young men and women of color, who are currently enrolled in or recently graduated college, with an enriching experience that offers: professional development workshops, an after-school practicum, early career support, mentorship, and networking opportunities. You can learn more and apply here.

AMERICAN RED CROSS OPPORTUNITIES PAGE

The American Red Cross has different internships available for people to use their skills to assist others in need. Each Mission Concept listed on their page holds individual internship opportunities, which are available based on the needs of the organization. You can find their page here.

FUND FOR PUBLIC HEALTH NYC

Fund for Public Health NYC (FPHNYC) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of the health and well-being of all New Yorkers. They are currently looking for people to help with tracing and other data collection on COVID-19. You can find their active job postings here.

POINT72 ACADEMY SUMMER EXTERNSHIP

Point72 is a global asset management firm that dedicates significant time and resources to the careers of its Portfolio Managers (PMs) and Analysts. As a participant, you will get virtual crash courses in investing topics from our Academy and Investment Professional Development Teams and gain insights from Point72 Investment Professionals. Point72 will provide a competitive stipend during this time, and successful candidates will be invited to interview for our 2021 full-time Point72 Academy Associate class. You can find out more information and apply here.

JOB PORTALS

Below are portals from companies that have sourced opportunities from several other organizations that are also available for you to apply.

  • You can click here to find a search field from Jopwell that currently has active internships and jobs.

  • You can click here for a list of companies and their current internship status: whether they have cancelled internships, are keeping them available, or are delaying that decision to a later date.

  • The Muse, a job search website, has created a list of 79 companies that have active job listings. You can find that list here.

Academic/skill building opportunities

FREE AP ONLINE REVIEW LESSONS

College Board is providing free AP Online Review Lessons for their new AP test. The AP Online Lessons can be viewed live or on-demand. The videos can be found here.  

FREE MUSIC PRODUCTION SOFTWARE

Logic Pro X and Ableton are offering free 90-day subscriptions.

FREE CODECADEMY PRO

Codecademy is offering free 90-day scholarships to their premium technical training product. Click here to join with your school email address.

list of Summer programs

  • Pharmacy Summer Institute for High School and College Students - The University at Buffalo School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (SPPS) Pharmacy Summer Institute is an enrichment program providing information about the challenging career pathway opportunities in the profession of pharmacy and exposure to the fields of pharmacy practice and pharmaceutical sciences to interested and motivated high school and college students. The deadline to apply is June 1. You can learn more and apply here.

  • Summer 2020 Program at Baruch STEP Academy - The STEP Academy is a pre-college program for eligible middle and high school students who are interested in pursuing careers in science, math, and health-related professions. The deadline to apply in June 1. Learn more about their middle school and high school classes here.

  • St. Francis College: Summer Science Academy - This is a FREE two-week (Monday-Friday) summer program in which science and math are integrated with virtual museum trips in a warm, friendly virtual setting, taught by St. Francis College science professors. There will be a mix of zoom meetings, virtual museum tours, guest speakers, and breaks, and students will be asked to read and discuss science articles and books, measure things, download apps for their phones (such as Toolbox), and will be encouraged to take pictures and videos of nature if they go outside for exercise. They will work in small groups with mentors. A full two-week calendar of activities will be provided. The program will run from July 6 - July 17; Monday through Friday: 8:30 AM to 2:30 PM. This is available to high school students (rising sophomores and above). To apply, email Kathleen Nolan, PH.D. at knolan@sfc.edu with a well written one page essay in Word by June 1 stating why you would like to attend the summer science program as well your full name, high school, anticipated year of graduation, address, phone number and your emergency contact's full name and phone number.

  • Math SWAGGER - The Mathematics Summer Workshop for Achieving Greater Graduate Educational Readiness (Math SWAGGER) is a FREE five week virtual Summer program for any underrepresented student (including women, underrepresented minorities - African Americans, American Indians including Native Alaskans, Latinxs/Hispanics and Native Pacific Islanders - and persons with disabilities) who will be enrolled in a mathematical/statistical graduate program in Fall 2020. We will discuss topics centered on the challenges faced by underrepresented students in those programs. The program is facilitated by a group of underrepresented mathematicians with broad experience in supporting student success. Limited space is available. You can apply here.

  • How to Think and Write Like a Critic - Learn from top New York Times critics as they share personal stories that reveal their processes, approaches, and best practices behind their reviews. Learn a new and fresh perspective on how to be critical, a skill that can propel you in both your personal and professional life. This is a prerecorded online class. Use the code LEARNATHOME to register for class for free. You can register here.

NYPL RESOURCES

The New York Public Library is offering a number of free resources for people online, including the ones below. You will need a public library card, but you can sign up for one on the website.

  • Free tutoring in any subject from 2-11PM daily. You can find instructions and details here.

  • Supplemental learning tools to practice coding, graphic design, and other activities. You can find their list of resources here.

Intrepid Museum Online

The Intrepid Museum is providing virtual tours, online talks, and more science related content for free. You can find their list of upcoming programing here.

COURSERA

Coursera is an online course catalog of classes from various colleges and universities across the country. The classes vary from pre-recorded lectures to live classrooms and collaborative group assignments. The classes also vary in the estimated time it will take you to complete them. You can audit classes for free, giving you access to the class lessons and materials. You can also choose to pay to gain a certificate for completing the course, which serves as a way of you showing schools or potential employers that you completed this class with a specific college (the college puts their insignia on each certificate). You can find their entire catalog of courses here.

HARVARD ONLINE COURSE CATALOG

Harvard University has their own online course catalog with classes from Harvard professors. You can view their courses and sign up here. Similar to Coursera, you can sign up for courses for free, but gaining a verified certificate will cost money.

TRAILHEAD

Salesforce is a widely used database system and they manage their own catalog of online modules to help you learn to use their platform. They organize their training into pathways (or trails as they refer to them) specific for exploring different career paths and positions. You can learn more and sign up for their modules here.

SKILLS TO SUCCEED ACADEMY

This is a catalog of modules managed by Accenture and focuses on teaching essential skills to increase your employability. You can sign up to access their modules here. Side note: when they ask for an access code, click on the question mark on the right side of the box and then click on “use a public code.”

ALISON

This catalog has over 1000 courses in categories like health, business, language, and lifestyle. You can sign up for their classes here.