Photo Credit: Régine Kamba, @ntomonok

The rapid spread of coronavirus across the globe has revealed what has always been a glaring truth for so many of the essential workers who are the backbone of our society: inequity. From the people who pick our food to the people who deliver our packages, it is the working class and poor who are most vulnerable to the virus and the economic disaster that COVID-19 has laid bare. So often these frontline workers are women. Many of them are activists, young leaders, and women who are part of our movement.

In response to these increasing needs, V-Day launched the RISING IN THE TIME OF CORONA EMERGENCY FUND in March 2020 to support grassroots activists leading their communities' response to Covid-19. Funds raised have provided rapid response support to needs on the ground across our movement.

In India as we write, activists are mobilizing their networks to find medical supplies amidst the terrifying Covid-19 crisis. As we have seen in other communities, during times of government paralysis and lack of action, activists step in to fill in the gaps in care, holding their communities tight and rising with love amidst devastating odds.

“We are witnessing a crime against humanity. It's hard to convey the full depth and range of the trauma, the chaos and the indignity that people are being subjected to.” -Arundhati Roy in The Guardian, 28 April 2021

From Kenya to India, Guatemala to Thailand, we are hearing about great need from across our vast global network. While some are struggling with isolation and increased proximity to potentially violence situations within their homes, others are struggling with making rent, feeding their families and accessing masks and protective gear to keep themselves and their loved ones safe.

Workers and health care professionals in every country are on the front lines of the crisis, risking their lives to take care of other people, to keep food on the shelves, to deliver necessary services, and to heal those who are sick. For so many survivors, home is not a safe place. Advocates worldwide are providing shelter as well as posting information and resources online.

At the City of Joy in Congo and the V-Day Safe House for the Girls in Kenya, there is increased need as leaders mobilize to support their graduates and the surrounding community. In Congo, young women are taking leadership, making masks, providing food to those in need. City of Joy leadership is mobilizing internationally for necessary personal protection equipment for nearby Panzi Hospital. In Kenya, V-Day Safe House girls studying at boarding school took unexpected but necessary refuge at the safe house due to the virus. Elders in the surrounding communities are supported with food relief and other means of help from the team at the Safe House.

Support Women on the Frontlines, DONATE today.

V-Day is a California 501(c)(3) public charity.

To donate by check:

Please make checks payable to "V-Day" and write "Corona Emergency Fund" in the memo line, and mail to:

V-Day
4104 24th Street
#4515
San Francisco, CA 94114
USA

Please include your name and address with all contributions.
Please include the card number and expiration date for credit card donations.

Thank you for your support!