SOMERVILLE, MASS. (WHDH) - As the coronavirus outbreak spreads, some neighbors in Medford and Somerville are stepping up and lending a helping hand to those in need.
The Mutual Aid Network in Medford and Somerville (MAMAS) is offering assistance to people self-isolating or displaced by the coronavirus emergency.
Organizer Sophia Grogan said their members will be delivering groceries and other essentials to high-risk people quarantining and/or donating to those struggling financially.
They are also stepping up to help college students who were recently forced off campus to find temporary housing.
Grogan said the organizers started this initiative just two days ago.
“It really blew up we saw a need and started putting in infrastructure,” she said. “We’re going in blind faith we’ve obviously never dealt with mutual aid in a pandemic before but it’s been going really well. People have really come through.”
Nearly all requests for and to help are made online, but the MAMAS Network has also established neighborhood pods to allow neighbors to communicate if someone gets sick or needs help.
“Basically we did it because we need to do it there’s no other alternative,” Grogan said. “Mutual aid is apart of our everyday lives and when the net falls out from beneath us I think the community catches itself.”
For more information on how to give or receive help, call 339-545-1315 or click here.
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