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Jessica Myers
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2020-09-21We get more followers in times of crisis’: As pandemic limits in-person action, activism goes digital
PHOENIX – Civil rights marches. Anti-war protests. Rallies against gun violence. Public demonstrations historically have involved the “mass mobilization of bodies,” according to Tiera Rainey, program director for the Tucson Second Chance Community Bail Fund and an organizer with Black Lives Matter Tucson. But when the novel coronavirus struck, prompting warnings against crowds and close contact, Arizona’s new reality of social distancing forced organizers to rethink that framework. -
2020-07-15As pandemic rages, farmworkers say employers are ‘prioritizing production over … lives’
As of early July, 87 workers and 58 family members, 23 of them children, had tested positive for the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, according to data compiled by United Farm Workers, a labor union. Many more are awaiting results. “I don’t want to go back,” Bertha said. She feels she has only two options: Accept the working conditions, or quit. The pandemic has forced agricultural workers throughout the Southwest to make a similar choice between their health and their incomes. Though industry representatives say farms are doing everything they can do to protect their employees, worker advocates argue a lack of industry protections – and the “invisibility” of much of the work done by day laborers – have made farmworkers especially vulnerable to exploitation. “It just shows the contradiction in calling somebody an ‘essential worker’ but only for what you need them for, not to care for them as human beings that also are afraid of getting sick,” said Juanita Valdez-Cox, a migrant-rights advocate in Texas. -
2020-09-02Experts fear pandemic could spur dramatic spike in homelessness
PHOENIX – For more than three decades, André House just west of downtown has provided food, showers, temporary housing and other services to Arizonans experiencing homelessness or poverty. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of families seeking such services has almost doubled, said Ash Uss, the faith-based nonprofit’s coordinator of advocacy and partnerships. “We have had families who show up and say, ‘I was just evicted,’ or ‘I’m about to be evicted,’ or ‘We’re living out of our car,’” Uss said. “The need is greater than it ever was.” On Tuesday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention implemented a nationwide temporary eviction moratorium through the end of the year to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Under the order, landlords cannot evict renters who meet certain conditions: “exhausted their best efforts to pay rent, seek Government rental assistance, and are likely to become homeless due to eviction,” according to a statement from the White House. However, the latest efforts may have little impact for those already struggling to secure housing. A July report from University of Arizona researchers suggests the spike in people seeking homeless services at André House and elsewhere in metro Phoenix may be just the beginning. Researchers found the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent economic shutdown could increase the state’s homeless population – about 11,000 as of January – by 16% to 42%. “I think everybody needs to take this very seriously,” said Claudia Powell, associate director of the university’s Southwest Institute for Research on Women and co-author of the report, which put the number of at-risk renters at 365,000. “It will be a bigger crisis than we can imagine if we don’t act soon.” -
2020-09-20
‘We help with loneliness’: With cultural center temporarily shuttered, Iranian American Society of Arizona works to maintain ‘sense of community’ online
by Jessica Myers for the Luce Foundation: Southwest Stories Fellowship -
2020-09-14‘We get more followers in times of crisis’: As pandemic limits in-person protests, organizers digitize activism
by Jessica Myers for the Luce Foundation: Southwest Stories Fellowship -
2020-09-01‘We all need to brace ourselves’: Experts fear pandemic could spur dramatic spike in homelessness
By Jessica Myers | Luce Foundation: Southwest Stories Fellowship -
2020-08-22‘We don't turn anyone away’: As virus forces some nonprofits to cut hours and services, refugee aid group works overtime
by Jessica Myers for the Luce Foundation: Southwest Stories Fellowship -
2020-08-07COVID-19 threatens migrant, officer safety at cramped ICE detention centers
By Jessica Myers/Luce Foundation: Southwest Stories Fellowship -
2020-08-07COVID-19 outbreaks threaten migrant, officer safety at cramped detention centers, advocates say
by Jessica Myers| Luce Foundation: Southwest Stories Fellowship -
2020-07-09As pandemic rages, farmworkers say employers are 'prioritizing production over...lives’
by Jessica Myers| Luce Foundation: Southwest Stories Fellowship