Items

• 
  2023-03-21

  Escaping from Fear at the Shoreline

  Submission for #LockdownStatenIsland exploring Fear and the complexity of emotions during COVID Lockdown while at the beach - a place I visited often for a little peace and tranquility during that scary time.
• 
  2023-03-13

  The Meaning of Sunset in Lockdown

  This photo is from A Journal of the Plague Year in the Philippines, submitted by Mark Anthony Angeles on May 19th, 2020. I picked this photo because it connects to my experience from lockdown. The sunset to me represents an end of a chapter or era, as in, the end of my first half as an undergrad student. While it was stressful by end of sophomore year, I pulled through without any issues. But the light of the sunset to me also means that there is hope and that things will get better. That’s what I hope throughout lockdown, hope😌. #lockdownstatenisland
• 
  2022-04-12

  VAP and SMhopes #30

  I wish that in the future I would have a trillion dollars; I wish the animal the Phoenix would still exist; I wish I had a gingerbread house; I wish I had another cat.
• 
  2022-04-12

  VAP and SMhopes #29

  I hope the future has more nature, and animals can talk. (The bulldozer is tearing down buildings, and the animals are attacking, to make more room for nature.)
• 
  2022-04-12

  VAP and SMhopes #28

  Help the Earth! We want Covid to end! Stop littering! Stop fires! Stop capturing animals! Stop wasting! Stop cutting trees!
• 
  2022-04-12

  VAP and SMhopes #27

  I hope I will have a house that can make dinosaurs and more trees, and no fire.
• 
  2022-04-12

  VAP and SMhopes #26

  I hope the world turns to chocolate and I hope the world is eatable.
• 
  2022-04-12

  VAP and SMhopes #25

  There will be shoes with fire shooting out of them in the future.
• 
  2022-04-12

  VAP and SMhopes #24

  Back to the future
• 
  2022-04-12

  VAP and SMhopes #23

  Me: We can help the earth. Diego: We can save earth.
• 
  2022-04-12

  VAP and SMhopes #22

  I hope for a cleaner world
• 
  2022-04-12

  VAP and SMhopes #1

  I wish that I turned into the Flash,
• 
  2022-04-12

  SMhopes and Civic Wellbeing Partners

  Using a grant from Civic Wellbeing Partners in Santa Monica, teachers at the Virginia Avenue Park Spring Camp program asked their students, from grades 1 through 8, to envision their hopes for the future. The students responded with drawings (and one story). Facilitated by artist Paula Goldman as part of SMhopes, the students were also asked to rank how happy they were with their lives now, and how they view their future prospects, two indicators of well being.
• 
  2022-01-14

  My First Pandemic Concert

  Since the pandemic has commence, I haven't done many public outings or attended big events. This January, I had finally got enough of the courage to go to a concert for the first time in three years. Overall, I would argue that the outing was fun and safe, but I could not help but still feel anxious and scared of what was yet to come despite it being a good time. Part of this was because the concert did not require anyone to wear a mask, nor did that enforce social distancing with the seats like I thought they would. Most of this was because COVID-19 cases had started to climb down despite the onset of the new variant OMICRON at the time. I wore my mask regardless since we were sitting so close to people and still enjoyed myself despite these bypasses. I feel that this concert represents how I and other people felt confident enough to do big social outings again despite the pandemic still going on. I also feel like this concert illuminates how people still seek entertainment and enjoyment in their lives and how the pandemic impacted the way people use to be able to go out and enjoy themselves. Now that things are starting to slow down with the pandemic, people like myself are starting to use this opportunity to go enjoy ourselves, which honestly brings me much hope and optimism about the future now.
• 
  2020-11-17

  Punawai Rest Stop For Homelessness

  KHON2 News Story on the Punawai Facility. The facility aims to help the community combat homelessness and aid those experiencing homelessness bringing hope to everyone.
• 
  0002-03-01

  SMhopes at the SMPL Teen Lounge

  A variety of submissions to the SMhopes website, designed as posters and banners by Paula Goldman, and installed in the Teen Lounge at the main branch of the Santa Monica Public Library. The Library asked for a variety of hopeful messages as they begin having students visit the Teen Lounge again.
• 
  2022-02-06

  Covid: College Edition

  In March of 2020, all SUNY schools were sent home because of the Covid pandemic. It was unknown how long I was going to be home for, little did I know it would be over 11 months and a year and a half to go to in person classes. Almost half of my college experience was spent virtual. This is a time that you will never get to live again and it was cut short by almost half. I am very grateful to be in person again and seeing my friend's even thought things aren't 100% back to normal, I am very happy to be back. I am praying that this never happens again for future college students or any students in that matter. Enjoy the time you have because you never know what the future holds.
• 
  2022-02-01

  The Toast of Covid

  The COVID-19 pandemic has been quite the sensory overload. Our sight, smell, and sense of sound were heightened as the world slowed down, paralyzed with fear. As I write this, I have just become one of the countless victims of COVID-19, revealed to me by a home test kit just this morning. My body is weak, I cough constantly, I get dizzy if I stand, and I find that my appetite has left me. When talking about the heightened senses of COVID, it would be easy to talk about the sounds of coughing, or the feel of masks pressed up against your face, but in this moment I find my most heightened sense is the smell of toast. Peculiar as it is, it seems to be the only thing I find remotely appetizing at the moment. My mother, who is a registered nurse on the front lines of the fight against COVID has loaded me down with a regimen of vitamins and assorted medicines. She is insistent that I keep something on my stomach to avoid getting more sick. But what to eat? Nothing looks, smells, or sounds satisfying except toast. The smell of heat and bread wafting from the toaster reminds me that it could be far worse. I could have lost my sense of smell completely, as so many have. It further gives me hope that I will move on from my sickness as society will move to manage COVID. What the smells of the pandemic can tell is, is that while it seems a collective struggle of society, it is an even greater individual struggle. How can we cope with sickness when our bodies are paralyzed with the inability to function as we once did? The smell of toast to me that provides hope, could be chicken noodle soup for another, or fresh air for another. These smells are enticing for a number of reasons to improve our health, whether that be toast to hold medicine down, or the smells of outside which bring about a healthy walk. In a world so panicked and overwhelmed, what I think will be ultimately remembered by the pandemic is the appreciation for simple sounds and smells, such as that of toast.
• 
  2021-11-09

  SMhopes banner with Santa Monica Public Library

  Graphic banner made from a submission to #SMhopes by Roxane D., a Fifth Grade student in Paula Flynn's class at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA. In cooperation with Santa Monica Public Library, at the historic Ocean Park Branch on Main Street and Ocean Park.
• 
  2021

  What Does It Mean to Be Indigenous?

  This is a video on being Indigenous by CBC News.
• 
  2021-11-03

  My Annual Newsletter to Friends 2020 and 2021

  At the holidays I send a newsletter about whatever I have been thinking that year. This year and last the newsletters were about the epidemic. I was looking for examples in history to help us see today how we could cope with the disruption of our lives.
• 2021-10-06

  The Desperate Cling

  When the pandemic hit the small town I resided in March of 2019, the aftershock evoked a hopelessness that was unexpected. Growing up learning “stop, drop, and roll,” I presumed catching on fire was going to be much more problematic than pathetic trauma that has consumed my generation. In seventh grade, my school spent the day watching planes hit the towers on 9/11. Then that night watching the strength of my single mother dwindle while recording the news on VHS tapes. I believed my resilience created from the past had prepared me to get through this pandemic. I was much less resilient than I had anticipated. I worked as a barista in a grocery store and had seen the hatefulness and treatment this once friendly town provided. Before moving to this small town I would visit in the summer and found it difficult to understand how perfect strangers could treat each other like lifelong neighbors. The cloud that had fallen upon this town was shocking. 6am when the grocery doors opened I would watch what seemed to be half the town race with carts, baskets and bags to the designated “hot spots.” (Toilet paper, rice, beans, and bread) I watched as my co-workers were interrogated by their neighbors over product. My coffee kiosk was quiet compared to what it had been and that gave me time to observe the change in demeanor from my co-workers as well. The emotional exhaustion of their own fears along with half of the town coming in to dump their fears and baggage onto them as well; The physical exhaustion of working 60-70 days, pushing product and covering shifts. It was a mad house. It was hard to see the toll on such a warm and friendly town. Customers, co-workers, strangers would indulge dark, inappropriate and ugly opinions I had never expected, especially not in this sleepy town. I could feel the darkness and fear of other steeping into myself. It became difficult to be patient and interact with others. By the end of the day I would be so emotionally spent from pushing myself to be a courteous light for a beacon of all that sadness. I was bitter for this, finding it difficult to cling to my hope in humanity. I wasn’t anticipating this type of reaction from society when faced with such a colossal disaster like the world had reacted after 9/11. So in a way, I think I was resilient to the events but I was unprepared for the worlds reaction.
• 
  2021-09-21

  Hogan Choi and Reily O'Buckley Oral History, 2021/09/21

  This is an interview between two Northeastern University students on how Covid-19 that shared their thoughts about the impact of Covid 19 both personally and globally.
• 
  2021-08-15

  Time

  For me, the pandemic brought a new found attention to the passing of time. My hope for a post-pandemic life is one where we continue to find time for the things we most appreciate and enjoy - like a walk on the beach at low tide.
• -0021-08-31

  Anger, Frustration, and Hope

  In December of 2020 my family went to Florida to pick up our eldest daughter. All but one of us tried to be diligent in wearing masks, distancing and reducing the risks as much as possible. Yet despite that a week later, on Christmas day, my husband started feeling tired and slept most of the day. That was as bad as it got for him. The following Monday we were all feeling ill and I was in the car line being tested, it was positive. On New Years Eve I went to the hospital by ambulance with my oxygen levels in the low 80's. I couldn't say goodbye to my four kids (two in college and two in high school) because I didn't want it to be a final goodbye. I spent ten days in the hospital. Thankfully the constant oxygen, medications and antibody therapies did their job and I didn't need to be intubated. However, the virus wreaked havok on my body. My eyes hurt and would not focus, my body and joints ached, my focus and cognitive function was shot. I struggled to find balance and felt like I weighted a thousand pounds (heavy, oppressive weight). I struggled for breath yet the oxygen took its toll as well leaving painful ulcers in my nasal cavity and after two months of oxygen, a hole in my sceptum. My sugar levels were dangerously high and difficult to regulate and I shifted from a daily pill to needing four shots of insulin a day. It has been eight months and my body still has not returned to any sense of normalcy. I still struggle with controlling my sugar levels. My cognitive recovery has been slow and things that would take an hour in the past now take three or four (like reading and analysing text). I struggle with exercise as my lungs still have not healed. Even walking up a flight of stairs leaves me in tears as I struggle for breath and feel like I'm drowning. I have to divy up my workable time because my body will only do so much before it gives out. I struggle with odd symptoms. I struggle to sleep and struggle to stay awake. I also struggle with depression and self worth. I now feel like a burden. No, I am not suicidal, but I would be lying if I didn't admit that there are so many times when I feel like my family (my spouse in truth), would be better off without this new version of me. They don't understand why I can't do what I did before and doesn't believe in COVID or vaccines or wearing a mask. It's all media propoganda meant to promote a socialist agenda. I only got this sick because I was overweight and had diabetes before COVID. It cuts like a knife when you hear things like that and when it feels like someone doesn't care enough to want to do what they can to protect the ones they say they love. Maybe that's my biggest takeaway from all of this. It's redefining who I am and how I percieve the people around me. The people I thought loved me the most, who I loved the most. It's opened my eyes to the divisions and the anger that run deeper than just the pandemic. But I've also seen the depth of human compassion and love. Friends who made sure my kids had food and whatever else they needed when they were quarantined. The staff at the hospital who ran themselves ragged caring for patients. My nurse practitioner who has been on this journey with me the past eight months and worked diligently to help me recover. The students I've worked with who adapted and were more accepting and flexible in all of this mess than their parents, as they learned new ways of learning. It gives me hope that while there is bad in this world, there is so much good.
• 
  2020-03-09

  the offer of hope

  I took this photo at LAX on March 9, 2020. My father died suddenly the evening before. The Coronavirus was beginning to change our daily lives. Little did I know that this trip would be the last for many months. Each day offers us a chance for a new beginning. I hope we remember the lives lost. I hope we remember the quiet beauty of an empty city. I hope we remember the gratitude we felt for all the doctors, nurses, service workers, delivery drivers, teachers and frontline workers. I hope we remember the creative outlets we found. For all the missed birthdays, graduations, anniversaries, barbeques and gatherings, I hope we now embrace one another in the joy of each new day.
• 
  2021-07-12

  SMhopes banners

  These banners were made from submissions to the #SMhopes call on this site, and displayed around the City of Santa Monica in the Spring and Summer of 2021. Designed by Paula Goldman and supported by a grant from Art of Recovery, an initiative of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs.
• 
  2021-06-13

  Red ribbons at P.S. 042 Benjamin Altman

  I took these two photos in Downtown Manhattan at Public School 42. There were red ribbons tied around the iron fence that appear to have wishes or hopes from students. Some of the ribbons are hard to read, but one says "[Illegible] make homeless people happy by giving them things I don't need" and another says "My [illegible] that COVID-19 will stop forever". All of the ribbons where the grade level is visible indicate that the ribbons were made by fourth graders.
• 
  2020-06-24

  Rediscovering a Family Passion

  In the pandemic, Kimry reached back to her roots and decided to create a garden. When asked by friends on Facebook what did she put into the ground to make it so fertile? She replied "I put love into my ground, I put hope into my ground, I put patience into my ground and I put heart and soul into my ground. In life you can try and put this into people and yield no love back, no real friendship, and no real kindness. But, I tell you, Mother Earth will show you, that you deserve all that you put into her and more. God's time can be so quiet, calming, and so peaceful."
• 
  2021-05-19

  New Dawn, New Day

  Nina Simone’s iconic version of "Feeling Good" plays as I put the last touches on my final painting for the We Rise L.A. project. Nina sings: “It's a new dawn It's a new day It's a new life For me And I'm feeling good I'm feeling good” My gouache (opaque watercolor) and ink artworks on paper, explore morning light, morning life, and the hope engendered by the dawn of a new day. Sourced from my memories of travel, these paintings reflect morning journeys, rituals, and routines. This series was created in partnership with We Rise LA for Mental Health Awareness and 18th Street Arts. My 41 works of art were created as messages of hope, beauty, wellbeing, and self-compassion. Nina sings: “Oh, freedom is mine And I know how I feel It's a new dawn It's a new day It's a new life”
• 
  2020-09-17

  How an eighth grader felt about the pandemic at the end of 2020

  I’m doing great! This is definitely a hard time for everyone during this pandemic, but we are all slowly getting used to it. It stinks not to be able to hang out with a big group of people, but I’d much rather prevent this virus from affecting people. I’m worried for my family because I don’t want them to get sick especially since they are all older than me. I hope it will all be over soon, and that the vaccine will come soon too. One thing I really wish was school could go back to normal. I don’t like having to wear a mask all day and wish I could see people’s faces. Also, I wish we could do group projects because they’re always so much fun. Along with going to lunch and being able to eat in the cafeteria. School is definitely the biggest change throughout the pandemic for me. Otherwise, I’m adjusting pretty well so that’s good!
• 
  2021-05-04

  Dreams

  This was an assignment in Paula Flynn's 5th grade class at Franklin Elementary School in Santa Monica, CA. I hope to see my friends again I hope to go to school in person I hope to travel around the world I hope to see relatives Why can’t it always be like this? Hope hope hope
• 
  2021-04-03

  JOTPYFuture submission from HelloThere

  #JOTPYFuture I hope to finally be outside again meeting new people without being constrained by social distancing and a pandemic-less world.
• 
  2020-11-01

  Melaine Robinson Oral History, 2020/11/01

  Hello, My name is Melaine, I live in Hughesdale, Victoria, Australia and I would like to share this story of subtle community spirit that came through during the COVID-19 Pandemic of 2020. I am also legally blind. Thank you for your time. Melaine
• 
  2020-12-31

  Pandemic Street Art: Art.net exploring street art around the world

  This article captures images of several murals around the world that were tributes to George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Trayvon Martin, and Ahmaud Arbery, Kobe Bryant, and Chadwick Boseman, to doctors and nurses, "as well as messages of hope, strength, and resilience in the face of the global health crisis and ensuing economic downturn."
• 
  2020-05-19

  Pandemic Street Art: Anat Ronen creating hope through art

  Houston-based artist Anat Ronen brings hope to her community through her public art during the pandemic.
• 
  2021-04-02

  Covid-19 Took a Toll on Our Elders, and With It: A Piece of Our Precious Culture

  Tribes across North America are losing their Elders and possibly their oral histories to COVID-19. Indigenous Peoples, already faced with hardships such as poverty, medical resources, and food shortages, now endure the loss of these revered men and women. Although devastated by these hardships, the Pascua Yaqui tribe refuses to give up hope. They move forward continuing to celebrate their history and their people.
• 
  2021-04-03

  COVID through a healthcare worker [PRIVATE Anonymous]

  Working through a pandemic as a healthcare worker was terrifying. At the very beginning there were a lot of unknowns, and I felt lost, and alone. As I would go through my shifts as a CNA I had to be strong for my patients. I realized I would be going home to my family, but they were not. I was their "visitor" for the day. Patients could not just go outside for fresh air or wonder the halls to stretch their legs, they were confined to their room. Working in the hospital during this pandemic gave me a different perspective. While there were really hard days, there were also really great days. One of the best days was seeing a COVID recovered patient walk for the first time in months. It was times like this that made me realize that you are not granted tomorrow, and to enjoy each day to the fullest. I am so grateful for all the nurses, doctors, environmental services, secretaries, physical therapists, occupational therapists, case managers, and social workers who all came together to help our patients get through a challenging time. The song "Better Days" gives people hope that change and "better days" are near. The music video shows clips of people from all over the world and the impact this pandemic has on them.
• 
  2021-03-31

  Chris M. Monaghan Oral History, 2021/03/31

  This is an oral history of Chris M. Monaghan, an artist based in Dexter Michigan, conducted by Monica Ruth, a graduate student intern with the COVID-19 archive, A Journal of the Plague Year. Chris talks about his street art/chalk artwork, participating in chalk art festivals, how the pandemic has influenced the festival and artist scenes, the sense of community in chalk art, and how chalk art is a source of entertainment, hope, and outlet for mental and physical health.
• 2021-03-30

  My Post-Covid Hopes

  I hope I will be able to attend virtual school. I hope I can visit my friends. I hope my friends can visit me. I hope we can eat at restaurants. I hope the olympics will happen soon. I hope I can travel all over the world again. I hope we can go to amusement parks. I hope I can make new friends. I hope I don’t get lost on campus.
• 2021-03-26

  My Post-Covid Hopes and Dreams

  I dream of a world with no restraint. A world where everyone may be free. A world freed from the burden of masks and complaints. A world where we all agree. I wish for a world with no injustice. A world where everyone is equal. A world freed from the burden of hatred and those who despise justice. A world where there are none who are unequal. I hope for a world with the healthy at ease. A world where we aren’t isolated or destitute of friends. A world freed from the uncouth disease. A world where we don’t constantly need to cleanse. COVID-19 has been a mess, but we will stay hopeful nonetheless.
• 2021-03-26

  One day

  I hope one day, When someone asks me how I’m doing, I’ll say that I’m good, And truly mean it. I hope one day, That I have no feeling of missing, And have all the people, Together with no concern. I hope one day, I can breathe in the world, And not have to worry about masking myself. I hope one day, I’ll go to the hospital, And see the doctors laughing. I hope one day, I’ll truly forgive. Forgive myself, And forgive others, Of always wanting, Wanting something more. Shall we not hope on that day, To work at home, For being tired Of running to school? Shall we not hope, To run away, Or mask ourselves In disguise? Shall we not hope, That we did something more, While in, This everlasting void of unhappiness? Shall we not hope, That we had been better, That we had resisted, And pushed on? So, I hope on that day, We will not regret, We will forgive, We will understand. We will hope.
• 2021-03-26

  Hope

  Hope. Hope is a fragile thing, A delicate flower, Afraid of being crushed, But it keeps on growing anyway. Hope. Hope is a flame, Burning night and day, The fear of burning out, But it keeps on blazing anyway. Hope. Hope is a bird, Flying forever further, higher, than ever before, Crossing boundaries never spoken of, Never crossed before, Fearful of crashing down, down, down, never to be seen again. But it keeps on soaring anyway, never tiring it’s wings. It’s delicate, flowering wings. It’s bright, flaming wings. It’s hopeful wings.
• 2021-03-19

  Resurfacing

  The people, surfing on America, Their board. Relying on it to carry them above the waters of Bigotry and chaos, the board is old and Bloated with water, but it works. Then a wave, which we did not want to catch, a wave called covid hit the people and we were thrown off our board and into the water. Every time we tried to resurface, one of the currents that made the wave more powerful, Racism, Bigotry, power hunger and greed would pull us back under right as we were about to resurface. Dragging us deeper than when we were thrown off the board and slamming us into the sandy ground. Finally the wave had ceased and we, the people tried to swim back up, trying to get a hold on our board. I'm thinking about what I will do when we finally resurface for air. Maybe I will go to school and see multiple friends at the same time, watch some new movies instead of the ones that are being recycled. I look forward to the day when the people get back on our board and I can see my friends. Maybe people will have learned by then that racism, sexism, Homophobia and bigotry in general are our enemies, Who knows, as long as we’re dreaming.
• 2021-03-19

  I hope

  I hope that life can go back to “normal” I hope that I can spend endless days with my friends. I hope that I can go eat at amazing restaurants. I hope I can spend birthdays with those I love. I hope that I can see a movie with my dad on a rainy day. I hope I can shop at malls with my mom. I hope I can see the teachers that have given me a great education. I hope I can safely travel with my family. I hope I can win a volleyball tournament with my teammates. I hope I can dance on the biggest stage. I hope I can sing at concerts with my choir. I hope and I wish that one day I can do all these things.
• 2021-03-19

  I hope...

  I hope that a post-covid world means to be walking down Main Street, U.S.A. at Disneyland, with the smell of vanilla wafting through the air with a churro in my hand. I hope that a post-covid world means I can go back to my favorite land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and have a vibrantly colored, fruity drink at the Cantina. I hope that a post-covid world means that I can stay at my favorite hotel, The Grand Californian, and can collect all the pressed pennies and pins I can imagine. But most of all, I hope that a post-covid world means Disneyland opens soon so thousands of cast members can get back to work.
• 
  2021-03-18

  With Hope

  Today is Thursday, March 18, 2021. Saturday, March 13, was the first anniversary of the Friday the 13th that essentially broke the world, and that was our last day of normal. Or at least that’s how we all remember it now. On Monday, March 15, 2021, the students at my high school returned in “full swing” for the fourth quarter of the school year. I mean by full swing that we have no A and B days, and we are not all virtual. We still have an asynchronous day on Wednesday, but we all know that will soon go away. Many kids are staying virtual, and I don’t know how long that will be an option. So, we have had three days of students back on campus, and I think I would be much more concerned if I myself were not vaccinated, but I am fully vaccinated, and my husband completed his two-week waiting period a couple of days ago, so my house is “safe.” (Though I don’t totally feel that way yet) I don’t work on Wednesday right now, so we celebrated being fully vaccinated by going to an outdoor brunch, which was totally socially distanced, and I appreciated it a lot. I digress, though… school feels like school again. Sure, we limit the number of students who come into the library at lunch, but they are here, the halls bustle, and kids' noise in the hallway trails through our open library doors between periods again. Unfortunately, we are jumping back into things right in time for state testing, so we got this week of “bliss” before things become chaos of finding computers to test, getting students to make sure their computers are updated, and the general panic of finding space and making schedules that comes with any year of state testing. I want things to continue to trend in a direction where I don’t have to rescind all this hope a couple of months from now.
• 
  2021-03-04

  #SMhopes: an Archive of Hopes and Dreams

  COVID-19 has had us in lockdown for nearly a year. So much has been lost, and so much has been missed. But now things are beginning to look up. If you live or work in Santa Monica, CA, we want to hear your hopes and dreams for the future. Please share your thoughts about how you view our post-pandemic world. What will you do the first day you can meet your friends? Where will you go when you can travel? What will be different? Using the Journal of The Plague Year’s “Share Your Story” page, post a written text, an image, a video, or an oral history. Use our tag #SMhopes to ensure you’re included in Santa Monica’s Archive of Hopes and Dreams, our time capsule of this crazy time.
• 
  02/21/2021

  Jack Wick Oral History, 2021/02/21

  This is a mini oral history interview with my father, Jack Wick, regarding silver linings during the pandemic.
• 
  2020-10

  How Tribal Communities Have Dealt with the Pandemic

  A cursory look into A Journal of the Plague Year reveals that the pandemic is nondiscriminatory, all of are affected. Yet, the reality is that Covid-19 is having more impact on certain populations in American communities. Arizona State University's Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict partnered with the Henry Luce Foundation to provide rapid relief funding to marginalized communities in the southwest. As part of the rapid relief program, the Center for the Study of Religion and Conflict is collaborating with A Journal of the Plague Year and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication to raise awareness about the marginalized communities that were assisted via this grant. By joining this "Southwest Stories" project, we at the Podcast of the Plague Year were granted the opportunity to spotlight one Native American community in Arizona- the White Mountain Apache Tribe.