Coronavirus heroes: Centre County COVID-19 Community Response puts focus on neighbors helping neighbors
Richard Anderson and Emily Smith don’t consider themselves heroes — they’re just people who want their neighbors to survive the pandemic with their health, homes and pocketbooks intact.
And Centre County COVID-19 Community Response, also known as 4CR, gave them a way to help.
“There are challenges, but the response has been strong,” Anderson, 4CR outreach coordinator, said.
Formed in response to the coronavirus, 4CR is a group of community members, working to coordinate local mutual aid efforts as many are faced with job loss, eviction and food insecurity. From rent rallies, grocery runs and transportation assistance, 4CR aims to help those in need while also highlighting existing community resources.
“We’re not special,” Anderson said. “People in Centre County already do this work. They take care of their neighbors.”
The grassroots organization formed after one State College native sent out a call to action on Facebook. A few days later, more than 52 community members convened on a Zoom call to brainstorm ways to help Centre County residents and Penn State students who have been affected by the virus, Anderson said. During the meeting, 4CR formed working groups responsible for conducting outreach and forming a resource hub.
From there, 4CR launched a website, social media accounts and formed a resident-to-resident assistance network to pair those in need with help.
“We want everybody in Centre County to know that 4CR is here for you if you need help and here for you if you want to give help,” Anderson said.
Anderson and Smith became involved with the group through friends. 4CR has about 40 volunteers, according to Anderson. Not wanting to replace existing community services and food assistance programs in Centre County, they said 4CR volunteers wanted to create a space where people can find resources more easily.
“The needs that we see from folks who contact us through the resident-to-resident support network are cash assistance for food and groceries,” Anderson said. “They need cash assistance with rent. They’re very basic things — having food to eat and being able to stay in your homes.”
The group presented a letter to the State College Borough Council with a series of questions and concerns on how residents would be supported amid the pandemic. In May, 4CR organized a rent rally in downtown State College, encouraging landlords to make three promises: no evictions, no late fees and good-faith negotiation.
Volunteers have also delivered groceries to those in need, driven people to doctor’s appointments and helped others file for unemployment.
“We’re not asking for the moon,” Anderson said. “We’re just requesting to please try honestly to work with folks however you can.”
Hoping that 4CR will encourage people to donate their time in the future, Smith said her experience working with the group has taught her that people are willing to help, even during times of crisis.
“As we’re seeing a lot of things opening back up, there’s still a lot of need in our community that we may not have always realized was there,” she said. “We also have a lot of people in the community who want to help and see things be different, become more equitable and spend a good amount of time or money — depending on how much of each thing they have to spare — to directly help people.”
While no rallies or protests are in the works right now, Anderson said 4CR is considering launching a summer meal program to build on resources already offered by the Centre County YMCA.
“We would reject the term charity. We don’t give this help as a gift to people who are in unfortunate circumstances,” he said. “The philosophy is helping each other. You might need help right now, but maybe there are resources that you can offer to people in the future.”
