Covid Relief was established by a coalition of organizations in the face of the devastating health and economic present and future impacts created by Covid 19. The coalition includes SATI Foundation (http://sati.or.th/), Scholars of Sustenance (https://www.scholarsofsustenance.org/), and Urban Studies Lab (https://www.facebook.com/UrbanStudiesLab), with support from Bangkok 1899 and the Thai Health Volunteers Foundation.

The coronavirus has in the space of a few weeks completely transformed our lives, and there is a sense of foreboding that for many, the worst is yet to come. But while some people in Bangkok are able to quarantine themselves at home safely, there are many elderly and low-income households who rely on daily wages to support their families, making social distancing an impossibility. This means coronavirus spread is likely to be highest in our poorest neighborhoods, posing a considerable threat to the lives of many, but especially the elderly and those already suffering from pre-existing conditions.

In the short term, the spread must be slowed down to ease the burden on Thailand’s already overwhelmed public health infrastructure. Long term, considerable economic pain is expected here in Thailand, particularly by households that depend on industries like tourism, which will be devastated by Covid 19.

Covid Relief is coordinating a challenging relief effort to distribute masks, soaps, hand sanitizers, and basic foodstuffs to the most vulnerable groups in Bangkok, all whilst maintaining social distancing to avoid increasing the spread of coronavirus. Covid Relief uses demographics data to identify and locate the most in-need based on age and income, ensuring their efforts are targeted and have the most impact.

For every 300 baht, you can provide packages consisting of sanitation items and food supplies for a family (4 people).

Requests for some or possibly all depending on donation quantities - masks - hand gels and alcohol - sanitation equipment and detergents - food supplies: canned foods, rice, fruit, eggs, raw ingredients - packaging: cloth bags - protective gear: gloves, face shields, suits.

In phase 1, we aim to serve 13,000 low-income households in Bangkok—which represent 17% of low-income households in Bangkok (defined as a household income of less than THB 10,000). Our project will cover 13 subdistricts in the city, which according to census data, are the 13 subdistricts in the city with the highest proportion of low-income households. We are also prioritizing districts with a higher elderly population. In the coming months, we aim to serve the communities listed in the maps below.

As a socially responsible company, you can improve the lives of the people in the regions in which you operate. The concept from COVID Relief Bangkok is an ideal project for your company to support during this unique time of need. Our partner SocialGiver can provide tax-deductible receipts for monetary and in-kind donations.

Donate supplies or funds to help us make and deliver 1000+ care packages a week to Bangkok’s most vulnerable communities. Each care package, valued at 300 baht, has enough calories for 30 meals and includes:

• 5-kg bag of uncooked rice

• Canned fish

• Hand sanitizer

• Masks (of any kind)

• Soap

• Soy milk/dairy milk

Recovery through “the power of networks” Support, skills & employment to survive economic impact (July 2020-July 2021): Targeting the same group of low-income communities, during phase 2, we will use community and government networks to improve mental well-being and increase economic resilience in communities impacted by COVID-19. For mental health, we aim to to certify 1,000 people in “mental health first aid” and create a mental health support network that covers 15,000-20,000 low-income households in the city

In phase 2, we will partner with trusted, existing community networks to improve mental health training and economic resilience.

Mental health support for 20,000 low-income households.

Since the pandemic, anxiety levels have spiked across society due to high unemployment, increasing debt, and overall uncertainty about the future. Vulnerable communities are particularly at risk as many people work in the informal sector, where job cuts have been more drastic, and in many cases, those let go are ineligible for government aid.

COVID Relief Bangkok has partnered with a network of mental health experts to build and expand mental health training and services in Bangkok’s low-income neighborhoods. The aim is to (1) spread awareness of mental health resources available; and perhaps more importantly, (2) using a train-the-trainer model, we will help community leaders and health care volunteers to identify and respond to signs of mental illness.

Our train-the-trainer model will be rolled out with the Public Health Volunteers and their network of health & social workers, with the goal of training 1,000 people in low-income subdistricts. These trainees will deliver basic mental health support to people in their own neighborhoods and each covers roughly 20 households. By the end of the project, we aim to have built in-person mental health support networks for 20,000 low-income households in Bangkok, or approximately 26 percent of low-income families in the city.

Enterprise Training – Adapt private sector resources to support community-initiated business projects.

COVID Relief Bangkok has partnered with the Community Organization Development Institute (CODI), a 3 billion baht community fund with a mandate to help relieve urban poverty by creating networks and systems to encourage and fund community-initiated small business ventures. The group has 20 years’ experience with loans, grants, subsidies to strengthen community-based finance systems to help develop poor communities.

CODI helps communities manage “Community Development Funds.” These funds pool the resources of multiple “Community Savings Programs,” projects where low-income community members contribute a nominal amount (1 baht a day, for example) to a larger fund that then is pooled together with CODI funding to support projects like housing, land purchase, livelihoods, education or emergency relief.

Through its Community Development Funds, CODI will identify 30-50 of its higher-potential ‘livelihood initiatives’ to COVID Relief Bangkok. These are projects communities want to use to create small businesses in their neighborhoods—and that are applying for financial support from the Community Development Fund

COVID Relief Bangkok will work with the teams behind these projects and provide three levels of support: enterprise training, matched coaching, and where COVID Relief Bangkok has the budget, small-scale business loans or grants.

• Enterprise training: based on the needs of the livelihood initiatives, we will design a 5-8 course in-person and online training course on range key small business topics. This can include sales, accounting, digital literacy, language, team management, etc. Trainers will come from the private sector or academia. The aim is to train 800 people in person and reach 80,000 online.

• Matched coaching: working with CODI, COVID Relief Bangkok will select 10 projects with strong potential to match with coaches from academia and the private sector. Coaches will help review plans, identify obstacles, and further develop business models.

• Small-scale business loans or grants: following the same funding principles as the CODI Community Development Fund (CDF), COVID Relief Bangkok will aim to financially support 5-10 livelihood projects in the CDF system.

As a socially responsible company, you can improve the lives of the people in the regions in which you operate. The concept from Covid Relief Bangkok is an ideal project for your company to support during this unique time of need. Our partner Social Giver can provide tax-deductible receipts for monetary and in-kind donations.

Recovery:

• Mental health: Donate funds to support our mental health network, or if you have mental health training expertise, work with us as a volunteer.

• Enterprise training: donate funds to support a small business loan project, or if you have experience with small business development, work with us to coach a program.

Bank: TMB

Account Name: Yuvabadhana Foundation for Socialgiver

Account Number 075-1-07978-1

Swift code TMBKTHBKXXX

Swift code (8 characters) TMBKTHBK

Branch name TMB BANK PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED

Branch address 3000 PHAHOLYOTHIN ROAD, CHATUCHAK

Branch code XXX

Bank name TMB BANK PUBLIC COMPANY LIMITED

City BANGKOK

Country Thailand

Please send us to transfer evidence to Line @Socialgiver

Socialgiver provides donation receipts only for donations 500 THB or more to minimize costs and ensure charities get 100% of donations. Thank you for understanding.

*Socialgiver does not take any fee for all donations to all our projects.

Visit the Facebook group to find out more on www.facebook.com/groups/covidreliefbkk