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COVID-19 Response in Baltimore, Maryland: Q&A with Senior Program Manager Azure Grimes
Over the past year, the COVID-19 pandemic has ravaged countless communities in our country and all throughout the world. Libraries Without Borders US, among so many other nonprofits, was able to respond to the overwhelming consequences of the pandemic due to the tireless and innovative work of our communities, community leaders, and project partners.
In this blog, Senior Program Manager (and previous Baltimore Project Coordinator), Azure Grimes, shares her experience developing a program to fit the unique needs of a pandemic. From the abrupt pause of the Wash and Learn Initiative (WALI) to the dynamic execution of the ConnectED Technology Kit program, listen in as Azure walks us through the lessons learned, key players, obstacles, and rewards that came along the way.
Shireen Zaineb: How did COVID-19 alter the programs you were responsible for?
Azure Grimes: So initially in Baltimore, we were hosting the Wash and Learn Initiative. We were partnering with libraries, with local community organizations and building these media centers inside of laundromats. But due to COVID-19, having a public space, having, you know, shared resources, was definitely not it. So we had to figure out, you know, the same issues existed: people were still without internet access, people were still without reliable resources, and now people were stuck at home where wireline internet isn’t always effective, where we have families that are sharing one laptop and trying to navigate schools and work at the same time. So, you know, through us having to temporarily shut down the Wash and Learn Initiative, we created the ConnectED program. Through that we were able to connect folks to digital literacy tools like a refurbished laptop, like a wifi hotspot for their internet needs, as well as a resource packet of local apps and E-learning tools—local Baltimore resources and programs that existed and just sort of providing a menu of options once they get connected to the digital space. We had to really figure out how to do that safely, how to connect to the right people and also make sure that these resources were relevant and necessary. We received a lot of feedback from people about their experiences and tried to evolve the program as we went, with the initial understanding that this was going to be a temporary program, maybe like 15 laptops. And now 7 months later, 100 laptops later, we’re still trying to connect folks to this resource.
S: What was the biggest obstacle you faced in designing and implementing the ConnectED Technology Kit program?
A: So initially our biggest obstacle was how can we do outreach from home? Because the folks we were trying to connect to most likely don’t have internet or are using data on their phones, and the only way to sign up for our program was with a Google Form. So we were trying to do a digital equity program without finding digitally equitable ways to promote it, so that was really challenging. So in the early stages, we reached out to our community partners and we were like, ‘Hey, we have laptops, we have resources– are there any folks in your programs that are in need of internet. Do you know any students who are in need of wireless internet access?” We reached out to our laundromat managers and owners about staff members or clients that are in need of technology.
And so it really became just reaching out to our initial networks and seeing what was out there. Promotion helped, like having partners send emails and posting about it on social media, but what really worked when it came to finding the right people was word of mouth. Once we got those first 15 or so laptops out, more and more people were talking about this program, more people knew people in need of internet or in need of a laptop, and it sort of spiraled out into more of a city-wide network of folks just talking to each other about this program.
S: Who were the key players in the execution of the ConnectED Tech Kit program?
A: Definitely our funders, bless their hearts. Initially, pre-covid, we had a location in Southeast Baltimore called Hipp Laundromat where we received a grant from the Department of Planning from the City of Baltimore to host a census event to connect folks and do census completion. We were already doing that at our WALI sites doing some workshops, sharing resources in English and Spanish around the census, and we had this plan to do a free laundry event, community kickoff event, laptops would be available to complete the census, we were going to do like giveaways if you did it at the laundromat, food trucks, all of that… Then COVID-19 happened and we were like, well we can’t do any of that, but the census is still super important, people still need access to digital tools, and so we came back to the Department of Planning and asked them about ConnectED. We were like, ‘Can we just provide folks with technology directly and provide census materials directly? And can we use the grant for that?’ And they were like sure let’s see how that goes! And so like they were the first ones to be like try it out and see what happens. And other funders like the Truist Charitable Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, we got corporate sponsorships from our WALI partners like Amerigroup who believed in our work… So it really was a team effort to get this out.
We also had a bunch of nontraditional partners like community gardens in Baltimore City. We partnered with two local community gardens and were able to distribute around 40 laptops through their own food distribution system, so that was really cool, we had never really talked with community gardens before this. Our other partners like our laundromat managers who first helped us identify our laundromat customers or even themselves who were in need of digital access and tools and sort of spearheaded our community outreach strategy. As well as our resource packet partners! I didn’t put a lot of these resources together myself, I was just like, “hey do you have a program? Hey do you have a flyer? Do you have an app?” And groups like the Enoch Pratt Free Library, like the CASH Campaign of Maryland, like the Volo Kids Foundation all were like, “here are resources, here are virtual programs, here are apps. And, they’re all free.” So, they were really helpful in helping me sort of figure out what was going on in the city that was local, accessible, and that a lot of people maybe didn’t know about. So that was really awesome of them to share. And just a bunch of other great people! Individual community leaders who, you know, were like “I signed up to register for a laptop, but there are 8 neighbors on my block who also need laptops, can you deliver them all in one day, and we can distribute them together?” And I was like, “that works for me! That’s perfect!” And so, you know, all these groups and people that were like, “I see a need, my community has a need, can we work together?” That would not have been possible without those individuals who spoke up and said something. All these different pockets of people in our network really made this happen!
S: Are there any stories that resonate with you from distributing ConnectED Tech Kits?
A: Yeah! In Baltimore we distribute our tech kits through a porch-side pickup. So we do like, wear a mask, I have my gloves, I deliver to your porch with like an arms length, and then they take it. And there was one woman I delivered to, and she was someone who was initially on our waitlist for about a month or two and so we reached out, I was able to deliver it to her, and you know I sat there, and we were talking for like 30 minutes because she was telling me about how she recently moved into this new apartment because her last place caught on fire and her husband recently passed away, and her kids are going off to college and she was feeling really alone.
She was like, ‘I don’t use the internet, I don’t know how to use that so I’ve been in my apartment by myself. I’m angry at my husband for dying, I just feel like I need someone to talk to, and I feel like I just don’t know how.” So I was telling her about resources at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, like if you need computer literacy skills because she was like, “I can’t wait to learn how to use this!” And I was like, “Ma’am, you should call the library.” So I gave her resources for the library’s computer literacy courses, numbers for a social worker who was doing virtual grief sessions because it seemed like she just really wanted someone to talk to. And she was just really grateful for the laptop. She was like, “I don’t have to pay for it, I don’t have to return it, I don’t have to do any of that?” And I was like, “no it’s yours, I literally don’t want it back. If you give it to me, I won’t take it.”
She stuck with me because I get these bits and pockets of stories from people when I drop [the Tech Kits] off and they’re like, “me and my kid have been using my phone for her to go to class, so this laptop was really helpful so that I don’t have to pay like $500 out of pocket because I recently lost my job.” Or people are saying they couldn’t complete their finals for college because they didn’t have a working laptop. So luckily their professors were willing to work with them, but, you know, without this tool they were going to be doing it on their phones. So like these different stories about people being impacted by COVID-19, having to move, being lonely—and that was one that came up a lot was you know, “I’m not connected to my friends, I don’t know how to use Facebook”—and some of those things showed that it’s not just about being able to get online to go to school, to do your job, to find things, but it’s really about reconnecting people and showing them how to do it in a way that feels comfortable to them.
We also had a bunch of nontraditional partners like community gardens in Baltimore City. We partnered with two local community gardens and were able to distribute around 40 laptops through their own food distribution system, so that was really cool, we had never really talked with community gardens before this. Our other partners like our laundromat managers who first helped us identify our laundromat customers or even themselves who were in need of digital access and tools and sort of spearheaded our community outreach strategy. As well as our resource packet partners! I didn’t put a lot of these resources together myself, I was just like, “hey do you have a program? Hey do you have a flyer? Do you have an app?” And groups like the Enoch Pratt Free Library, like the CASH Campaign of Maryland, like the Volo Kids Foundation all were like, “here are resources, here are virtual programs, here are apps. And, they’re all free.”
So, they were really helpful in helping me sort of figure out what was going on in the city that was local, accessible, and that a lot of people maybe didn’t know about. So that was really awesome of them to share. And just a bunch of other great people! Individual community leaders who, you know, were like “I signed up to register for a laptop, but there are 8 neighbors on my block who also need laptops, can you deliver them all in one day, and we can distribute them together?” And I was like, “that works for me! That’s perfect!” And so, you know, all these groups and people that were like, “I see a need, my community has a need, can we work together?” That would not have been possible without those individuals who spoke up and said something. All these different pockets of people in our network really made this happen!
To learn more about our programs in Baltimore, reach out to Senior Program Manager Azure Grimes at azure@librarieswithoutborders.us.