Mutual Aid for the Sunset Heights (MASH)
We're so glad to have your help building a network of neighbors across the Sunset Heights.
As a Neighborhood Point Person, you are accepting the responsibility of reaching out to your neighbors, checking in on what needs are arising on your block, coordinating a neighborhood group chat or phone tree, and staying in touch with the other Point People for possible resource pooling down the road.
This document includes:
Neighborhood Pods How-To
HOW TO BUILD YOUR POD
Starting your pod:
Print copies (or write out) of the flyer/contact sheet and deliver to your neighbors. You might deliver 10-20 fliers to the houses right around where you live. Knock, talk through the flyer with them, and if they aren’t home, leave a flyer. (For germ avoidance, it might be better to just leave the flyer!) Please note: It is illegal to put things in other people’s mailboxes: try the crack of their door, between screen door and main door, etc.
The flyers are to help you exchange contact info, in order to start a text thread (or Whatsapp/GroupMe, signal, slack, facebook messenger, whatever!) or a phone tree.
If you think a neighbor might already be self-isolating you could use this little note to reach out.
Please reach out ASAP in case the city decides to impose restrictions on leaving home.
Naming your pod: Pick a fun name! My dad’s unit is “the Peralta Street Blockheads”
Building your pod:
Create a group chat for your neighborhood and as people text you, add them to the group. We recommend WhatsApp or GroupMe but whatever works for you all.
Troubleshoot as needed - helping folks download WhatsApp and get set up if they need it, answering questions, and asking neighbors to help bring more people in.
Neighborhood Pods should be between 5 and 30 or so, if there are more than 30 neighbors interested, figure out how to split up into two units.
Stay in touch with folks. Use the conversation guide below to get a sense of what support needs may come up in your pods. Share wider-community resources. See below.
Connecting to other pods:
If you have signed up to be a Neighborhood Point Person you will be added to the MASH Neighborhood Point People (NPP) GroupMe group chat. This will connect you with other Point People in the neighborhood. You can use this as a way to ask for advice, share successes, or offer ideas or ask for resources that your pod doesn’t have.
POD CONVERSATION GUIDE
This can be a conversation or you can take notes, compiling a little neighborhood directory with emergency contacts for people. We encourage that you have this conversation over the phone once you have exchanged info rather than in person to minimize disease spread*
Hi neighbor! We may know each other well -- or we may be meeting for the first time. If this is the first time: tell me a little about your life! What is your living situation like? Do you have pets? What are your days like? Do you have any particular skills or hobbies?
What are you concerned about right now in regard to COVID-19? Your health or your family’s? Losing work or childcare? Being confined to your home? What do you think this may mean for you?
Who are the main people in your life who you contact about your well-being? How do you contact them (by phone, on facebook), and would you be open to sharing their contact info with me in case of emergency? Who else lives with you, and how can we best contact them if need be?
What resources, skills, interests, knowledge do you hold that you would be open to sharing with the block?
What do you think is important to share with me and others about your health? Dietary restrictions? Where do you pick up prescriptions? Which clinic do you go to?
RESOURCES TO SHARE WITH YOUR UNIT
The first free COVID-19 drive-thru testing site in Houston expanded services on Saturday, March 21, 2020, to symptomatic people age 65 and older. People 65 and older with cough, difficulty breathing, and fever may call the Houston Health Department COVID-19 call center to be screened.
COVID-19 Call Center (832) 393-4220 M-F: 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. and Sat: 9 a.m. - 3 p.m.
COVID-19 List of Resources - Below is a list of links to Houston Health Department (HHD), Center for Disease Control (CDC), and other resources on COVID-19. Follow the following agencies for factual information about COVID-19
Texas Department of State Health Services
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Rumor control
Testing treatment, or services relating to COVID-19 will NOT be used against immigrants in their public charge evaluation.
Test results from a doctor’s office will be reported to the patient by the doctor’s office.
The Houston Health Department lab is operating within capacity and has never experienced a COVID-19 testing backlog.
There are no plans for a ‘lock-down’ of Houston.
There is no need for the general public to use face masks to protect against COVID-19.
The flu shot does not protect against COVID-19 but it’s flu season and people 6-months and older should get a flu shot.