Due to COVID-19, there is an overwhelming amount of unemployment, benefits, food and personal and household necessities. Help needed for travel expenses to those workers who are still on the front line during these devastating times to help America and Wisconsinites become and stay healthy.

We are tenants, workers, poor and marginalized people, young and old. We applaud the efforts and initiative taken thus far by Governor Dunleavy, the Alaska Legislature, the Municipality of Anchorage, the Alaska Judiciary, and various utility companies to mitigate the economic and public health impacts amid the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we believe further measures must be taken to properly address the severity of the crisis we are in. With COVID-19, we are already seeing unprecedented economic impacts around the world and here in Alaska. People are being laid off or experiencing loss of hours or wages as we are being asked to self-isolate during this time, and all schools and non-essential businesses are closing for the safety of our community. If we hope to contain the virus and flatten the curve, no one should lose their home during this crisis. Everyone must have access to food, shelter, electricity, heat, information, and clean water throughout this pandemic. While COVID-19 created this growing humanitarian crisis, the reality is that many of us have been living in crisis even before this pandemic. Multitudes of tenants are already incapable of paying next month’s rent and bills, and inaction from our elected officials will exacerbate these circumstances. If our government fails to act on the solutions proposed, we call on all tenants to resist evictions, and organize to withhold their rent payments for the entirety of the crisis and use their limited resources on the necessities—such as groceries, prescriptions, diapers, and mental health services—to maintain the well-being of themselves and their communities. We are committed to protecting everyone’s right to stay in their homes and not face evictions as we collectively take on the impacts of this crisis.

The spread of Covid 19 is still rising at an ever increasing pace across the country. We are nowhere near the peak of this outbreak. Prematurely removing the controls now in place will be disastrous and result in a far greater spread of the desease, with far greater numbers of deaths. And that will have an even greater negative impact on the economy as well. PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH AS MANY PEOPLE AS YOU CAN. THANK YOU.

Well over half of all employees' hours have been cut or completely gutted during the pandemic. Many have openly cited concerns regarding paying monthly rent and bills, working through rigorous protocols in at-risk conditions, and lack of efficiency and communication from YMCA-CW administration. Receiving hazard pay and paid leave are the only equitable solutions right now. Paid-Time Leave for all employees who are not being scheduled: Due to COVID-19, employees have lost work hours and are not given paid-time leave. Our licensing has changed protocol and has resulted in very few employees being scheduled. We are being forced to use our PTO when many of us have little or no PTO to use. The YMCA is refusing to support their employees with paid-time leave in this uncertain time. Many of us have built relationships with our co-workers, program families, and other peers at our sites. We should be able to feel secure that we will not be put in a position that can potentially affect us in our return to work. We are being expected to wait until the pandemic plays out with no pay. Although we are highly trained and experienced, we simply cannot afford to continue with the YMCA unless we receive a living wage. Hazard Pay for all employees that are working regardless of position or location: In order to keep everyone safe, there are additional and significantly more rigorous protocols employees must now take to protect the health of everyone in the program. Not only are we caring for the children, but we’re also rigorously cleaning and sanitizing. While we are happy to help the families of first responders, emergency workers, healthcare professionals, and other families - this is still a large and uncertain risk and is putting the lives of employees, their loved ones, and everyone they come in contact with in danger while risking their health and overall well-being. It is our job to care for these families, and we want to do it the best we can with extra support. The YMCA has 5 core values: caring, honesty, respect, inclusion, and responsibility. Please help YMCA employees urge CEOs Tyler Wright and Kevin Washington to publicly support this petition and give their staff Paid-time leave and Hazard Pay. YMCA employees dedicate their physical and emotional labor caring for the well being of others. If we are not financially stable or physically in good health, it will be more difficult to do so. We deserve stability and good livelihood, not marginalization. Many companies have taken care of their employees during this hard time, and YMCA is a very well known nonprofit alongside these businesses (Starbucks, Willamette Dental, New Seasons, Home Forward, Vision Works, and Target to name a few). We are ready to see YMCA on this list. It's time to live up to the core values and show their employees that they care and will support their employees. Are you with us? UPDATE: Most employees got furloughed on 04/03. Salary employees are still working. Some employees also got paid their regular hours for the first week of the PPS shutdown — but if an employee could not come in for a shift that an employee was technically scheduled for (obvious COVID-19 reasons), that employee will NOT get paid like everyone else. -Simrat Mann, Maria Vu, Tullia Fusco, Faith Lao, Daniel A. Zepeda, Mike White, and Nayantara A. Johnson.

Access to child care is in crisis right now and possibly far into the future with disastrous consequences. Parents unable to make copayments due to loss of income. Providers who are in a real and present danger of closing permanently without financial relief. Emergency workers who can’t access much needed child care. Something has to be done. As a nation, we are on the verge of losing more than half (yes you read that right - MORE THAN HALF) of our child care programs in the next week IF there isn’t significant public investment and support. There are over 2 million paid providers and educators in the U.S., and we cannot afford to lose them! Without child care, frontline workers won't be able to continue doing their essential jobs and, as we emerge from this crisis, we may find there is no child care system to return to as families go back to work and school. Providers who are open are struggling without support for public health training, and working in hazardous conditions for long hours. We need to support them in their critical role in our public health infrastructure. And families -- including frontline workers -- shouldn't have to worry about how they will afford child care in this time. SIGN NOW to urge Congress to provide at least $50 billion in child care funding to ensure the stability of our child care system so parents and caregivers have child care to return to when this crisis is over!

Landlords across Houston are refusing to respond to their tenants’ pleas and/or offering zero abatement options and imposing late fees with talks of tenants defaulting. We are speaking on behalf of dozens of small business owners in Houston. Many of us ARE NOT in the food and beverage industry and were ordered to completely shut down by Governor Abbott on March 19. We do not have take-out options for our clientele and are generating zero income. We have wholly contributed to these properties in improvement and continuously paid taxes on properties we do not own. There has been zero substantial ruling on commercial tenants - small business owners - and we've spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on the improvement and build-out of our landlords properties. We've also paid our proportionate share of their property taxes for the duration of our leases. PLEASE SIGN because without legislature, thousands of small businesses in Houston will close.

Veterinary professionals across the country — from veterinary technicians and veterinarians to other staff critical to animal hospital operations — are on the frontline in helping our communities and pets feel safe and supported as we all grapple with the effects of COVID-19. These essential professionals deserve to be safe on the job and adequately compensated for their efforts to keep our pets safe and healthy during this pandemic. In this time of crisis, too many of our essential workers have been subject to unsafe and unsanitary working conditions, inadequate pay, and inflexible leave policies that put their personal health and safety, as well as the health and safety of the greater community at risk. When veterinary staff are put in harm’s way, so are our country’s pets. --- Hazard pay of at least 20 percent over base hourly wage to compensate for the increased risks these workers face due to COVID-19 --- Adequate safety protections, including necessary equipment such as masks, gloves, and sanitizer to keep both workers and clients safe and minimize community transmission --- Safety subcommittees at all hospitals that can quickly adjust hospital policies and protocols to match current CDC-recommended practices. These committees should be made up of representatives of both workers and management. --- At least two weeks of additional paid leave to ensure that workers can appropriately respond to the COVID-19 risk to themselves and their families. Workers should not be forced to use already allocated PTO. In this time of uncertainty and stress, our veterinary workers continue to show up at work every day and care for our country’s pets. All essential workers deserve to be adequately compensated for helping to keep our communities safe, and veterinary professionals are no different. #essentialpetcare #thereforpets

Many of us are the only providers for our families. Many of us are sole-proprietors and can’t even qualify for unemployment benefits. We have to furnish our own medical insurance, and if we can not run our business we cannot pay for our medical expenses either. We are in the worst possible situation here. Madam Speaker, we are so proud of what you are trying to do for America. Please, do not leave small businesses in the lurch. When all of this is over who will cut your hair, who will launder your clothes, who will treat your aches and pains and soothe your worries? People like us. Please, remember us when you are fighting for the Disaster Relief measures on the house floor and in Senate.

On Friday, President Bollinger announced that all classes will now be graded on a Pass/Fail only basis. With the moving of classes to an online format, this represents a further decline in the quality of education. Given that students have paid nearly $30,000 for tuition this semester, it is unfair that they continue to pay this cost while receiving a level of education that is clearly inferior to that for which they paid. Online classes simply do not offer the same quality of instruction as in-person classes, and students no longer have access to the amenities that their tuition is supposed to fund, such as library and computer lab access, engineering equipment, and more. The mandatory pass-fail further means that students will be paying for tuition without any impact whatsoever on their GPA, which is another undue burden created by the university's policies. Moreover, a significant portion of students' tuition is the student life fee, which pays for amenities that students no longer have access to such as Dodge Fitness Center. With the closing of these spaces and the cancellation of student events such as commencement and senior activities, it is unfair that Columbia continues to hold on to this money despite not being able to provide students these services for which they have already paid. Finally, the pandemic that necessitated these measures has also thrown the U.S economy into a severe recession. Many students are facing severe financial hardship as a result of losing their jobs or their family losing their jobs. In fact, many students depend on their jobs to pay for their tuition. Ultimately, it is only fair that as Columbia recoups expenses from cancelling student events and closing campus spaces, that some of this money be refunded to the students whose tuition paid for it in the first place. Please sign this petition and tell the administration of Columbia University to refund Spring 2020 tuition to all students.

We are in a pandemic crisis and the state could have desperately used that money for ventilators, healthcare resources and costs and for relief to the many citizens impacted by our state economy stalled and even collapsing.

It is important because I have personally witness what my daughter and so many other students have experienced in Athens, GA., where the University of Georgia is located. Because the housing regulations are so lenient in Georgia, the management companies take advantage of student/tenants. In the past, I have notified the Congressman, Jody Hice, but my email was ignored with responses to support his office.

I believe that this would work as an incentive for Congress to pass a reasonable bill to assist Americans who are struggling in the wake of this pandemic. Prioritizing American citizens over corporate bailouts would help to increase the faith lost by the US Federal Government.