Coronavirus Resources

At the core of our team and work with clients is a belief that human connection is vital for our health. At this moment of unprecedented social isolation, we feel that creating experiences of community are essential to our collective resiliency through the coronavirus pandemic.

World Central Kitchen NYC Fundraiser

Help us reach our goal of $5000 to get meals to our friends and neighbors in NYC.

DONATE

Receive Nourishment

Find some free and low cost ways to virtually connect with others, reduce isolation and expand your community

View resources

Receive Wisdom

Focus your mind on learning a new skill, deepening meditative practices, or expanding your horizons.

View resources

Give Nourishment

Donate funds for meals for our neighbors and friends, volunteer your time and skills, or support a local NYC small business.

View resources

Give Wisdom

(For parents)
Re-fuel yourself and your tool kit of activities, books, music, and art for your children at home.

View resources

Protection

During this time of social distancing, financial stress and uncertainty many of you or the children you care for are staying in homes that might not be safe. You are not alone. Dedicated people are still staffing hotlines, so there is a voice at the other end of the line if you or your child are being harmed.
Anti-Violence Project offers a 24-hour English/Spanish hotline for L.G.B.T.Q.+ experiencing abuse or hate-based violence: call 212-714-1141
The National Domestic Violence Hotline is available around the clock and in more than 200 languages: call 1-800-799-SAFE or chat with their advocates here or text LOVEIS to 22522.
New York State Domestic and Sexual Violence Hotline is available in multiple languages: call 1-800-942-6906 for English. For deaf or hard of hearing: 711
Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) If you suspect that a child is being abused or neglected, call 311 in New York City, or 911 if you feel that the child is in immediate danger.

Receive Nourishment

Groups from R&A

VIEW EVENT
Back at home because of CoVid-19 and trying to figure out how to be an adult in your childhood house? You’re not alone! Come and talk through whatever challenges are arising for you, whether it is shifts in levels of independence, trying to maintain the sense of self that you cultivated while living away, or other difficulties that come from unexpectedly living with family again. This group will help you connect with others who “”get it””—all stories of regressing are welcome, this is a judgment-free zone.
AGE/DEMOGRAPHIC: 18-25
COST: $15
DATE(S) & TIME(S): Tuesdays, starting April 7th at 5PM EST – 6PM EST
FACILITATOR(S): Rachel Bloom, Psy.D.& Mia Tootill, LMSW
VIEW EVENT
Even during times of uncertainty and social isolation, we are not alone! In this group, participants will have the opportunity to come together to share their experiences of struggles common to members of the LGBTQIA+ community, obtain feedback from others who are facing or have faced similar issues, and experience relief from emotional distress through the process of connecting with others.
AGE/DEMOGRAPHIC: 21+; Clients who identify as gay men
COST: $15
DATE(S) & TIME(S): Tuesdays, starting April 7th at 6PM EST – 7PM EST
FACILITATOR(S): Bradford Stevens, Ph.D.
VIEW EVENT
Food and weight are issues for everyone at one point or another, but now, in a COVID-19 world, these challenges are likely to be even harder. What do you do when you are home all day with your family’s stocked fridge, your gym is closed, and the foods that make you feel safe are no longer on the shelves? And, what is it like to be living at home when you never expected to live there again?
Carolyn Sorkin, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist with an expertise in the treatment of eating disorders. Having recovered from an eating disorder 30 years ago, Dr. Sorkin has a passion and deep understanding for the struggles you may be facing and the strategies that allow for change. Let’s talk, support each other, and discuss ways of managing the tough moments. Crises can also allow for change. Let’s take control of this time instead of letting it control you.
AGE/DEMOGRAPHIC: Young adults
COST: $15
DATE(S) & TIME(S): Mondays, starting April 6th at 6PM EST – 7PM EST
FACILITATOR(S): Carolyn Sorkin, Ph.D.

Groups and Communities from R&A Colleagues and Friends

The New York City Department of Education is committed to making three free meals available daily for any New Yorker. Any New Yorker who wants one can get three free meals a day at more than 400 Meal Hubs across the city.

Low fee online therapy sessions for those on the front line. Healthcare professionals, first responders, grocery store employees, and those out there serving us during this pandemic – we thank you. You are doing your part. We’d like to do ours, by supporting you with short-term, reduced fee sessions. Therapists have volunteered from every state, including Courtney Rennicke & Rachel Bloom from Rennicke & Associates. So if you know someone on the front line – let them know support is out there for them.

A social and wellness club designed to celebrate people of color just launched their digital membership at an amazing rate, $17! They offer circles, programming on topics like breathwork for crisis and chaos to live DJ dance parties.
Spoke ($20): Spoke, co-founded by Rennicke & Associates’ Lia Avellino, LCSW, offers weekly virtual groups (starting March 23, 2020). These are one-off experiences, but often get repeat participants to support relationship building over time. Topics will range from setting boundaries while working from home to relationships and dating in times of physical distancing and money management. We will also be offering 30 minute “Resourcing and Grounding” circles that will focus on body-based techniques to connect to core self. The circles all have a social justice lens. Spoke facilitators have different social identities and disciplines range from writers and therapists to hairdressers.

Give Nourishment

Donations of sustenance:

DONATE
Help us reach our goal of $5000 to support warm meals for our friends and neighbors in NYC.
We first heard about Chef Jose Andres and World Central Kitchen (WCK) after their remarkable and heroic work in Puerto Rico providing over 150,000 meals a day in the darkest hours following Hurricane Maria. They are in Harlem, the Bronx and Queens now, making sure that our neighbors in New York City are fed and cared for during this public health and financial crisis. Help us at Rennicke & Associates and our colleagues, clients and community support World Central Kitchen (WCK). Together we hope to make a bigger financial impact by raising $5000 together and letting families and children around the city know we are holding them in our hearts even if we cannot leave our homes.

Donations of time, skill and heart:

You might want to mobilize and volunteer right now, but feel worried about money so less apt to donate and feel stuck about traditional volunteer opportunities because you can’t physically show up due to social distancing. Catch a Fire offers skills-based volunteer matching, and they are currently focusing on supporting businesses that have been impacted by COVID-19.
This is an initiative to help local NYC businesses affected by the coronavirus, and to help people stay sane when they are mainly stuck at home. Due to the virus, many small businesses in NYC are facing a survival crisis, so check out the site to list your small business or find a local business to support.
This is a Guide to New York State lead resources and ways to donate or help with medical supplies, and delivery of medical or therapeutic services. Mental health professionals looking to provide support can call 1-844-863-9314

NYC This is a guide for New Yorkers to: i) contribute to the fight against the Coronavirus and; ii) ensure that no neighbors remain in need in NYC during this crisis and iii) recommend ideas to policy-makers/civic leaders (pg 8). Crowdsourced initially from a small group of City and nonprofit employees, this resource needs your help to be kept up to date. Thank you for contributing your time, effort and financial resources where possible. And please share widely! If there are any questions, email carol.meiyan@gmail.com.

Receive Wisdom

Rennicke & Associates online workshops:

VIEW EVENT
The ability to establish achievable goals is not only an essential life skill, but also, a grounding source of structure during times of uncertainty. Indeed, our capacity to create goals that are likely to be accomplished provides us all with senses of purpose, agency, and competence. In this workshop, participants will learn the do’s and don’ts of goal setting. More specifically, participants will learn how to create goals that contain those elements that research has demonstrated typically lead to accomplishment. In addition to being provided with psychoeducation, each participant will be supported in putting the provided information to use to develop a personal, short-term goal that can be accomplished during the subsequent week.
AGE/DEMOGRAPHIC: 18+
COST: $30
DATE(S) & TIME(S): Monday, April 20th 2020 at 12PM EST – 1PM EST
FACILITATOR(S): Bradford Stevens, Ph.D.

Online workshops from R&A Colleagues and Friends:

Heal Haus: ($20/month) HealHaus has combined diverse healing modalities and practitioners under one roof to provide people with an inclusive space focused on holistic health and wellness. They are committed to building a community that is dedicated to changing the stigma attached to healing.Heal Haus will be launching our online programming March 23-29 with live streaming opportunities for yoga, meditation, private sessions, and workshops. For studio updates, new online schedule and more, please scroll down and subscribe to our Email List.

Kadampa Meditation Center: Transforming Our Fear:  Many of us are experiencing unsettled minds as we confront the global pandemic, the self-isolation, and the loss of our ordinary routines and normal life. Fear and its close cousins, anxiety, loneliness, anger, boredom, abandonment, existential questioning … our current situation is stirring up the mind!
So what to do?
When seen from a different perspective, these experiences offer a unique opportunity: to transform this fear into a deeper exploration of our lives, one that can open the door to real inner peace and happiness.
Kadam Morten will teach a 5-week series on transforming fear, in follow-up to the free public livestream event on March 26th. The 5-week series will begin Thursday, April 2nd. Classes are offered at $15 each or sign up here for the full five-weeks for $50.
Ladies Get Paid: Rennicke Associates’ Lia Avellino, LCSW will be hosting a webinar to support women in understanding their relationship to money in this moment in time, and navigating personal and professional discussions around money.
TED Connects: Community and Hope
As COVID-19 sweeps the globe, it’s hard to know where to turn or what to think. Hosted by head of TED Chris Anderson and current affairs curator Whitney Pennington Rodgers, TED Connects: Community and Hope is a free, live, daily conversation series starting at 12pm EST featuring experts whose ideas can help us reflect and work through this uncertain time with a sense of responsibility, compassion and wisdom.
Somatic Coping for Stress Webinar ($40): Andrea Glik is a somatic trauma therapist and LGBTQ, Poly and Kink affirming practitioner. Her approach to regulating the nervous system is very mindful, accessible, and real.

Give Wisdom

Tips and tricks for parents and kids:

C.A.S.E. Story Time With Debbie: Join the Center for Adoption Support and Education on Facebook each Friday at 11am EST as C.A.S.E. CEO Debbie Riley reads a story to our youngest friends!

Online Child Therapy

Common Sense Media: Resources for Families During the Coronavirus Pandemic A one-stop-shop fully resourced with links to family-friendly games and apps that can be used to bolster education, make playtime less stressful, and help parents maneuver the newfound excess of free time their kids are experiencing.

Coronavirus Resources & Tips for Parents, Children & Others Tips from one of America’s premiere charities on a range of COVID-19 related concerns including: tips for helping kids through online classes, ways to connect and be mindful, and resources for businesses and employers.

What You Need to Know about Coronavirus: Red Table Talk with Jada Pinkett Smith – You’ll recognize Will and Jada, they’ll recognize Willow and Jaden. Either way, this Red Table Talk offers a glimpse into one family’s struggle to understand the spread and consequences of COVID-19. This video is an educational, kid-friendly gathering space for all members of the family.

Words to guide us:

The power of the stories we tell to help us name and organize our experience. These are works that have been helping us feel seen and that has allowed us to see others:

How Coronavirus Exposes the Great Lie of Modern Motherhood The lead editor of the NYT Parenting takes a step back from the panic of today’s times to deliver a sensitive and informative look at the evolution of motherhood and maternal guilt. Through vulnerable self-disclosure and tons of illuminating historical evidence, this article helps us remember that despite all the burdens they take on, moms are just people too.

Irish Priest Pens Stirring Poem About the Coronavirus Lockdown An enlightening poem showing the perspective of an Irish priest offering respite to others worldwide.

The Coronavirus is Disaster for Feminism  Feminism in a time of Corona. This article offers an intersectional look at the sociological effects of COVID-19, and shines a light on just how shaky the foundations of gender equality are. 

Returning Once More to A “Little House in the Big Woods” Author of “My Life in Middlemarch”, Rebecca Mead, paints a brief but intimate portrayal of her adolescent son’s return to the comforts of childhood. With references to the ‘simpler times’ of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s prairie days, and indeed, the simpler times of our own pre-Corona lives, Mead fills us with nostalgia and allows us permission to take pleasure in the moments of connection that blossom now, where they otherwise may not have.

Now Is The Time to Cultivate the Art of Sitzfleisch Sitzfleisch is the power to endure or persevere in an activity, even when that activity is staying home. Read and relate to one New Yorker’s commentary on her own restlessness during this time of self-quarantine.