As we move into the next phase of the battle to defeat COVID-19 and reclaim our public lives, we need to mount bottom-up plans of action. We must draw on our community spirit and our community resources and, most importantly, our local knowledge in navigating the complicated path forward when we replace short-term sheltering-in-place with fundamental changes in how we interact with each other and how we return to business. the outside world — changes that must be adhered to for the foreseeable future.
These changes cannot be fully successful if we rely solely on top-down guidance and support from state and county officials.. To be sure to beat COVID-19 and not suffer a new spike, cities and towns must enlist their residents as full partners in the fight. That is precisely what The Citizens Campaign Powerful Community Response Plan is designed to do. Centered around expanding Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) and similar volunteer forces already in place in most cities, it provides the needed ‘boots on the ground’ to do the contact tracing, mask and food delivery, and other essential tasks. It complements state efforts with the power of local know-how and community spirit.