While we all are in this weird, and confusing time together, may we take advantage of our extra time at home. Below are activities, copings mechanisms, and resources for you while you shelter in place.
ABOSRB ART
12 Famous Museums – Virtual Tours
Virtual Concerts
Neil Gaiman offers free stuff
Metropolitan Opera free streaming
The African-American Art Shaping the 21st Century
Take a museum virtual tour
Free Catalogue of Indigenous films
Free livestreams from Center for Puppetry Arts
Audible Stories – Free kid/youth audiobooks
Free video of Broadway plays
National Film Board of Canada has 4,000 free streaming titles
Chicago Public Library online resources
Full length dance performances
Watch/Stream
MAKE ART
- Draw, paint, hand letter
- Do a puzzle
- Start journaling, or bullet journaling
- Try a Pinterest at home DIY craft
- Make a collage or poster
- Do a photography project
- Create a digital scrapbook
- Draw an apple using a different style each day, for a week
- Write a poem or story
- Revamp your garden
- Practice Mindfulness
- Make a cookbook
- Up-Cycle something
- Build a free website
Lunch doodles with Mo Willems
Art at home
Lynda Barry teaches you how to draw
Swear word coloring pages for adults
Comic Workshops
The Art Assignments
LEARN
- Read a book
- Practice a new language – DUOLingo App
- Do your taxes/organize finances
- Learn to say a favorite phrase or quote in 7 different languages
- Read the books you never had time for
- Spruce up your CV
- Find great podcasts
- Update your goals
- Join an online community of likeminded people
Chicago Public Library Online Resources
Ivy League Free Courses
JSTOR makes database accessible to the publichttp://www.universitytimes.ie/2020/03/jstor-makes-database-accessible-to-the-public/
UIC library free online resources
Skype a scientist
NASA media library
10 university art classes
10 E-books
Here are 2,780+ free ebooks
Stream Opera
EXPERIENCE NATURE
Virtual National Parks Tours
Garfield Park Conservatory Digital Tour
Birding is the Perfect Social Distancing Activity
Take a Walk!
COPE
- Declutter. Baby steps
- Start a gratitude Journal
- Research something you have always wondered about
- Take a bubble Bath with candles and music
- Learn/Research a heritage skill like baking, woodwork, preserving, mosaic, ceramics, cheese making, fermenting, foraging, quilting, slow cooking, soap and candle making, crochet, knots, home remedies
- Organize your music playlist
- Reorganize your wardrobe
- Delete all the apps you don’t use
- Delete all of the Instagram/Twitter accounts that cause you to have negativity about yourself
- Organize all your passwords
- Unsubscribe from unnecessary email subscriptions
Swear word Coloring Pages for Adults
Ground.
Quarantine tips from my cat.
MINDFULNESS
Calm App
10% Happier App
Free Yoga Livestream
Core Power
Virtual yoga and meditation classes
Daily community meditation on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/events/332907221010566/?event_time_id=332907224343899
SUPPORT/GET SUPPORT
- Write Letters of Love or Thanks
- Write an advice letter to the teenager you were.
- Write another to yourself in 20 years
- Reach out to someone who lives alone or is feeling anxious
- Host a Skype or Zoom dinner party
- Or a virtual dance party
- Make donation box for Goodwill
Medical Attention Request
Beat Isolation/Loneliness
Chicago COVID-19 Mutual Aid Volunteer Sign up
COVID-19 Mutual Aid Fund for LGBTQ+ BIPOC folks
Rogers Park Community Response Team
Ways to support Rogers Park small businesses
Substance Use Help
List of postponed Chicago AA/NA meetings and online/phone alternatives: https://www.chicagoaa.org/covid19meetinglist/
Harm Reduction
Summary of Online and Telephone-Based Substance Use Recovery Support
Attached is a resource for remote services available for clients with alcohol/substance use concerns during this uncertain and likely stressful time. Please feel free to distribute it widely to anyone who may benefit or find it useful to share with others. Many thanks to Sarah Forster, at the Pittsburgh VA, for creating and sharing this resource.
Restaurant Industry Assistance https://ofwemergencyfund.org/help
Bartender Emergency Assistance https://www.usbgfoundation.org
Chicago COVID-19 Hardship and Help
WORK FROM HOME
Tips to survive working from home
Pomodoro Technique
WITH KIDDOS
Work with kids
List of available childcare workers: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_v3oJj8eBD2OEVDCrZZr4maaigc4yqdwrEl4YC9wXcU/edit?fbclid=IwAR2RCYmO7Yr4jFMipLt9AYIi7302tOT8NKPy3DJ8mMmhVLOWU5XSC2rSDRQ#gid=0
Comprehensive list of online learning and entertainment resources: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sGUs-oWhfjlmFpXzs0mE7m0VDB-g9B5Lv4Tz3oT274g/edit?fbclid=IwAR26O0sqg3iFKXPpobE1ke8QueYwk2IJ3Oi8NkULtXUhWBoBVq-K7dENGzM
Parent/Caregiver COVID Guides
Explain to kids
WITH PETS
FINANCES
Credit Card assistance
Food Pantries and Community Assistance
Utilities
To increase the number of Chicagoans able to access broadband, Comcast has introduced new eligibility guidelines for their “Internet Essentials” package which will make the program available to all families who qualify for government public assistance programs, including low-income individuals with disabilities and seniors. To apply for the program, low-income applicants need to show they are participating in one of more than a dozen different government assistance programs. The first two months are free, then you can cancel without penalty or continue service for $9.95 per month. For more information visit www.internetessentials.com or https://Aplicar.InternetEssentials.com (Spanish)
If you live in Chicagoland, Northern Illinois or Northwest Indiana, use the Online Referral Desk Form below to contact us for assistance with rent/mortgage, utilities, medicine, food, clothing, or transportation.