From Toronto’s Roncesvalles BIA, these signs can be put in the window of shops to clearly show their services

If you need help, just say “put it on my Friends’ Tab” at participating locations. Each location has a sign up about what’s covered (e.g. up to $10 or $20 of your grocery bill, one coffee and one food item at a local coffee shop, essential repair expertise and materials, etc.). If you want to donate to help a neighbour you can donate by adding it on to your purchase at participating locations or donating at FOKM.ca

Listening to people helps keep them #healthyathome

Leveraging Toronto’s technology community, the City of Toronto and Digital Main Street have brought together a range of partners to build and optimize online stores for Toronto’s independent businesses and artists at no-cost. Toronto’s independent small businesses and artists can access ShopHERE to get their online store built and launched with hands-on support throughout the entire process in just a matter of days.

The company is presenting a viable option for restaurants while UberEats faces backlash for steep fees and commissions.

While dining areas are closed, the platforms has gathered a list of many Toronto restaurants that continue to prepare food with Toronto’s signature diversity.

Support Retail is a free online directory that helps GTA shoppers find local small businesses OPEN for walk-in, pickup or delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Toronto tech company ResQ has committed its services and resources to ensure that free meals are delivered to front-line workers and hospital employees by hiring restaurant staff that have been laid off.

Building Up is a small contractor non-profit that has maintained its operation throughout COVID-19 to provide reasonably-priced services as well as an equitable pre-apprenticeship program developed for those who face barriers in accessing employment.

U of T has developed an online directory of various volunteer opportunities across Toronto categorized by initiative type that aids in connecting local residents to organizations’ postings.

The 519, a charity that promotes inclusion for LGBTQ2S communities has began preparing meals that are available 7 days a week for Toronto residents.

This is real-life representation of the Riverside BIA Directory, a colour-coded live map which indicates in real time what level businesses are operating at. The colour codes are the same for the map and signs. Green indicates a business that’s open but may have reduced hours and offerings, yellow means a business is open online or via phone only, and red means the business is closed for now.

Created by Ratio.City, an organization with a mission to gather this data and provide the analysis that will unlock the potential of cities around the world.

The recovery site for COVID-positive homeless people is a unique collaboration between many health partners, government, addiction recovery supports, community & neighbourhood groups and Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontier Canada providing expertise on project co-ordination and logistics. Among the primary goals of the recovery site is treating homeless patients with dignity in a clinical setting and ensuring they have a home to go to afterward — not a return to homelessness.

The Scotiabank Arena has been transformed into Toronto’s largest kitchen to prepare up to 10,000 meals a day. Working with a network of hospitals to donate to front-line workers and Second Harvest to donate to food banks and shelters this coalition of partners is delivering meals across Greater Toronto.

When clients visit a food bank at a TPL branch, library staff will add an age-appropriate book for each child in a family who is interested. TPL’s food banks have been set up in partnership with North York Harvest Food Bank, Daily Bread Food Bank and Second Harvest in nine library branches across the city.

The google map hopes to increase access to good food for all.

Shape My City has adapted their platform to map grassroots initiatives that are responding to COVID-19.

The Toronto COVID-19 Action Fund supports projects at UofT and its hospital partners across the Toronto Academic Health Science Network, with the potential for rapid results and direct impact on the health of individuals, communities, and on the front lines of care. The COVID-19 Emergency Student Bursary Fund helps to provide emergency bursaries for graduate and undergraduate students with urgent needs, supporting requirements for food, shelter, emergency travel, and internet access to complete their course work.

The site is slated to launch in the near future and will offer social and medical supports for homeless COVID-19 patients, ensuring that residents are fully recovered before returning to Toronto’s shelter system. MSF will provide “consultative and supportive advice”. The provincially-funded Recovery Site marks MSF’s first-ever operation in Canada, given the organization does not typically focus on countries with well-functioning healthcare systems.

Residents and businesses can help by contributing donations of personal protective equipment, non-perishable food, other goods and services, and financial gifts. Residents can also use the DonateTO portal to find out about volunteer opportunities in their community.

Two versions of this resources exist — a google map https://bit.ly/2RG9thL and a google doc https://bit.ly/2RTM6l1

A summary of the input that business owners, BIAs, and stakeholders have provided to the City of Toronto. The contents here are not necessarily recommendations but capture the full range of feedback provided. The information is intended to help inform the Mayor’s Economic Support & Recovery Task Force’s approach to recovery.

Kensington Market Business Improvement Area (KMBIA) says small businesses in Kensington are finding new ways to move their business online.

Locals for Local TO is an initiatives to support Toronto’s West Queen West neighbourhood. People can buy “goody bags” for between $80 to $100 (plus delivery). Goody bags include items from local shops like fresh veggies, cookies, coffee and more, and are available for delivery or pick up. A portion of proceeds will go to food banks.

Libraries as community hubs and librarians as public servants… Almost right away, the library decided to redirect resources to help with this critical need. There are 100 library buildings in neighbourhoods all across the city.

People can purchase a meal to fuel the extraordinary efforts of our city’s healthcare workers and support our local restaurants and their employees with a single donation

Since the implementation of measures to slow the spread of COVID-19 transmission, there has been a dramatic decrease in access to food banks, with over a third closing in recent weeks. TPL’s efforts are in support of the City’s broader work on food security for Toronto’s vulnerable residents.