Submitted by Amina
Bey
973-375-3664 home
973-985-1633 cell
Mina9413@yahoo.com
The Council of
Imams as a collective can establish a few committees to aid and assist the community
during this crisis:
- Spiritual and Counseling
- This committee is
responsible for setting up a collective prayer line. Believers can call into this line at the same
time every day. Imams from the Council
will rotate reading a brief passage from the Qur’an and making Dua for those
who are suffering in any capacity. The
call is no more than 15 mins.
- There is also a
number that can be set up for people to call if they need counseling. This is a mental health check as these are
very stressful times and people feel depressed, isolated and desperate. Again, volunteers can assist.
- Wellness Check
- This committee
would be responsible for making and receiving calls to ascertain on the general
well-being of the community member and connect them to the resources and
services they need – especially the seniors and disabled.
- Distribution and Logistics
- This committee
would be responsible for bringing food and other necessities to the person
(seniors, sick, home-bound and disabled), as well as taking them out for
necessities (prescriptions, laundry, shopping, doctor).
- Fundraising
- Set up a GoFundMe
page, a Facebook Fundraiser and other means to raise funds for the sole purpose
of creating a fund for Muslims in dire need. Also, Masjids that have a 501c3 non-profit entity can apply for several
grants that are currently available. This committee will get information on all available funding for
religious institutions and share with the Council.
- Public Information
- This committee
will gather the ever changing and evolving information and provide it to the
masses via phone, e-mail and social media.
- COVID-19 Testing, Food Donations, Executive Orders and
Ordinances
They
will be the point of contact on resources, services, programs and general
COVID-19 information for our area and will share with the collective.
Each Masjid can
create a list consisting of Believers that attend the Masjid, as well as just
people you know. Call out for volunteers to utilize the list to do Wellness
Checks on the Believers. This can be
done in a few ways:
- Set up a robo-call
- It’s like a mass
e-mail but for the telephone. Enter in
all of the phone numbers and record a message. You can provide information on what services are available, a number to
call if they are in need, leave a word of encouragement and even a passage from
The Holy Qur’an. The call can be
scheduled for the same time every day.
- Have the volunteers physically call each person on the
list to see if they are ok and if they need anything. They
can also text and e-mail.
- If there are no responses to phone and e-mail, then an
in-person wellness check can be arranged.
- Request
volunteers from retired or at-home educators and social workers to set up
virtual tutoring sessions and counseling sessions with parents and
students. This can be done through ZOOM,
WEBex and other free teleconferencing applications. Some parents are overwhelmed and need some
assistance.
- Although we
cannot conduct salat virtually, we can still break bread together. During the Holy Month of Ramadan the Council
of Imams can set up a Zoom or other teleconference Iftar every Saturday or
Sunday after Maghrib. This will help
the community feel connected, especially those who live alone and look forward
to being with the Believers. People can
join through video or phone.