On Saturday, May 16, 2020, a follow up virtual village discussion was held on Zoom facilitated by PLAN founder, Dr. Vidalino Raatior, with over 30 key COFA community leaders and allies to share next steps, best practices, and ways to organize our various advocacy groups, organizations, churches to ensure our COFA communities are protected from the coronavirus. Participating in the discussion were leaders of groups and organizations that support citizens of the COFA nations of the RMI, FSM, and Palau particularly in the United States.
The following is a summary of the discussion with the full meeting minutes accessible by clicking here.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Communication Structures/Strategies
- Communication with outside partners
- Partnerships with local officials/governments
- Creation and use of Task Forces that are Micronesian-specific.
- Communication within our own Community
- Create a web portal for COFA-COVID information
- Leverage social media
- Include religious and traditional leaders
Unemployment
- Filing for Unemployment
- How to get free replacement I-94s
Large Gatherings
- How to address our real need for gatherings while staying safe
- Upcoming gatherings
Medicaid for COFA Citizens
- HEROES Act could restore Medicaid coverage for COFA citizens
- Need people to contact Senators, particularly Republicans
ACTION ITEMS
- COFACovid.com will be created as a portal for Covid-19 information.
- Medicaid Advocacy:
- Call Senators to support HEROES Act.
- You can search by State or Name to find your Senator’s contact information here: https://www.senate.gov/general/contacting.htm
- Social Media Memes/Video production
- Create FSM Task Force
- Build 501c3 infrastructure to support Communications/Services within our communities