The past week and a half have felt more like a month and a half with school closures on top of business closures on top of all the layers of COVID-19 pandemic news that are flooding our lives. But Homewood is uniting together (with social distance) through it all. Here’s how.

 1. Real & Rosemary Hero Meals

Real & Rosemary is delivering food and coffee to those working in the medical field as a way to say thank you to nurses, doctors and other medical staff. You can purchase a hero coffee or hero meal on realandrosemary.com, and the restaurant will match each meal purchase meal for meal. On the website, click on the form to order a meal, and then select a Hero Meal ($5-100) of your choosing.

2. Quarantine Turn-Up

Homewood Middle School teacher Steve Sills, aka DJ Sillz, is hosting a “Quarantine Turn-Up” on virtual “Club Facebook” each night. Find his Facebook live music session each night at 7 p.m. on his page, and join in for the party and comment live to see who from our community is tuning in. Last Thursday alone the Facebook Live had 1.1K comments.

3. Trinity Food Assistance Programs

Trinity United Methodist Church has been able to adapt two of its existing programs that address food insecurity to meet needs in the community in the COVID-19 quarantine period. Volunteers have been packing shelf stable food items good for children to pass out to children who come for meals at Homewood Middle School each week. Their Food Share food pantry held at their West Homewood campus on Tuesday afternoons was also able to allow their participants to pull up and have food delivered directly into their cars.

For those who want to support these ministries, Director of Outreach Kristan Walker recommends donating to Trinity’s Lenten Offering on their website, which will go to COVID-19 relief efforts as well as local partners who have relationships with people who will be deeply affected in this time. To do so, choose the “Lenten Offering” option on their give form here.

4. Homewood History Hunt

Local historian, history teacher and Homewood native Jake Collins has revived #HomewoodHistoryHunt during this time where many families are at home. He is posting historic photos on social media and offering chances to win The Homewood Book, a pictorial history of Homewood he co-authored, for submissions of photos of you and your family at those same sites today. Prize or no prize, this sure sounds like fun! Find the photos on @thehomewoodbook on Instagram or on a post on @homewoodlife last week.

5. School Lunches: Here to Stay

The Child Nutrition Program at Homewood City Schools usually doesn’t operate when school isn’t in session, but they were able to receive a waver to continue their services for students who usually rely on school breakfasts and lunches but are unexpectedly not in school starting March 16. Better yet, the school system is able to continue to pay all of its hourly food service workers during this break and allow only those who want to volunteer to come serve up meals for any child 18 and under—no enrollment or residency required—who comes to Homewood Middle School to pick them up during this time. Last week the school was open daily for meals, this week they are open Monday and Wednesday and sending each student home with six meals at a time. “We are taking it day by day and week by week and trying to meet needs however we can,” CNP Director Rachel Fowler says.

6. Masks on Demand

The Smocking Bird, a sewing supply store on Linden Avenue, is asking its customers to sew face masks to help with the medical mask shortage. The store has posted instructions for how to make them on their Instagram profile and is running a contest to win a $100 gift card for whoever makes and brings in the most masks by next Friday.

7. More than Bagels for Kids

When Homewood Bagel Company owner Ginny Leavens learned her kids were going to be out of school for three weeks, she immediately thought of the families who usually rely on school lunches to feed their children. So she posted on social media to offer meals to those kids, and with that came a flood of donations of granola bars, juices, cereal, money and more to provide breakfasts and lunches for kids who need them. Each day as they continue to offer curbside pick-up and delivery for bagels, the HBC staff is also serving up granola bars and turkey sandwiches to kids who come by in need.

8. #CurbsideHWD in Action

Many Homewood restaurants are still open and offering curbside and delivery services for food and drinks. While most retailers have had to close their doors, some offer online shopping and gift cards you can buy to support them financially now and use to shop when they open. It’s also a great time to leave an extra tip for small business owners and those who work in the service industry whose finances are strained by all that’s going on with COVID-19.

On that note, LocalDistancing.com, built by Homewood resident Dylan Spencer, offers a directory of local restaurants and other businesses you can buy gift cards from, shop online for or donate to gofundme accounts for staff from.

Here’s a list of Homewood restaurants we know of that are open for takeout and delivery. Feel free to email any we missed to mm@homewoodlife.com to be added to this list.

  • Ash Homewood
  • Ashley Mac’s
  • Bandit Patisserie
  • Big Bad Breakfast
  • Caveat Coffee
  • Cookie Fix
  • Dave’s Pizza
  • Dreamcakes Bakery
  • Edgewoood Creamery
  • Farm Bowl & Juice Company
  • GIANMARCO’S
  • Greenhouse
  • Hero Doughnuts
  • Homewood Bagel Company
  • Johnny’s Restaurant
  • Little Donkey
  • Local 39
  • Mama Goldberg’s
  • Maya Mexican Restaurant
  • Nabeel’s
  • O’Carr’s
  • Ono Poke
  • Pastry Art Bake Shoppe
  • Pizzeria GM
  • Real & Rosemary
  • Red Mountain Expresso
  • Roly Poly
  • Ruby Sunshine
  • Salem’s Diner
  • Sam’s Super Samwiches
  • Savage’s Bakery
  • Soho Social
  • Taco Mama
  • Tostadas
  • Urban Cookhouse
  • Zoes Kitchen

How are you seeing neighbors helping neighbors in this season of COVID-19, and/or who in Homewood needs financial or volunteer support? We’re collecting more stories to share online, on social media and in print. Email Editor Madoline Markham at mm@homewoodlife.com with any stories or information you’d like to pass on, or message @homewoodlife on Facebook or Instagram.