Mental Health During COVID-19: Resources for Your Health, Family, Career and More

The new coronavirus pandemic is unlike anything most of us have ever experienced in our lifetimes. Many parts of life as we know it have been turned upside down, and it can be easy to let this new normal negatively affect your well-being in many ways.

We created this directory by combing through the social media and websites of each of our community partners, but we will add any relevant organization from New York City as long as the resources fall under one of the categories below. Simply send us a message through our contact form and we’ll add your group.

Lastly, we encourage the public to donate to the organizations included in this article. Click through to their websites using the links below and navigate to their donate or giving page, usually located within the site’s navigation bar at the top. 

• Mental Health Resources
• Health and Family Resources
• Work and Productivity Resources
• Meaningful Entertainment Options

For the latest information and resources related to the Coronavirus, visit the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Mental Health Resources

Learn about mental health in "Ending the Silence," a video produced by NAMI-NYC.

• The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention created a comprehensive resource portal including imporant tips on how to support mental health while navigating this change.
   
• The National Alliance on Mental Illness in NYC (NAMI-NYC) is providing a comprehensive set of remote services including support groups and mental health resources. For direct support, call their helpline from 10 AM to 6 PM at 212-684-3264. You can also send an email anytime to helpline@naminyc.org.
   
• Nature and the great outdoors can do wonders for mental health. Prospect Park Alliance provides virtual tours of the park from home. If you do feel like venturing to the park, most of it remains open but teams are not allowed to play sports and visitors must keep 6 feet away from one another.

Health and Family Resources

Watch "Care. No Matter What," an informational video produced by Planned Parenthood of Greater New York.

• Autism Speaks created a COVID-19 portal for the autism community, providing resources and information that will be updated regularly.
   
• Big Brothers Big Sisters NYC is operating remotely for the foreseeable future, and they have created a COVID-19 updates page for its members, including a comprehensive list of resources for Littles and their families like food resources, wifi access, remote learning resources, mental health resources, and much more.
   
• CancerCare is aware of the disruption disasters and emergencies can cause to cancer patients and their families. The organization recently announced that it has launched a fund for cancer patients in active treatment affected by COVID-19. Assistance is available for people with cancer in active treatment to help with costs including food, medications, general household expenses, transportation, home care, and child care.
   
• Children’s Aid is unwavering in its commitment to meeting the essential needs of our children, youth, and families. They published a COVID-19 update detailing a majority of its sites to remain open and how it has readjusted its other programs and services.
   
• Hetrick Martin Institute has shared a large amount of COVID-19 resources including details on soup kitchens, housing, medical and insurance services, and much more.
   
• Lymphoma Research Foundation has published in detail what Lymphoma patients need to know about the coronavirus, including a 60-minute webinar.
   
• The National Kidney Foundation created a COVID-19 resource page since people with kidney disease and transplant recipients are at higher risk for developing serious complications from COVID-19.
   
• Planned Parenthood of Greater New York is continuing to provide services including abortion, and they are fast-tracking their telehealth capabilities. Visit their website for more information.
   
• Safe Horizon published a comprehensive COVID-19 updates page, detailing the status of each of its programs and services, as well as safety tips for quarantined domestic violence victims. 

Work and Productivity Resources

Watch "Elaine Lustig Cohen," to learn about her struggles to become an artist. The video is produced by American Institute of Graphic Arts.

• The American Institute for Graphic Arts has put together a Guide to Self-Isolation for Designers and Creatives, which they describe as a growing and evolving resource for education, connection, money-making, and entertainment during the crisis.
   
• The American Institute of Architects created a COVID-19 resource portal providing guidelines, policies, and tools to help its members navigate uncertain times.
   
• The Arts Students League of New York is curating a virtual exhibit called Life Under the Pandemic Moon. The league is asking for submissions that address personal experiences directly reflecting our state of existence under this extraordinary phenomenon. The deadline for the submissions is April 6 at 11:59 PM Eastern.
   
• City Lore is encouraging New Yorkers to contribute to its public call for art by submitting creative responses to the crisis in song, poetry, video, and other forms. Read more details here.
   
• Creative Mornings is hosting a wide variety of virtual events called Field Trips for new and returning members. Learn skills like mindful meditation, SEO tactics, visual thinking, and much more.
   
• Eyebeam created a comprehensive portal for COVID-19 freelance and artist resources, including a list of its upcoming online events for artists.
   
• Idealist is publishing a series of career advice articles on its blog to help job-seekers during the pandemic. To help others, read the article 7 Ways to Help Others During the Coronavirus Pandemic.
   
• The New York City Bar Association is providing remote services for its members, as detailed in the COVID-19 update. Members can also explore the organization’s CLE on-demand programs.
   
• SculptureCenter shared a list of artist resources and is available to help artists with grant applications and navigating funding resources. Send an email to info@sculpture-center.org.
   
• Follow Type Media Center on Twitter to stay up-to-date on how COVID-19 may impact upcoming elections, job creation, and much more.
   
• Follow the Womanity Project on Twitter and Instagram to learn about upcoming online improv workshops and daily Womanity check-ins to share tips and tools for this crisis.

Meaningful Entertainment Options

Watch "Laurie Anderson's Concert for Dogs," a video produced by NYXT.nyc.

• Did you know that NYXT.nyc produces original videos you can’t watch anywhere else? Our Showing Up series explores how people are making a difference around New York City. Tools of the Trade profiles fascinating local craftspeople by focusing on the one tool that is essential to their work. NYC Music uncovers free public musical performances taking place all across Manhattan. Explore these videos series and more on our NYXT Originals page.
   
• 3Generations makes films and videos about critical human rights issues around the world. Explore their film library to educate yourself about criminal justice, refugees, veterans, Native American justice, ecocide, and many other issues. 
   
• Explore the Art21 film library, including every film Art21 produced since its first broadcast in 2001. Browse over 60 hours of full episodes from each of Art21’s television and digital series; always on view, free of charge.
   
• Asia Society Museum invites you to explore an interactive map and 360-degree views of objects in the Asia Society Museum Collection. You can also check out their staff recommendations and more on their blog.
   
• BRIC is home to two distinct media initiatives for local programming: Brooklyn Free Speech, Brooklyn's Public Access initiative, and BRIC TV, a nonprofit community TV channel and digital network. You can browse and watch videos from both initiatives on the video page.
   
• BronxNet will continue to produce and broadcast local content and public awareness info on the channels for the people of the Bronx. The organization also welcomes program submissions from Bronx producers and media makers. View the full COVID-19 update on their website and watch BronxNet videos here.
   
• Jungles in Paris works with photographers and filmmakers from around the world to tell stories about nature and culture through a range of media. Explore their story archive by region, media type, or category.
   
• Magnet Theater is streaming live improv and sketch comedy performances over Twitch and viewers can support by purchasing tickets.
   
• Manhattan Neighborhood Network has compiled a list of resources to help the community during the pandemic. For Manhattan community news, watch MNN Live and explore program pages to watch videos on-demand.
   
• Museum of the City of New York invites you to enjoy the museum from and explore nearly 205,000 objects in their digital collections portal.
   
• The National Book Foundation is active on Twitter as an excellent resource for book lists and recommendations.
   
• New York Landmarks Conservancy provides virtual tours of NYC landmarks. Take a tour of over 60 popular landmarks from home, like Park Avenue Armory, Brooklyn Botanical Garden, Woodlawn Cemetery, Rockefeller Center, and much more.
   
• New York Neo-Futurists have created a new weekly podcast called “Hit Play” that you can stream on iTunes and Spotify. Hear a selection of Neo-Futurist experiments in audio every Saturday and Sunday until they are back performing on stage.
   
• StoryCorps preserves and shares humanity’s stories to build connections and create a more just and compassionate world. Explore stories, told by the people that lived them,  through animated shorts, podcast episodes, and individual stories by location, collection, or year.
   
• Vital Voices launched a new podcast series called Voices of Resilience, featuring leaders across industries and cultures, each sharing unique insights into how they deal with a crisis, how they motivate themselves and their teams to stay focused on the larger goal, and where they find the strength and courage to persevere.