Virginia Heights

You can find some very helpful resources in our community and online to help navigate life during this time dealing with COVID 19.  You can find help with academics, food pantries, unemployment information, financial aid, etc..  I will do my very best to update this page when more resources are made known to me.  

*Disclaimer:  These resources are from reliable sources, however I cannot guarantee 100% accuracy as information is constantly being updated or changed.  Please inform me about any experiences you have so I can update resources as quickly as possible.  I appreciate your assistance with keeping resources current.  

Wishing you well during this unprecedented time! ~Mrs. Holt
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*Below are some resources for food services for Roanoke Valley:

Roanoke City Public Schools
9/3/2020 UPDATE: 

In order to receive meals, the federal government now requires each household to compete an enrollment form. Here is a link to complete the form online:

Roanoke Food Resources During Covid-19 Pandemic (Updated 3.24.20) If you need to immediately find which free food distribution is closest to you: text “FOOD” or “COMIDA” to 877877

FOOD PANTRIES:

Baptist Community Center (540) 342-8452 101 17th St. SE, Roanoke, VA 24013
• Closed to visitors until 3.29.20, but will do deliveries for people in SE
• Requirements: o Call and leave a message of your needs, name & address

Christian Soldiers Food Pantry (540) 206-3466 728 A Church Ave SE, Roanoke, VA 24013
• Curbside service outside
• Requirements: o Need current Roanoke City or Vinton ID
• Tuesday-Saturday
 • 10:00 - 11:00am

Friendship House Roanoke (540) 343-5437 635 Elm Ave SW, Roanoke, VA 24016
• Delivery service as of 3.24.20
• Requirements: o Call to get on their list for deliveries
• Deliveries on Tuesdays & Wednesdays
• 12:00 - 2:00pm

LOA (Local Office on Aging) – Meals on Wheels (540) 345-0451 4932 Frontage Rd. NW Roanoke, VA 24019
• Provides homebound seniors age 60 or older with a hot, nutritious meal delivery. Meals are delivered between 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
• Requirements:
 o Must be 60yrs old+, homebound, unable to prepare own meal
 o Must call to register first
• Deliveries are Monday-Friday • 8:00am - 4:30pm

Mana Ministries (@ Rescue Mission) (540) 343-7227 402 4th St. SE, Roanoke, VA 24013
 • Curbside service outside
• Requirements: Need Proof of Income, SS card & ID  
•Must Register: on Monday-Friday, 9-11am or 1:30-4pm
•Assistance limited to once a month
• Saturdays (once you are registered)
• 8:00 - 10:00am

Rosalind Hills Baptist Church (540) 344-7888 2712 Brandon Ave, Roanoke, VA 24015
• Curbside service
• Requirements: o ID o Assistance limited to once a month
• Mondays & Thursdays • 10:00am - 12:00pm

Saint Francis House (RAM House) (540) 268-0098 824 Campbell Avenue SW, Roanoke VA 24016
 • Curbside service
 • Monday-Friday
• 9:00am - 12:00pm

Saint Mark’s Lutheran Church (540) 344-9051 1008 Franklin Road SW, Roanoke VA 24016
• 2nd & 4th Mondays
 • 5:00 - 6:30pm

Salem Food Pantry (540) 389-6938 620 Chapman Street, Salem VA 24153
• Requirements: o Need a referral from Dept of Social Services o Must call to make an appointment • Monday-Friday (by appointment and with a referral)
• 10:00am - 2:00pm

Women Know Your Worth (484) 942-7179 2719 Colonial Ave, Roanoke, VA 24015
• Requirements: o Must call to make an appointment
• Monday, Wed, Fri (by appointment)
• 8:30am - 12:30pm

FREE MEALS: Cheesesteak Factory (540) 404-9368 524 East 4th St., Salem, VA 24153
• Free meals for any kids Feeding Southwest Virginia
 • Grab-and-Go free shelf-stable meals for any kids (kids must be present)

Ashton Heights Apts. 3530 Dona Dr., NW, Roanoke, VA 24017 Snack and Lunch: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 2:45pm – 3:45pm

o Belmont Branch Library 1101 Morningside St SE, Roanoke, VA 24013
Snack and Lunch: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 2:30pm – 3:30pm

o Boys & Girls Club- 9th Street 1714 9th Street., SE, Roanoke, VA 24013
Snack and Supper: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 4:00pm – 6:00pm

o Community Solutions Center 2328 Melrose Ave., NW, Roanoke, VA 24017
 Snack and Lunch: Monday, Wednesday and Friday 1:00pm – 3:00pm

o Garden of Prayer 3101 Cove Road, NW, Roanoke VA 24017 Snack and Supper:
Monday through Friday, 3:00pm – 6:00pm

o Kids Soar 305 Mountain Ave., SW, Roanoke, VA 24016
Snack and Supper: Monday through Friday 5:00pm – 6:00pm

o Melrose Adventist Child Development Center 1523 Melrose Ave., NW, Roanoke, VA 24017
Snack: Monday through Friday 2:45pm – 3:15pm
Supper: Monday through Friday 3:45pm – 4:30pm

o Melrose Library 2607 Salem Turnpike NW, Roanoke, VA 24017
 Snack and Lunch: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 12:00pm – 1:00pm

o Tinker Creek Manor Apts. 2050 Tinker Dr., NE, Roanoke, VA 24012
Snack and Lunch: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 1:15pm – 2:15pm

o Vinton Library 300 South Pollard St., Vinton, VA 24179 Snack and Lunch:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 12:00pm – 1:00pm

o Williamson Rd Library 2837 Williamson Rd, Roanoke, VA 24012
Snack and Lunch: Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 1:15pm – 2:15pm

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Roanoke City School's Coronavirus information:
https://www.rcps.info/news/what_s_new/coronavirus_information

* VDOE website for information on COVID 19:
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/support/health_medical/office/covid-19.shtml

*United Way has information about help with bills, rent, and food:
https://www.uwrv.org/community-response-fund-covid-19/covid-19-resources/
540-777-4200

*Websites to assist in helping your child understand/ talking to them about COVID 19:
https://confidentparentsconfidentkids.org/2020/03/13/my-kids-school-is-closed-so-now-what/

https://childmind.org/article/talking-to-kids-about-the-coronavirus/

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*Below are some resource lists/information from Roanoke's Children Trust:

Resources for Parents with Children at Home
(if hyperlinks don't work, please google search the information to find the website)

Structuring Your Days

• All day at home with kids – how do I structure the day? A mom in the United Kingdom (Five Minute Mum) offers tons of ideas for how to keep her kids occupied during the day.
• Daily schedules for students ages 4-18 from Khan Academy: Khan Academy offers schedules and classwork for students from ages 4 to 18.
• Daily Home Schedule: Behavioral Interventions and Solutions has a schedule suggestion to keep the kids’ days as close to normal as possible.
• Visual schedules: Click here for a set of printables to use to create a schedule for your child. They include graphics for time and activities.
• A schedule gone viral: This simple schedule posted to Facebook went viral.

Activities and Learning

• 123 Homeschool4me: Get printable worksheets and other resources for homeschooling.
• 2020 COVID-19 Remote Learning: The Indiana Department of Education put together a list of resources for parents hoping to continue their children’s education remotely.
• ABCYa: Games, videos, and math activities for students grades pre-K through sixth grade.
• All Kids Network: Get worksheets, craft ideas, printable connect-the-dots, hidden pictures, and more.
• Animals are amazing: Learn all about animals from the Switcheroo Zoo.
• Arcademics: Games are aimed at students from kindergarten to eighth grade.
• Ascend Math: Ascend Math offers math instruction for kindergarten to 12th-grade students. The platform will be free until the end of April.
• Beaverton School District: Math, reading and many other activities for students pre-K through 12th grade.
• Bedtime Math: See math as part of your child’s daily routine.
• BeeLine Reader: BeeLine Reader helps students of all ages and skill levels improve their reading skills.
• Belouga: Get a free account for K-12th grade students for resources such as math problems and social science videos.
• Big History Project: Get free access to a social studies course. It is focused on high school students but works for most of the rest of us.
• Big Sur Condor Cams: Watch endangered California Condors through live-stream cameras in Big Sur, California.
• BlocksCAD: Build math and computer science skills by using specialized 3D CAD (computer-aided drafting) software.
• BrainPOP: Want to make a movie? BrainPOP lets students make movies out of images, build maps and develop their block-based coding skills. BrainPOP focuses on K-12th grade children.
• Classroom Cereal: Work on your grammar by learning to proofread short stories.
• Club Oasis: A free STEM club offers DYI STEM labs, live classes, coding lessons and lives pop-ups.
• Crash Course: Courses in sociology, computer science, film history and mythology are offered for starters.
• Desmos: Students can use online tools to visualize math problems, create interactive tutorials and play math games with kids from all over the world.
• Discovery K-12: Pre-K to 12th-grade lessons and activities in these areas: language arts, reading, math, science, history/social studies, performing arts and physical education.
• Djuma Private Game Reserve Live Stream: Go on a virtual safari as you follow the camera’s views of South African wildlife.
• Dr. Seuss to the Rescue: Who doesn’t want to read and play games with Dr. Seuss?
• DuckDuckMoose: An app for tablets for preschool to kindergarten students.
• Duolingo: Learn a new language while you are stuck at home.
• Explore.org: Choose from thousands of livecams to tune into around the world and learn more about the subject of the video.
• From ABCs to ACTs: Compiled a list of free educational resources.
• Fun Brain: Activities, games, reading and more are available for grades pre-K through eighth grade.
• Giant List of Ideas for being Home with Kids: It is a pretty giant list of all kinds of ideas for kids to do from art projects to making ice cream to gardening.
• Go to the Museum (virtually): Get a virtual tour of 12 museums.
• Going for the Record: The folks at Guinness World Records have some ideas for kids who want to be record setters. How many balloons can you burst by sitting in 30 seconds?
• GoNoodle: GoNoodle is an app full of games to get your child moving.
• Into the Book: Elementary school students can practice reading comprehension.
• Into the Map: For the world traveler, a way to create maps and explore the world’s geography.
• It’s Epic: The epic! reading app is free to parents for the rest of the school year if you can get a digital invitation from a teacher or school librarian. They can sign up free to provide access to their students.
• JumpStart: Provides printable educational activities (“edutainment”) for grades Pre-K through 5^th.
• KidsActivitesBlog.com: Lists companies offering free subscriptions over the coming days and weeks.
• KiwiCo: KiwiCo “helps kids think big and act like creators and producers instead of just consumers.” Great activities and DYI science projects.
• Little Twisters Yoga & Emotional Wellness: Don’t forget your child’s emotional health. What about yoga?
• Mathcelebrity.com: Check your math with Mathcelebrity.com.
• Minecraft Education Edition: If you like coding, math and problem-solving try Minecraft way.
• Monterey Bay Aquarium: Travel underwater with the help of cameras to keep an eye on what is happening at the Monterey Bay Aquarium while its doors are temporarily closed to visitors.
• Mo Willems: Known for books like “Don’t Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus” and the “Elephant and Piggy” series, Willems is the Artist in Residence at the Kennedy Center. He is posting a daily “Lunch Doodles” while the Kennedy Center is closed for the near future and is asking students to send in questions at [email protected], from which he will select to answer during the daily art class.
• Mystery Science: Video lessons science lessons that will inspire kids to explore our world.
• NaNoWriMo: If your child is looking to write the Great American Novel, here’s a website for you.
• National Geographic for Kids: Look for games, videos, lessons and “cool stuff.”
• New American History: Learn from history materials aimed at grades 4 and up.
• PBS KIDS Daily Newsletter: Sign up for a free daily newsletter from PBS KIDS.
• Project Gutenberg: A free library where kids can download or read online more than 60,000 free eBooks.
• Readworks.org: Reading comprehension is the goal of ReadWorks.
• Scholastic Learn at Home: Scholastic Magazine is offering four learning experiences each day.
• Science Friday: Elementary to high school students can get lessons in physics, chemistry, earth science, and biology.
• Starfall: Math, reading, art and music is available for students in kindergarten through third grade.
• The Activity Mom: Get the printables kids love to work on.
• The FAB Lab: Watch STEM videos with Crazy Aunt Lindsey.
• The New York Times:Offering tools to supplement your child’s education. The newspaper has 1,000 writing prompts categorized by subject. The paper also is offering lesson plans on how to teach children about COVID-19 and how it affects the body.
• Toy Theater: A fun website with math, art, and reading games.
• Vizzle: If you have a child with special needs, you can get specialized lessons from Vizzle.
• Wonderopolois.com: Learn about 2,000-plus wonders of the world.
• You Can Draw: Jarrett Lerner is posting activity pages on his website which you can print out and enjoy. Lerner is the author of "EngiNerds and “Revenge of the EngiNerds,” as well as the forthcoming “Geeger the Robot” early chapter book series and the author-illustrator of the “Hunger Heroes” graphic novel series.
• Zoo Live Feeds: Watch dozens of animals live from the Smithsonian National Zoo, Houston Zoo, Maryland Zoo, Kansas City Zoo, and San Diego Zoo.

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What to know about unemployment benefits during COVID-19
Virginia workers may be eligible to receive unemployment benefits based on the following:
• Their employer needs to temporarily slow or cease operations due to coronavirus
• They are in self-quarantine but not receiving sick pay or medical leave from their employer
• They are staying home to take care of ill family member and not receiving paid family medical leave

Governor Northam announced the following actions to protect working Virginians impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak: No waiting for unemployment benefits.

Governor Northam has directed the Commissioner of the Virginia Employment Commission to waive the one-week waiting period to ensure workers can receive benefits as soon as possible.

Enhanced eligibility for unemployment. Workers may be eligible to receive unemployment benefits if an employer needs to temporarily slow or cease operations due to COVID-19. If a worker has been issued a notice to self-quarantine by a medical or public health official and is not receiving paid sick or medical leave from their employer, they may be eligible to receive unemployment benefits. In addition, a worker may be eligible for unemployment benefits if they must stay home to care for an ill family member and are not receiving paid family medical leave from their employer. Fewer restrictions.

For individuals receiving unemployment insurance, Governor Northam is directing the Virginia Employment Commission to give affected workers special consideration on deadlines, mandatory re-employment appointments, and work search requirements.

Applying for benefits-Virginia:
You can apply for benefits in several different ways including
• Apply online at http://www.vec.virginia.gov/
• CALL: 1-866-832-2363 for new claims. To file a "weekly claim" by telephone, call toll free 1-800-897-5630. Customers with a social security number ending with an odd number are asked to call on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. Customers with a social security number ending with an even number are asked to call on Tuesday, Thursday, or Friday. For general questions, call 804-371-8050. For easy access to Virginia Relay (Telecommunications Relay Service) dial "711," or use the toll free access numbers: 800-828-1120 (TTY), or 800-828-1140 (voice).
• Visit your local office in person. VEC (Virginia Employment Commission) Local Offices are usually open weekdays 8:30 am until 4:30 pm. As of March 16th, 2020 most all local offices are temporarily closed due to Coronavirus. Current dates of reopening unclear at this time.