Mayor Durkin taking selfies with a Woman's March crowd in healthier times

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan has announced that the city will be giving out $5 million in grocery vouchers to help families impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Washington has been hit particularly hard, and earlier than other states, by the novel coronavirus. According to the mayor the voucher program will provide $800 to 6,250 families as vouchers to “purchase food, cleaning supplies, and other household goods at any Safeway store in Washington state.”

For many people dealing with this frighteningly new experience, food assistance is not simply a humane issue, it’s a public health issue. If you want families to be able to stay home in the hopes of flattening the curve of the virus, we need people to feel like they can afford to stay home. This voucher plan will be directed at families already enrolled in the city’s child care programs and food assistance programs.