Help Your Neighbours During The Coronavirus Pandemic With These New Nextdoor Features

Many of us are stuck inside, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be good neighbours and help each other out. Nextdoor recently launched a new “Help Map” feature that lets users volunteer to take on extra chores and other helpful activities for those around them. This feature could make a huge difference for elderly residents, large families, and individuals with illnesses or special needs who require extra assistance during the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Help Map feature has been in beta for a while, but it’s now live for all mobile users—you’ll just need to update your Nextdoor app first. With that out of the way, here’s how to find the new Help Map and offer a hand to your community:

  1. Open the Nextdoor app. On the Home tab, tap the “More” icon to open the side menu, then “Help Map.” 

  2. From here you can tap “Offer Help” list your household and the chores/activities you’re willing to provide.

To request help:

  1. Tap “View Map” to see homes that are offering help, which show up as green dots on the map. Tap them to see how they’re willing to help. If you’re in need of one of their services, tap “Send Message” to get in touch.

For those volunteering their services, be mindful of any current social gathering restrictions in your town due to the coronavirus outbreak. No one needs to be getting their neighbours sick on in trouble, and there are plenty of ways to help out people on the Help Maps even while staying inside. For instance, you could volunteer to do a check-up call over the phone, make a grocery run for them, or even drop off a meal and other supplies that you might already have.

For those missing the social side of life these days, Nextdoor also launched a new Groups feature that lets neighbours create smaller sub-feeds for specific topics. You can find and create new groups by tapping the “Groups” tab, just to the left of the “Home” tab. Nextdoor can be a source of drama and anxiety even at the best of times—everyone loves neighbourhood gossip—but the Groups tab could be a good way to organise even more help for neighbours who need it. Plus, focusing on smaller groups and off-topic conversations might alleviate some of the cabin fever many of us are starting to feel.

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