AUSTIN, Texas – When the city of Austin went into lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19, attorney and City Council District 10 candidate Pooja Sethi reached out to the Austin-Travis County EMS Association to see how she can help. They said they needed help taking care of the homeless population because soup kitchens and libraries were closing down.

“On March 19 I emailed a group of women that I know were always civically engaged here in Austin and said, ‘Do you want to help me feed some of our homeless communities and unhoused populations?’ - and they said, ‘Yes,’” said Sethi.

Those six members are now calling themselves the “Quaranteam” and currently deliver about 100 meals a day, “snackpacks” for families with children, as well as tents, sleeping bags, and toiletries to EMS.

“It's honestly just a group of women who are coming together with their Facebook accounts and asking friends what they can leave on their porches. We only do pickups and drop-offs on porches, we are making sure we are limiting contact, wearing gloves, and sanitizing, and (wear) masks whenever we do any of these deliveries as well,” said Ashley Cheng, a “Quaranteam” member.