“May their memories
be a revolution.”

National COVID Memorial: Shaping collective memory through permanent memorialization of every person lost to COVID

Physical monuments & augmented reality memorialize 1.2 million personal tributes. Installations nationwide build toward permanent monuments in DC and all 50 states.

Explore the National COVID Memorial

The U.S. memorial landscape disproportionately venerates a limited few while denying historical recognition to communities of color. Our monuments traditionally focus on war and violence, not the diseases and systemic failures that kill everyday people.

The National COVID Memorial pairs physical monuments with digital memorialization to shift whose stories are elevated in public memory. Honoring all 1.2 million lives requires commemorating at a scale impossible through traditional memorials. Locally-designed monuments serve as portals to the Marked by COVID Lens—an augmented reality experience built from personal photos and tributes contributed by bereaved families. Visitors explore these remembrances and reflect on both the lives lost and the patterns of inequality that determined who survived.

We're working toward federal recognition and a permanent monument, establishing that accurate historical memory requires commemorating whose lives were lost and why—fostering healing, accountability, and preventing future crises from repeating the same patterns.

Baby Bonds: Providing opportunities through economic security for vulnerable children

Secured $115M for California's first baby bonds, serving thousands of COVID orphans and foster youth. Advising other states on replication.

Read about Baby Bonds in the news

More than 350,000 children in the U.S. lost a caregiver to COVID. Without financial support, these children face cycles of poverty and limited opportunity.

Baby bonds are seed funding promised to low-income children when they turn 18. Studies show that when young people know they're receiving this investment, it changes their outlook about their future potential, breaking cycles of poverty and enabling opportunities otherwise out of reach.

We mobilized bereaved families to pass California's HOPE Accounts—the nation's first state baby bonds program, providing $115M for COVID orphans and foster youth. When proposed cuts threatened the program, we organized 8,000 public comments and restored funding through direct family engagement.

We now advise the state on implementing the program and advocate for other states to adopt baby bonds for their COVID-impacted children.

COVID Memorial Day: Annual day of remembrance establishing COVID in the national commemorative calendar

Secured recognition in 250+ cities and 13 states. Introduced bipartisan federal legislation with Rep. Stanton and Sen. Warren. Annual vigil draws 1,500+ participants.

Send a letter to Congress: COVID Memorial Day can’t wait

The U.S. lacks an official day to collectively remember COVID losses. Unlike other national crises, there's no designated time for communities to gather, grieve, and honor those lost.

We secured official recognition of the first Monday in March as COVID Memorial Day in 250+ cities and 13 states. We organized COVID grievers to testify and led local campaigns demonstrating community demand. We've introduced bipartisan federal legislation (H.Res.196 and S.Res.94) with Rep. Stanton and Sen. Warren to establish national recognition. Our annual online vigil draws 1,500+ participants, creating space for collective remembrance.

Public Health: Building resilience and advancing equity in communities most harmed by COVID

Secured free masks, tests, worker protections, and Long COVID research funding. Ongoing community health education demonstrates how community-led responses build healing.

Watch: Health Leads

Black, Brown, Indigenous, and working-class communities experienced COVID death rates 2-3x higher than their white peers. These communities still live with disproportionate illness and limited access to protective measures.

We organize patients, provide health education in underserved communities, and advocate for equitable policies. We've secured wins including free masks and tests, worker protections, and Long COVID research funding. Our ongoing vaccine outreach in underserved communities demonstrates how community-led responses build healing where systemic racism has caused the greatest harm.

Remember Every One: Collecting remembrances for more than one million people in the US killed by COVID

20,000+ stories collected toward 1.2 million. Community partnerships and grassroots outreach ensure every COVID victim is remembered.

Watch: Remember Every One

There is no comprehensive record of every person lost to COVID. Official death counts document numbers but not names, stories, or the human beings behind the statistics. This erasure disproportionately impacts Black, Brown, Indigenous, and working-class families who often lack resources for private memorialization and are systematically excluded from public commemoration.

Remember Every One ensures every COVID victim is remembered. We identify communities hit hardest and invite members to submit free remembrances. Our continued presence at community events, door-to-door canvassing, partnerships with local organizations, and National COVID Memorial installations creates space for communities to heal through commemoration. The 20,000+ stories we've collected permanently shape our national memory, telling a fuller, more inclusive story of whose lives were actually lost.

Memorial Matrix: Digital archive documenting grassroots COVID commemoration nationwide

Documented 1,000+ grassroots memorials through crowdsourced submissions. Preserving vigils, installations, and community commemorations that would be lost to history while making the case for official national recognition.

Explore the Memorial Matrix

Traditional archives overlook grassroots memorial work, and institutions have failed to provide official commemoration at the scale communities need. The Memorial Matrix addresses both gaps.

We've documented 1,000+ grassroots memorials through crowdsourced submissions: vigils, performances, installations, permanent monuments, virtual memorials, and COVID Memorial Day observances. We preserve creation stories, images, and contexts that would otherwise be lost to history.

This archive challenges whose memorial practices are valued. By documenting community-led commemoration, we make the case for a permanent National COVID Memorial while serving researchers, educators, and future movements.

Marked by COVID Lens: Augmented reality experience commemorating loss at an unprecedented scale

Augmented reality making commemoration accessible to anyone with a smartphone—honoring 1.2 million lives at a scale impossible through traditional memorials. Families submit remembrances visitors explore at monuments or online.

Explore the Marked by COVID Lens

Traditional memorials require travel and resources, often excluding those who need them most. Honoring more than a million lives requires a scale impossible through analog memorials like the Vietnam Wall or AIDS Quilt.

We developed an augmented reality experience that transforms public spaces into commemorative landscapes. Bereaved families submit remembrances—personal photos and tributes in their own words—which visitors explore at locally-designed monuments or online from anywhere. This approach makes commemoration accessible to everyone, particularly Black, Latino, Indigenous, and working-class communities where COVID deaths were highest but commemoration resources lowest.