{"id":847,"date":"2020-04-05T17:35:10","date_gmt":"2020-04-05T17:35:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jpic-assumpta.org\/?p=847"},"modified":"2020-04-05T17:35:10","modified_gmt":"2020-04-05T17:35:10","slug":"new-york-the-epicenter-of-this-global-pandemic-in-the-united-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jpic-assumpta.org\/index.php\/2020\/04\/05\/new-york-the-epicenter-of-this-global-pandemic-in-the-united-states\/","title":{"rendered":"New York: the epicenter of this global pandemic in the United States"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Consequences of COVID-19\non our families<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was\na Boston Globe editorial on March 30 that describes the extent of this grasp in\nthe US in these words: \u201cAs the American public braces itself for the worst of\nthis crisis that the reach of the virus is attributable to a colossal failure\nof leadership. It demanded a leader who would seek the country\u2019s well-being\nfirst, above near-term stock market returns and his own reelection and who\nwould work with other nations to stem the tide of COVID 19 around the world But\ninstead we had a President who downplayed the risk, who mistrusted scientific\nfact, and misled the public .The lack of leadership has kneecapped our\nresponse: limited access to tests, limited needed supply such as gowns, masks\nand ventilators so that health care staffs are left unprotected and become sick\nand some die. And he continues during this time to erode federal environmental\nregulations and rolling back our response to climate change and continuing to\nerode supports for families and children on the border. Researchers are telling\nus that there is a direct connection between Climate Change and the Growth of the\nVirus. And the infections and death increase daily: First infected person was\non March, 2020 and now on April the 3<sup>rd<\/sup> the total of cases in New\nYork State: 102,863 and the number of deaths&gt;: 2935 and in New York City:\n57,160 cases and 1562 deaths.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This\npart of the report shares what are experiencing in New York; LSA FAMILY HEALTH\nSERVICES, and also two of our communities in Massachusetts: Project Hope in\nRoxbury, and the Pernet Family Health Service in Worcester. Our families in\nthese three communities are very poor, living in poverty, inmigrants from many\ncountries, undocumented inmigrants fearful and seeking to escape deportation,\nfamilies without homes or daily living at risk of being homeless. COVID 19 has\nhad a devastating effect upon our entire population but these families, our\nfamilies are experiencing dire effects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The\nneeds of our families that come to us everyday<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>They are terrified for themselves and their families,\nfearful of being tested having to go to the hospital and not returning home\n(this has happened with a few families and a member has died) If a parent is\nhospitalized how will they manage?<\/li><li>Even those who are sick face difficulties getting\ntested: they also deal with no insurance having to pay a fee.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>To travel to the hospital and sometimes for a visit. They have limited available\ncash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Lost work, no rights or benefits, had very low\nsalaries just making it- Rent payments are due, Electric bills they fear they\nwill be evicted. High need for infant and toddler supplies especially formula\nand diapers, Food bills are high and food is scarce. They are hungry.<\/li><li>Many of these problems are connected to their economic\nstatus- they are just trying to manage. They have to stay at home- adhere to\nsocial distancing-going on 3 or 4 weeks so no employment for large number of\nfamilies in the community and no money for expenses.<\/li><li>They are parts of \u201ctransnational families\u201d so they\nshared whatever they could of income with families back in Mexico.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>LSA response<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In all three sites, diverse\nmulti-cultural staffs (despite their fears for their own families) are reaching\nout in response to the need described above: in the following ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Regular telephone contact each day with families to\nsee and supply support.<\/li><li>Managing food banks for families in need on a regular\nbasis\u2026 food supplies, infant and child care supplies, cleaning supplies.<\/li><li>Visiting patients in need of nursing care, and others\nhome based interventions.<\/li><li>Connecting with hospitals and health services to get\ncare for families.<\/li><li>Providing arts, crafts, toys, etc. for children not in\nschool.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Also we are reaching out to\nvolunteers, donors etc. for donations and service to provide critical need of\nfamilies Thru these gifts we have been able to increase the days and supplies\nin our Food Pantries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Sign of Hope:&nbsp; We are seeing first hand in this response the\nwords of Pope Francis: \u201cThe future of humankind is most of all in the hands of\nthose people who recognize the other as a \u201cyou\u201d and themselves as part of and \u201cus\u201d.\nWe all need each other\u201d. (TED Talk: \u201cWhy the only future worth building\nincludes everyone\u201d 2017)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And another quote from Pope\nFrancis which describes our anxieties: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThick darkness has gathered\nover squares and streets and our cities. It has taken over our lives. We feel\nit in the air. We notice it in peoples expressed needs and gestures Now is the\ntime is reawaken and put into practice that solidarity and hope capable of\ngiving strength and meaning to these hours when everything seems to be\nfloundering\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Margaret Leonard, LSA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Photo by Colton Duke on Unsplash<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Consequences of COVID-19 on our families There was a Boston Globe editorial on March 30 that describes the extent of this grasp in the US in these words: \u201cAs the American public braces itself for the worst of this crisis that the reach of the virus is attributable to a colossal failure of leadership. It [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[18],"class_list":["post-847","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-action","tag-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jpic-assumpta.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jpic-assumpta.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jpic-assumpta.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jpic-assumpta.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jpic-assumpta.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=847"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jpic-assumpta.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":849,"href":"https:\/\/jpic-assumpta.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/847\/revisions\/849"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jpic-assumpta.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jpic-assumpta.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=847"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jpic-assumpta.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=847"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jpic-assumpta.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=847"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}