Jewish Journal Opinion: What I Have Seen During the Pandemic

It is Wednesday at 1 P.M., and I log in to the weekly Loan Committee meeting of the Jewish Free Loan Association (JFLA), where I am executive director. My staff and I will spend the next two hours on screen, going through interest-free loan applications that put names and faces to COVID-19, devastation that most people only see on the news. If this week is like any other in the last several months, I know this routine meeting will haunt me.

With as much equanimity as I can gather, I ask the Loan Analysts to begin presenting this week’s cases.

The first story is about Jose, a typical Angelino who is hard-working and dedicated to his family. He was an Uber driver, and his wife, Natalie, worked in retail. When the pandemic hit, she lost her job immediately. Jose could have continued driving, but his daughter is in remission from cancer, and he was afraid of getting her sick. Suddenly, there was no money coming in to support the family. As the Loan Analyst presented the case, I could almost hear Jose’s voice quivering as he struggled to figure out where the rent money was going to come from.

Next, I hear about Tom, who worked three part-time jobs to support himself and his elderly parents. Money was tight, but he made it work. In March, however, Tom was let go from his job as a waiter; a few days later, he was also let go from his main gig working as a receptionist in an office. Tom often spent his weekends as a checker in a grocery store, and that job saved him. But the risk it brought as a first-line responder terrified him and stopped him from seeing his parents. Yet, Tom recognized that he was fortunate to still have any income and that he could pick up extra shifts.

The next Loan Analyst looks pale and shaken. She quietly begins describing Deborah, who was pregnant when she found out she was sick with COVID-19. As the days went by and she became sicker, it turned out that her parents, her spouse, her aunt and her uncle had contracted the virus as well. In what can only be described as a horror story, one by one, they each were admitted to the hospital.

Deborah, burning up with a fever, gave birth to a healthy baby, who was quickly whisked away from her to ensure the child did not contract coronavirus. Because everyone in the extended family was in the hospital, the baby spent the first month of her life in foster care. But even after the baby was finally reunited with her mother, the family did not have enough paid sick leave to cover their absences from work. They quickly fell behind on rent, and buying food and diapers became a problem.

After hearing countless sad stories over the past months, the baby from this story shook us all. But we had to continue.

Next came Susan, a single mother of five, who worked in retail. Money was always tight, but she managed. When she contracted COVID-19 in July, she was forced to take unpaid leave, and she fell behind on her rent and utilities. She worried about feeding her kids and making sure they had the supplies they needed for school. Susan never imagined being in this situation. The fear and isolation were worse than the disease.

Proving that COVID-19 does not discriminate, the committee next met Danny, a rising star in Hollywood. He could feel his big break coming. But when the world closed down in March, all of Danny’s dreams shut down with it. He had no income coming in. He had no projects on the horizon. He was devastated and depressed. He knew he needed to find work fast, but where could he turn?

It was clear that the toll of hearing stories was growing among the JFLA team. But we had to get through one last case. I began to hear about Amanda, who had a loving husband, two adorable children and even a minivan. She had just been promoted to head nurse. But her mother contracted COVID-19, and in a matter of days, she died in the same hospital where Amanda worked. The family was left in a state of shock and despair.

These people are the faces who turn to Jewish Free Loan. We do what we can to help them with rent, medical and dental expenses and other life necessities. But no matter what size loan they receive, their stories stay with us. It is not hard to see ourselves in their shoes.

These are the faces who turn to Jewish Free Loan.

These are people who, like us, did all the right things. They worked hard. They saved what they could. They played by the rules. Overnight, everything changed. The fear, anxiety and shock amidst the social isolation are devastating. This is the story of COVID-19.

Another week goes by, and the Loan Committee meets again. The familiar rhythm of my week begins. The fear and the torment surface once more, as we begin the process of helping another group of people whose lives have been pummeled by the pandemic. In hearing their stories, we can begin to bring them strength and see the personal toll of the pandemic on our community.

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Rachel Grose joined JFLA in 2001, became executive director in 2017 and began changing lending policy to make it easier to all Angelinos to qualify for zero-interest loans. Names in this article have been changed due to privacy.