Dear friends-
It only takes an instant for life to change. Just three short months ago, I wrote looking to 2020 and the future with hope and opportunity. Today like so many, Health Outreach Partners is grappling with anxiety and uncertainty brought on by Covid-19. I feel very grateful and privileged that the HOP team is able to work remote and continue our work to support community health centers during this difficult time. With all the challenges brought on by this global pandemic, income loss and financial insecurity are a top stressor that impacts a person’s health and magnifies the inequities in our health systems.
As I have been adjusting to this new reality of social distancing and remote work, I started thinking about a segment of our communities that a sudden abrupt change in our economy effects severely- low to middle income people living without benefits, pay check-to pay check. These are real people who are part of our everyday lives, our friends and neighbors. Their jobs can’t be done at home, isolated from other people. They include food servers, baristas, bartenders, gardeners, construction workers, childcare workers, the fitness industry workers, and many others. Within one day, their paychecks were gone just like that. This represents the largest segment of workers in our population and for a country like the United States, with great wealth and privilege, this is a failure to protect its citizens.
I want to share the story of one of my friends, and a fitness instructor at my gym- Freddie. He is a dynamic and motivating teacher. I loved his classes and became friends with him-in part because of his kind, fun, and engaging personality. He just makes you feel good about yourself- which is important at the gym, which can be an anxiety producing setting. In January, he posted on social media a dilemma about enrolling in a health plan as part of the mandate that California had recently reenacted. Americans across the country have dropped their health coverage due to cost when the current administration eliminated the mandate that was part of the Affordable Care Act. For all the progress brought about by the ACA, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary, this act set us back significantly, leaving, millions uninsured. Reading Freddie’s post, I thought, here is a man devoted to good health and yet he can’t afford his health insurance. Now- we are in a health care/economic crisis, and not only are millions of people without coverage, they are also losing their source of income.
Freddie has worked in the fitness industry for 15 years. He started out working in the tech field. After being laid off a few years back, he followed his passion and transitioned to a full-time fitness career. With Covid-19, he can’t work at all. His employment status is part-time at an assortment of studios and gyms. He has no employer sponsored benefits, including sick time, PTO, or health insurance. He is also at high risk of Covid-19 infection due to the setting and nature of his work. With one day’s notice 100% of his income was gone. The bills are piling up. Most frightening for Freddie, and I imagine most people, is the uncertainty – when will this end? Will America’s work force be able to return to their jobs anytime soon? What will our daily lives look like as we emerge from this crisis? What necessities do people have to give up in order to make it through. Many will go hungry, lose their housing, get sick, and most certainly let their health insurance lapse. Too many of our community members live on a razor’s edge between making it every month and crisis.
Freddie has put together a plan to spread out the bills and make his finances work for the short term. He recognizes just being able to do that is a privilege and so many people are not able to juggle their obligations for even a few weeks. I asked Freddie what he would tell lawmakers if he could? He said they need to be better at considering the people they represent. That there are gross inequities in health care. It should be affordable and available to everyone. They need to consider every scenario for people who live pay check to pay check and pass legislation to protect everyone. Amen Freddie!!!
Listening to Freddie’s plea to law makers, I feel proud of HOPs work to support community health centers in assessing the Social Determinants of Health for their patients, creating programs to promote health equity in vulnerable communities, and continuing to fight for racial and structural equity.
Even in this dark time, talking to Freddie and others who are struggling, I am filled with hope. Freddie tells me stories about members at his various gyms offering to give him money to watch his taped workout sessions. He says he is so grateful for the offer but he wants to give back where he can and doesn’t accept their offers. There are over 16 million people out of work since the crisis began, and he knows he isn’t alone. Freddie wants to contribute and help people during the shelter in place. Communities are coming together in other ways, offering to help their neighbors with their shopping, run errands for the elderly, and supporting small business. We are staying home collectively to flatten the curve. We have banded together as a country to fight this pandemic. There is more that bonds us and brings us together then we realize. As we emerge from this crisis and enter into the election season, I hope we carry forward the sense of community we found through these dark days. Please continue to support HOP in our mission towards health care for all.
With hopes for safety and good health – in gratitude,
Cindy