THE NEW YORK TIMES, THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2020 N Ason in Vermont has access to fresh
air, clean water, green space, bet-
ter internet and a quality educa-
tion. You can see we’re not togeth-
er just by seeing how many people
are dying in our community.”
In the earliest days of the lock-
down, Mary Brown had not been
able to find masks. As a diabetes
peer educator who leads commu-
nity workshops on healthy living,
she knew her neighbors at the
Mott Haven Houses were already
at risk because of heart disease
and immune issues.
“We couldn’t find gloves,
masks, anything,” said Ms.
Brown, who had hoped that the
housing authority would provide
those items. “I wound up paying
$2 each for masks at a pharmacy,
not that it did my mother and sis-
ters any good. I guess by then we
had already gotten it.”
Her questions — and suffering
— have only increased since then.
First her brother, a bus driver, fell
ill, mostly likely from the flu. Then
two of her sisters spent weeks in
intensive care recovering from
Covid-19. In late March her
mother, Mary, 82, was rushed to
the hospital because she could not
breathe. She died — alone — on
April 4. The next day, Ms. Brown’s
15-year-old grandnephew was
stabbed to death in Harlem.
“It’s been hard,” she said. “At
least I didn’t have to bury my
whole family.”
The season of devastating loss
has been made worse by the sor-
row of being unable to send her
mother off properly or gathering
to console one another. Ms.
Brown, who also lives with a sister
and an autistic 28-year-old neph-
ew, mostly stays inside her 21st-
floor, five-room apartment, whichshe calls “The Penthouse” for its
sweeping views of Manhattan.
“We have to take care of each
other,” she said. “We were left out
here with nothing, depending and
waiting for the government to dis-
tribute things to us.”
While she said her building was
fairly clean — there is less foot
traffic in and out because of social-
distancing restrictions — she re-
fuses to let her guard down, clean-
ing her apartment daily.
Despite her grief, or perhaps
because of it, Ms. Brown contin-
ues to work with Health People, a
nonprofit group that trains local
residents to be peer educators on
H.I.V. and diabetes.
Health People was started in
the South Bronx by Chris Nor-
wood 30 years ago. The group fo-
cuses on the idea that people can
be empowered to take control of
their own health.
“What I fear going forward,”
Ms. Norwood said, “is all these
poor communities have been
branded as incapable of coping.
It’s the old blame the victim.
They’ve been presented publicly
as being hopeless against chronic
disease. That is very dangerous.”
Three years ago, Ms. Brown
joined Health People not only to
better understand how to care for
her mother, who was diabetic, but
also to reduce the risks to her own
health. She learned about proper
diet, exercise, stress relief and
other strategies to lower the im-
pact of diabetes.
“So many people, especially myfriends, are either dealing with
this or have a mom who is,” she
said. “They started coming to
me.”
Although in-person workshops
have been suspended, she and
her colleagues confer with each
other and clients by phone. While
she does not go outside often, she
is careful to keep her distance and
avoid stores with crowds. She is
especially wary of the local 99-
cent store, not just because of the
long lines outside, but because of
its poor selection of cheap food in-
side.
“There’s nothing healthy in
there,” she warns her neighbors.
“There’s too much saturated fatin frozen foods. Anything canned
has sodium. Vegetables, fruits,
lean meat or fish are better.”
For now, she is determined to
help her neighbors in any way she
can, even if she can’t reach every-
one.
“Once, we only had to worry
about hypertension and diabetes,”
she said. “Now, we’re starting to
get everything.”the elevator that’s been there for-
ever.”
She said the cleaners that the
city hires rush through too
quickly to do a careful job. “I’ve
watched them. All they do is
come in and spray two or three
times. They were supposed to
sanitize all the hard surfaces, the
mailboxes, the elevator buttons.
How can someone do that, cover-
ing 16 stories, in 10 minutes?”
A housing authority spokes-
woman replied by email that NY-
CHA contractors clean develop-
ments at least three times a week
and exceed government stand-
ards. She said there was constant
oversight of the vendors, includ-
ing field monitoring, daily devel-
opment check-ins and daily re-
ports.
A lot of Ms. Jamerson’s neigh-
bors were worried. She told them
to stay indoors, as she did for the
first two weeks of lockdown after
her doctor said her aches and
malaise could be caused by the vi-
rus. But she re-emerged to help
distribute masks, cleaners and
meals prepared by local restau-
rants. She stayed inside a com-
munity center while young peo-
ple from the area gave out the
items, keeping tabs on who
needed what.
Even then, food and supplies —
some of which were purchased
with city funds allocated to the as-
sociation — have run out quickly.Even hours after the giveaway
ends, stragglers come looking for
help.
“People in other places don’t go
through what we do,” she said.
“We’re people of color. We’re poor.
We’re served less. Our local hospi-
tals treat us differently. We’re last
on the battlefield when every-
thing is happening.”Jessica Nieves and her hus-
band, Lenny Medina, were
about to yank their three chil-
dren out of public school in early
March, alarmed and confused
by the city’s halting and contra-
dictory warnings about the dan-
ger of the coronavirus. They had
already stocked up on food and
cleaning supplies for what they
felt was an inevitable shutdown.
“I usually think ahead,” said
Mr. Medina, 39, a maintenance
supervisor at a Manhattan syn-
agogue. “I do things just be-
cause I am the type of person
who needs to be ready.”
When the stay-at-home order
did come, they had everything
they needed. Except patience.
They used to start their morn-
ings with a practiced drill of get-
ting up, getting dressed, eating
breakfast and heading off to
school or work. Now it’s a blur of
endless days and discombobu-
lated routines inside their three-
bedroom apartment in the Mel-
rose Houses. Ms. Nieves works
from home as a teacher’s aide
while their children study, antsy
to go outside.
“Sometimes you just run out
of patience,” said Mr. Medina,
who is also a freelance photog-
rapher. “When I wake up some
mornings it’s like, Dios mio, I
would rather be working.”
He has come to accept the sit-
uation, though the sameness of
each day becomes its own bur-
den. “Our schedule makes no
sense anymore,” Mr. Medina
said. “I wake up, and every-
body’s sleeping. God forbid you
wake any of them up, they get
mad. I let them, because I know
they’re stressed.”
Their youngest, Jordan, 9,
had a difficult adjustment to re-
mote learning since his school
doesn’t use computers much,
Ms. Nieves said.
“It’s hit him hard,” she said.
“He lost motivation. He would
get frustrated and not want to
get up.”
Isaiah, 16, went from being an
easygoing child to one who is
easily irritated. “He was always
smiling,” Ms. Nieves said,
“laughing and sweet. Now, he
looks serious and sad.”
The oldest, Anastasia, 17,
started getting dizzy spells and
anxiety attacks.
“Home used to be the place
where, after I did my work in
school, I could relax and watch
movies,” she said. “Now, it’s just
my workplace and I’m having a
hard time doing both.”
Even Anastasia’s search for
colleges has been colored by the
pandemic. She had been looking
forward to visiting schools and
finding a place to nurture her in-
terests in art, music and Japa-
nese culture (she loves anime).
Now as she searches for col-
leges online, she knows one
thing: “I don’t want to be far
away. I don’t want to worry
about trains shutting down and I
can’t make it home for Christ-
mas. With this pandemic, you
have to take it all into account.”Melissa Goenaga wiping
down an elevator at the
Mitchel Houses in April.
Residents banded together
to deal with their concerns
early in the lockdown.‘AT LEAST I DIDN’T HAVE TO BURY MY WHOLE FAMILY’
Mary Brown, 60, Mott Haven HousesA memorial for people who
died of Covid-19 in the lobby
of one of the buildings at the
Mitchel Houses.
From left to right, Kevin
Benson, 60, James Johnson,
40, Eric Woods, 53, and
Norman Cardiff, 47, play
dominoes in a common area
at the Mott Haven Houses.Princella Jamerson arrang-
ing meals for residents of the
Mill Brook Houses. She said
she began worrying about
the virus late last year.Cassandra Bowlin, tenants
association president at the
Melrose Houses, and a vol-
unteer, Elijah Hammond, 16,
prepare to hand out meals.‘SOMETIMES YOU JUST RUN OUT OF PATIENCE’
Lenny Medina, 39, Melrose HousesGabriela Bhaskar contributed
reporting. Additional photogra-
phy on preceding page at far left
by Ramona Ferreyra, Mary
Brown, Lenny Medina, Anasta-
sia C., and Princella Jamerson.