Caribbean American Weekly - Issue 97

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ISSUE 97 VOLUME 18

April 30, 2020

SERVING THE CARIBBEAN AND HISPANIC COMMUNITIES!

Nursing Home Neglect & Abuse ... see pages15-18

Grieving Families Say Nursing Homes Kept Mum As Covid Tore Through Buildings Caribbean Special Report: Sir Ronald Sanders Speaks ....2

BY JOSEFA VELASQUEZ AND CLAUDIA IRIZARRY APONTE, THE CITY

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ospitalized after apparently catching COVID-19 at a Brooklyn nursing home savaged by the coronavirus, Freddie Freda was about to beat the illness.

He would have to spend his 80th birthday, on Saturday, April 11, at Methodist Hospital. But hospital officials called Freda’s daughter Cheryl on April 10 alerting her that their father’s condition had improved so dramatically that he’d continued on page 15

Florine and Charles Wilson, before Florine fell ill from the coronavirus. Photo: Courtesy of Charles Wilson

Instead of Welcoming a Baby, Black Pregnant Women Are Dying

BY MARILYN SILVERMAN 311PERSONALINJURY.COM

DACA Recipients Brace for a World Without Legal Status ....10

Knowledge is Power when you use it!

Get a FREE Consultation!

Ask the Lawyer: Call 855-768-8845

Y

our doctor has wonderful news for you—you’re pregnant. Both you and your partner happily count the days until you will welcome a tiny baby girl or a tiny baby boy into your domestic abode. But that happy day might be darkened with continued on page 26

Healthy Communication .... 21

Brian Figeroux, Esq., Member, American Immigration Lawyers Association

When to Replace Your Green Card .... 27

Attorney General to Investigate Nursing Home Violations

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EW YORK: Attorney General Letitia James released the following statement in response to efforts to protect nursing home residents in New York amidst the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis: “We recognize that the most vulnerable

New Yorkers are continuing to suffer through this crisis at nursing homes across the state. While our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit continues to investigate allegations of abuse and neglect in continued on page 16

AG James Photo: AG Office

NY Giants Draft JamaicanAmerican Matt Peart ....22

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CARIBBEAN SPECIAL REPORT

Caribbean Consulates Anguilla 845 Third Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-745-0200 Antigua & Barbuda 305 East 47th Street, Suite 6A New York, N.Y. 10020 Tel: 212-541-4117 The Bahamas 231 East 46th Street New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-421-6420 Barbados 820 Second Avenue, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-551-4325 Belize 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1911 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-593-0999 Dominica 800 Second Avenue, Suite 400H New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-949-0853 Dominican Republic 1500 Broadway, Suite 410 New York, N.Y. 10036 Tel: 212-599-8478 Grenada 685 Third Avenue, Suite 1101 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-599-0301 Guyana 308 West 38th Street New York, N.Y. 10018 Tel: 212-947-5119 Haiti 815 Second Avenue,6th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-697-9767 Jamaica 767 Third Avenue, 2nd Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-935-9000 Martinique 444 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-838-6887 Montserrat 845 Third Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-745-0200 Panama 1212 Avenue of the Americas, 20th Floor New York, N.Y. 10036 Tel: 212-840-2450 St. Kitts & Nevis 414 East 75th Street, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10021 Tel: 212-535-5521 St. Lucia 800 Second Avenue, 9th Floor New York, N.Y. 10007 Tel: 212-697-9360 St. Maarten 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1807 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 800-786-2278 St. Vincent & The Grenadines 801 Second Avenue, 21st Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-687-4981 Trinidad & Tobago 125 Maiden Lane, 4th Floor New York, N.Y. 10038 Tel: 212-682-7272 For more Consulate information go to www.cawnyc.com/directory

Prepare for a Long Haul: The Storm Is Not Fully Formed

BY SIR RONALD SANDERS OVID-19 is destroying the prosperity that several Caribbean countries anticipated at the beginning of 2020.

The growth projections by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) for Antigua and Barbuda of 6.5%; Dominica 4.9%, Dominican Republic, 4.7%; Grenada 4%; and St Kitts-Nevis 3.5%, evaporated overnight as COVID-19 walloped the economies of these countries. By the end of March 2020, it was clear that all these economies would shrink significantly by the end of the first quarter of the year, and that the second and third quarters would be no better.

Guyana’s economy was on track to grow by a phenomenal 85.6% largely because of production and sales of newly discovered oil and gas resources. That growth is also unlikely to happen now as oil prices plummet amid reduced demands in a world that was largely shut down for weeks in March and April in attempts to curb COVID-19’s spread.

The political situation in Guyana, where results of a March 2 general elections are still not final and verified as credible, and the contraction of the economy by the effects of COVID-19, make the huge projected growth very unlikely.

The Bahamas was already forecast to have negative growth of 0.6%, and Barbados, climbing out of a period of prolonged economic decline, was projected to grow by 1.3%. The blows delivered to these economies, from the sudden and complete closure of the tourism industry, have further set back their prospects.

A meeting of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on April 16, rightly looked to the International Financial Institutions (IFIs), particularly the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) to access “assistance to meet the financial challenges arising from the crisis”.

In the harsh reality of significantly reduced revenues and increased emergency costs to prevent and contain the coronavirus, many of these countries will find it extremely difficult to pay pensions and wages of their public service establishments. They all need both an injection of money to help them meet budgetary costs over the next nine months at least, and a suspension of debt service payments to other governments and private lenders from whom they have borrowed.

But it is clear that the countries that control the levers of the global economy, including the decision-making bodies of the IMF, the WBG, and the Paris Club, have no intention of allowing suspension of debt owed by middle-income and high-income Caribbean countries, even though, the criteria is a false measurement of development and financial capa-

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bility.

G20 Finance Ministers – the representatives of the world’s richest nations – meeting on April 15, issued a communiqué that was long on words, but short on commitment to deliver on the needs of any but low-income countries. It is almost as if countries are being punished for better policies and economic performance.

The COVID-19 pandemic has once again highlighted not only inequality between nations but, more importantly, the damaging consequences of an unjust economic order. While rich nations will suffer unemployment and economic decline, they have all the resources to recover from these circumstances.

Developing countries – particularly small developing states – don’t.

Globally, there is now the prospect of a serious debt crisis, and the Caribbean is engulfed in it. If the problem is not addressed, there will be more than $100 billion in capital outflows from developing economies. That figure, calculated by reputable organizations, is nearly five times the level from 2008 when a global recession was started by the failures of major US banks.

At the end of the disastrous effects of the pandemic – whatever unpredictable shape that takes – small developing countries, for the most part, will be left poorer, highly-indebted and with little fiscal space, after debt servicing, to return to their growth projections in January 2020. COVID-19 has created a storm much worse than any brutal hurricane that the Caribbean has ever suffered.

The G20 leaders said that they will do “whatever it takes” to stop companies and households in their countries from taking a heavy loss of income. But despite declaring that “global action, solidarity and international cooperation are more than ever necessary”, they have given no such undertaking to the countries outside their own nations, except to low-income countries, which, in the Caribbean is Haiti.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) on March 30, called for a $2.5 trillion coronavirus package for developing countries. UNCTAD argued that this figure matches the sum of 0.7% of their Gross Domestic Product that developed coun-

tries had pledged to deliver over the last ten years but didn’t. Only five of them – all in Europe – fulfilled their undertaking.

UNCTAD detailed the use of the funds in three ways: a $1 trillion liquidity injection – a kind of helicopter money drop for those being left behind; a debt jubilee for distressed economies, including an immediate debt standstill on sovereign debt payments; and a Marshall Plan for health recovery, largely in the form of grants.

While every developing country should agitate for acceptance of the UNCTAD proposal, it would meet strong resistance from the most powerful nations.

Already, the IMF’s board of directors was restrained by the countries with largest voting rights from lending to Venezuela and Iran.

Further, the defunding of the World Health Organization (WHO) by the United States because of its perception that China influenced the organization over the pandemic, indicate political considerations and not humanitarian or even financial ones.

What the response to the COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated again is that the prevailing policies of the IMF and WBG are unhelpful to the majority of nations of the world, including the Caribbean, that are classified as middle or high income, disregarding the many other factors of their underdevelopment and vulnerabilities. For instance, the IMF/Bank proposals did not address rescheduling or forgiveness of multilateral debt or debt owed to private banks.

Caribbean countries will get loans from the IMF and WBG after going through many hoops, but the process will not be swift, and the conditions will be rough.

In these circumstances, Caribbean governments, the private sector, political parties, and trade unions need to collaborate on the actions they can jointly take to weather the gathering storm that has not yet fully formed. They also must prepare for a long haul. l Sir Ronald Michael Sanders is an Antiguan Barbudan academic, diplomat and former broadcast-journalist who is the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the United States and to the Organization of American States; he is also non-resident High Commissioner to Canada.

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THOUGHTS

If We Don’t Fight Inequality, Covid-19’s Effects Will Persist and Blight Our Future

BY JAMES A. PARROTT AND LINA MOE

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crisis, either personal or social, can clarify what tasks are important, what choices really matter, and what values are essential. That’s certainly true of the crisis New Yorkers face because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Because on the social and economic front, here’s a paramount challenge we clearly face: Defeating the new strain of inequality that the coronavirus has introduced into the life of the nation’s largest city.

A crisis, either personal or social, can clarify what tasks are important, what choices really matter, and what values are essential. That’s certainly true of the crisis New Yorkers face because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Accomplishing that must include creating new job protections and a new social safety net for the hundreds of thousands of dislocated workers, including undocumented immigrants, who live and work in our city.

If we don’t, Covid-19 and its effects may well continue to blight our future for a very long time.

A report we published recently, details the devastating impact the Covid-19 epidemic has had on low-wage jobs in our city.

It shows that for restaurant workers and hairdressers – house painters and housekeepers – hotel porters and app-based for-hire drivers – and for other men and women working jobs now classified as “non-essential” in New York City – the business closings and social distancing measures designed to stop the deadly coronavirus have produced catastrophic layoffs and losses of income.

And of the approximately 1.2 million city residents whose jobs we estimate will have vanished between mid-March and the end of April, roughly one in six – some 192,000 men and women – are undocumented immigrants.

(Our research finds that another 73,000 or so undocumented workers have been or will be displaced from their jobs elsewhere in

New York State.)

The sectors of the city’s economy hardest hit by job losses are largely what we identify as face-to-face services, led by restaurants and hotels (251,000 lost jobs), transportation and warehousing (155,000), non-essential retail (139,000), personal and other services (114,000), administrative and support services (100,000), and arts and entertainment (88,000).

These sectors encompass industries that rely very heavily on immigrant workers, including those who are undocumented.

Counting both wage workers and independent contractors, 63 percent of all restaurant and hotel workers are immigrants. Immigrants are also 65 percent of construction workers, 72 percent of those working in personal services, and 77 percent of private transport workers.

Our research found that immigrants working in New York City are 20 percent more likely than their native-born counterparts to have been dislocated in the current crisis (30 vs. 25 percent). And although precise numbers are understandably hard to nail down, we believe that layoffs have or will hit some 54 percent of the undocumented workers in the five boroughs – a rate twice the overall private sector job displacement rate.

Tragically and shortsightedly, these displaced workers have been left out of some of the key initial federal measures designed to cushion the blows of the Covid-19 economic contraction.

For example, the one-time payments of up to $1,200 per person most of us will (someday) receive won’t go to undocumented workers. That’s not because they’re not taxpayers; many faithfully pay income taxes to the IRS. But they do so by using “individual taxpayer identification numbers” (ITINs) rather than the Social Security numbers they’re ineligible for – and Congressional Republicans prevented ITIN holders from being able to receive these relief funds. Even “mixed-status” families with one ITIN wage-earner are ineligible if they file joint income tax returns.

Similarly, the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program created by Congress last month, which for the first time extends unemployment insurance benefits to independent contractors and other self-employed people, is closed to undocumented workers, whether they pay taxes or not.

State and local governments, aided by private philanthropies, are now attempting to fill in some of the unfair gaps in this Covid-19 safety net. California Governor Gavin Newsom said State government there plans to distribute $500 apiece to some 150,000 undocumented adults who were left out of the one-time Federal cash assistance effort. A group of charities has committed to raising another $50 million in private funds that would potentially offer benefits to another 100,000 people in California.

Also, the Open Society Foundations announced that it is granting $20 million to create an emergency relief fund providing direct one-time payments to up to 20,000 immigrant families in New York City who were excluded from the Federal relief program. Managed by the nonprofit Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City and the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, it will disburse $400 to individuals and $1,000 to families.

Recognizing that the pandemic’s economic fallout will not soon subside, New York State Senator Jessica Ramos announced legislation calling for ongoing payments to dislocated workers frozen out of other forms of economic relief—payments to continue for several months.

While these are welcome steps, they must be only the start of a broader effort to create a more just and humane city.

Because as we concluded in our recent report, the coronavirus crisis has laid bare “in a more visceral sense than before the stark precariousness of most lowwage work. This involves not only low pay but poor or no health insurance, little or no paid leave, no on-the-job health and safety protections, and only a shrinking and tattered safety net to fall back on.”

TEAM My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. —Hosea 4:6 Publisher I.Q. INC. Managing Editor & Editor-in-Chief

Pearl Phillip Legal Advisor Brian Figeroux, Esq. Assistant Editor Marilyn Silverman Graphic & Website Designers Praim Samsoondar Anvaar Sabirov Interns Sharif Tyler Casey Tong Contributors Jennine Estes Erin Telesford Janet Howard Mary Campbell Tarsha Gibbons Travis Morales Email info@myiqinc.com Telephone 718-771-0988 Website www.cawnyc.com “Precarious lives concentrated in crowded and poorly housed neighborhoods,” we warn, “have become an electromagnet in attracting the deadly virus.” If we don’t change those conditions, we may well all be living with that virus, and all its awful consequences, for a very long time.l James A. Parrott is director of economic and fiscal policies at the Center for New York City Affairs at The New School.

Lina Moe is a graduate student in economics at The New School. She is also a co-author of a recent Center for New York City Affairs report assessing the impact of New York’s $15 minimum wage.

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CIVIL RIGHTS

Accountable For Equality Calls Out Trump Administration and HHS Civil Rights Director for Scrapping LGBT Protections Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

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ccountable for Equality denounced the Trump Administration and Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) civil rights chief Roger Severino for working to end critical anti-discrimination protections for LGBT patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Trump Administration is rewriting regulations on to exclude LGBT people on Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act that, which bars health care discrimination based on sex and gender identity. Health experts have warned that rolling back these Obama-era protections could bring further harm to already-vulnerable patients.

Roger Severino, who formerly worked for the the anti-LGBT Heritage Foundation, has a long history of seeking to marginalize the LGBT community, notably criticizing bans on “reparative therapy” that is repeatedly discredited by science and publicly sharing his discriminatory views on same-sex marriage and

protections for transgender people.

“The way Roger Severino and the Trump Administration are blatantly taking advantage of this crisis to push forward their hateful agenda and strip away common sense LGBT protections is despicable and nonsensical,” said Accountable for Equality Spokesman Chris Fleming. “We are facing an

unprecedented health crisis, and rather than lead our country through this with dignity, Severino is focused on stripping away the rights of LGBT Americans and putting up additional hurdles to health care. Severino, who has made his antiLGBT views crystal clear, has no place leading the civil rights office of HHS. In the midst of a global pandemic, HHS

should be focused on more urgent issues than marginalizing a segment of Americans. ” “The COVID-19 pandemic has shone a bright and unflattering light on the disparities that already exist in our healthcare system, including the barriers to care faced by the LGBT community. This move by Severino will make seeking health care even less safe for vulnerable members of the LGBT community,” said Mara Keisling, Executive Director, National Center for Transgender Equality. “Implementing this HHS rule change at any time, but especially in the middle of a global health crisis, is an act of particular cruelty by Trump and Roger Severino.”

Amidst the COVID-19 crisis, Accountable for Equality is focusing its efforts to highlight those that are capitalizing on the pandemic to advance their own biased priorities that marginalize populations.

It’s #NoTimeForNonsense.l

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5

CORONAVIRUS

Are Objects Like Keys, Phone, Money COVID-19 Risk?

BY ALAN MOZES HEALTHDAY REPORTER VIA WEBMD

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n the brave new world of COVID-19, home is your sanctuary, the one place you want to be sure is virus-free.

But if you have to head outdoors, what are the best practices for decontaminating your things when you return home?

Does everything — smartphones, wallets, money and keys — need to be washed down with hot water and soap?

"We are all swimming through an invisible swamp of bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites," noted Dr. Stephen Berger, co-founder of the Global Infectious Diseases and Epidemiology Network in Tel Aviv, Israel. "Those bookshelves and those pictures on the wall are teeming with ugly microbes. Not to mention your cellular phone, wristwatch, eyeglasses and everything else in your world."

In fact, "the list of objects which could potentially be contaminated is endless," he cautioned.

But that does not mean that everything you take outdoors needs a biohazard scrub-down upon return, Berger added.

"The good news is that you are in no danger from most of this," said Berger.

"And you have no reason to compulsive-

ly avoid, or even clean, every object in your personal world. With one exception: your own hands!"

Why? Because when it comes to COVID-19 infection risk, "the true culprit here is your own hands," he said.

Which is not to say that inanimate objects don't pose any risk. They do, said Berger. And guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that people do clean their phones and electronics, either following the manufacturers' guidelines or by using wipes or sprays containing at least 70% alcohol.

"The current COVID-19 pandemic is caused by a virus. That virus will infect you through your nose or mouth, in most

cases because somebody coughed -- or perhaps only breathed — within a few feet of you," Berger said.

"But perhaps that same somebody coughed into his hand, or toward a nearby object, or simply opened a door. Later that day, you shake that hand in greeting, touch that table or grasp that doorknob.

And then, you use your own contaminated hand to eat a snack," he explained.

The potential risk: that you then get infected, and "for the next week or two, this virus is multiplying in your system," he added.

Money is a good example of the problem, Berger noted. "Few people realize that money is —as our mother told us many times — 'dirty.' Several researchers

have demonstrated an amazing variety of bacteria, parasites and other living things on paper bills."

New research scheduled for presentation this month at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases speaks to that concern.

Though the investigation, led by Johannes Knobloch of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Hamburg, Germany, didn't focus specifically on COVID-19, it did find evidence that European paper money — made of cotton fiber —is vulnerable to microbial contamination. (Coins, which are 75% copper in Europe, are less so.)

Still, "the solution here is not to throw your money away, or wash it in detergent," Berger said. Nor does it mean spraying your keys down with Lysol.

Instead, he suggested, the solution is "caution and hygiene."

"In terms of the COVID pandemic, 'caution' involves strict attention to avoiding potential sources of disease," said Berger, meaning wearing face masks and practicing social distancing. "While 'hygiene' must include careful and repeated hand-washing, antiseptics and chemical wipes are fine. But simple soap and water also does the job." l

NEW YORKERS:

STAY HOME TO STOP THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS New Yorkers working together and staying home can slow the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in New York City. When you go out for essential needs, work or to get fresh air, keep distance between yourself and others and take the following precautions.

PROTECT YOURSELF AND OTHERS • Keep at least 6 feet between yourself and others.

• Wash your hands with soap and water often.

• Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or sleeve when sneezing or coughing.

• Do not touch your face with unwashed hands.

• Monitor your health more closely than usual for cold or flu symptoms.

IF YOU ARE SICK • Stay home.

• If you have a cough, shortness of breath, fever, sore throat and do not feel better after 3-4 days, consult with your doctor.

• If you need help getting medical care, call 311.

• NYC will provide care regardless of immigration status or ability to pay.

PROTECT THE MOST VULNERABLE • Stay home if you have lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, cancer or a weakened immune system.

• Stay home and call, video chat or text with family or friends who have one of these conditions.

Text COVID to 692-692 for real-time updates or visit nyc.gov/coronavirus.

Call 311 to report harassment or discrimination. Call 888-NYC-WELL, text "WELL" to 65173 or chat online at nyc.gov/nycwell to connect with a counselor.

REDUCE OVERCROWDING • Stay home.

• Telecommute if possible.

If you do go out: • Stagger work hours away from peak travel times.

• Walk or bike.

• Do not gather in crowds.

Bill de Blasio Mayor Oxiris Barbot, MD Commissioner

*Messages and data rates may apply. Check your wireless provider plan for details.

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IN THE COMMUNITY

6

Building Glass Towers Atop of Our Bones

BY MICHAEL HOLLINGSWORTH

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t’s Friday afternoon, April the 10th. I glance over at my clock and it reads 4:50. I’ve spent the majority of my day struggling to breathe as my body and lungs try to recover from almost a month’s long battle with COVID-19. My morning started before dawn. I toss and turn in bed trying to find a comfortable position that might hopefully allow me to breathe and grab a few hours of sleep to give my body and mind the rest that it desperately needs. When that fails I decide to get up and start my day.

As I sit on the edge of my bed I look down and can see what I already felt: my chest unnaturally expanding in and out. I then prepare myself for what I know is going to be another miserable day. I pop a couple of Tylenol hoping to ease the pressure that has been building in the back of my head and force myself to eat a banana even though I haven’t had much of an appetite since I got sick.

After reading and returning some emails I talk to a neighbor, who along with her husband is also struggling with COVID19. We talk about our symptoms and experiences, the lack of information about this virus and wonder about the long term effects COVID-19 might have on our bodies and our community.

Shortly after that call, I receive a text

from another neighbor and friend who along with his spouse is also recovering from COVID-19. He tells me about a new testing center that has just opened in Brooklyn. I dial the number, fill out the intake form, and they promise that someone from the Department of Health will reach out to me soon.

When I hang up the phone I sit at my desk and think about all the things that have been weighing heavily on my mind these past few weeks. My health, work, rent, utilities, the well-being of friends and neighbors, and my inability to physically contribute to my community in the way that I’ve become accustomed. But I take some solace in knowing that at least soon I might be able to get some relief, and the burdens that have been weighing

on me as of late might be lessened. One less thing to stress about would surely help my mental and physical recovery.

But opportunists/profiteers are always on the prowl.

What makes this day even more painful and infuriating than the difficult days that preceded it is that I see that I have received an email from Oksana Wright.

Ms. Wright is an attorney from the law firm of Fox Rothschild LLP which represents the developer CP VI Crown Heights LLC, in our ongoing Franklin Ave. rezoning court case. For those of you not familiar with our history please see our explainer. Ms. Wright in part wrote: Since the Governor’s Executive Order 202.6 considers affordable housing construction to be essential, we respectfully

write the Court to seek guidance on whether this urgent matter could be further adjudicated by the Court via a pending or a separate application. We would also appreciate any guidance with respect to any currently planned changes to the Court’s operations that would allow this motion to proceed in the near future.

We hope you are safe during this difficult time.

Ms. Wright is using this as justification and claiming that the “affordable” housing they want to build is essential for our community. The same community they have never visited, which they admitted in court. The same court where NYS Supreme Court Judge Johnny Lee Baynes served before he died of COVID-19.

Justice Baynes determined a year ago that this project (including the unaffordable housing that it promises) should be put on hold until a determination was made regarding its legality.

We’ve spent the better part of that year watching these developers break the Temporary Restraining Order, get caught, and then attempt to use the Court of Appeals to override the TRO, fail, break the TRO again, get caught, be ordered to restore the site to its previous state, and then use the Court of Appeals to have that order stayed. These lawless developers continued on page 8

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The more New Yorkers who fill out the census, the more money we get for our: • Schools • Housing

• Senior Centers • Jobs

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THERE ARE NO QUESTIONS ABOUT IMMIGRATION OR CITIZENSHIP THE CENSUS IS EASY AND SAFE

Fill it out now at My2020census.gov or call 1-844-330-2020.

JUST 10 QUESTIONS:

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BY LAW, YOUR RESPONSES CANNOT BE SHARED:

• Fill out online • By phone • By mail

• Immigration • Citizenship

• Not with ICE • Not with the police

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IN THE COMMUNITY Glass Towers/ continued from page 6 and their legion of lawyers have now aimed their disrespect away from our predominantly Black community and aimed it at the rulings of two Black judges.

These men, like our neighborhood, have been mocked, ignored, and disrespected.

Why would a community want to welcome criminals who have already broken the law multiple times before they've even poured the concrete foundation of their destructive project? Nothing has changed about the case itself or the supposedly "essential" nature of Cornell Realty's proposed project. The only thing that has changed is that there are fewer and fewer of us left every day to keep fighting.

The developers have already stated they are going to only provide 140 “affordable” units for people whose income would have to be 60% of Area Median Income (about $60,000), thus creating rent burdened apartments in our community, whose AMI is $40,000. To add insult to injury, they chose an MIH (Mandatory Inclusionary Housing) option in which 25% of the units are supposed to be affordable, which should be 202 out of the 803 total residential units, so their plans to build only 140 will short change the community by 62 “affordable” units!

This offensively unaffordable project will speed up the cycle of secondary displacement that has already begun. For example, my building sits next to the lot that Ms. Wright’s employer seeks to colonize. Three years ago, as the Franklin Avenue rezoning began to work its way through the ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure) process, my landlord Joel Weiner and Pinnacle Group, perhaps speculating on the future of the neighbor-

8 Brooklyn has 31,279 confirmed cases and 2,811 deaths so far and they’re focused on colonizing. While black and brown people are dying at a higher rate than every other ethnic group in this city they’re focused on colonizing. They have no decency.

hood, set in motion a plan to convert my building from an 84-unit rent stabilized building into luxury condos.

In the cold winter of January 2017, Mr. Weiner (who is one of the worst evictors in Brooklyn) denied my pregnant neighbor’s request to be added to the lease of the apartment she had shared with her roommate for years. Mr. Weiner's conversion campaign also drove away my friends Jennie and Ben; in November 2017, after living here for a decade, they decided to move away instead of living through years of construction and uncertainty.

My current neighbor Margaret, after living here for almost two decades, has been given until July of 2020 (when COVID-19 is likely to still be raging) to vacate her apartment. Furthermore, when developers and landlords speculate and bring in new luxury housing the damage isn’t just contained to the block where the new luxury units will be built: two blocks away Shalom Drizin of Fieldbridge Associates, owner of Ebbets Field, has filed more than 1,800 eviction cases between 2014 and 2016 and is one of the worst evictors in Crown Heights.

We are living proof that building luxury units in low-income neighborhoods has a ripple effect.

At a time when we’re under attack from a new invisible enemy, the old one rears

its venomous self-serving head, looking to opportunistically strike during our moment of crisis, when the courts are mostly closed, and when we’re too busy fighting for our lives to devote the necessary attention to scrutinizing land use battles. There is a reason why the city put land use procedures on pause during this crisis, and it is precisely the pandemic profiteering that Cornell Realty Management LLC is attempting to carry out behind our beleaguered backs.

I’ve long since dispensed with the idea that these soulless developers or those they employ care about anything other than money. Their unfettered capitalism, endless greed, callous nature and disrespect for our community knows no bounds. While the bodies of our seniors are literally piling up they’re focused on colonizing.

Brooklyn has 31,279 confirmed cases and 2,811 deaths so far and they’re focused on colonizing. While black and brown people are dying at a higher rate than every other ethnic group in this city they’re focused on colonizing. They have no decency. They won’t even give us a moment to come to grips with the damage this pandemic has inflicted on our neighbors and community before they resume pouncing on us like a ravenous pack of jackals, lips still stained with blood and flesh stuck between their teeth

from their last two feedings.

Ms. Wright has a perverse definition of “essential.” In her email, she claimed that her client’s desired economic activities were “essential,” meaning that the restrictions that apply to everyone else in the pandemic should not apply to her client. But what’s truly essential is giving my community a chance to deal with this current pandemic. The nurses, the home health attendants, and the MTA workers who live in my building and neighborhood who are risking their health and lives every day are essential.

The 99 cent store and the pharmacy on the corner of Franklin Avenue and Carroll Street (which wouldn’t be there today if Cornell Realty Management LLC had immediately gotten its way) literally saved two of my friends' lives over the past few weeks as they both battled COVID-19; these local businesses are essential. My neighbors who made Crown Heights a community long before it became trendy are essential. Access to affordable health care is essential.

Increasing the number of condos and luxury (or “market-rate”) apartments in Southern Crown Heights is NOT essential.

There are a lot of similarities between developers and COVID-19. They both lack compassion and have disproportionately ravaged black and brown communities in New York City. COVID-19 invades our bodies and then uses its selfreplication machinery to destroy us from within. Developers and their agents invade our neighborhoods and then use our own elected officials, police, governmental agencies and courts to displace, disfranchise and destroy us from within.

COVID-19 wants our bodies and in too many cases our lives, and these developers and their agents want our land. Their goals are the same – to use us for their own benefit – and their endgame is the same – to extinguish our existence.l Michael Hollingsworth represents the Organizing Committee, Crown Heights Tenant Union. Hollingsworth is one of the parties that filed and is pursuing a lawsuit against the real estate industry for development along the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Michael has been battling for his life for over a month (COVID-19) and just had a relapse after writing this article. We are gravely concerned about his well being and we ask everyone to say a prayer for his recovery.

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9

FAMILY MATTERS

Blended Family Wedding? How to Handle Your Kids’ Breakdowns give them comfort, and acknowledge the difficulty of the situation for them. Offer a hug, and have family on standby to continue to comfort them during the wedding.

BY JENNINE ESTES, ESTES THERAPY

W

hen you are marrying someone new and one or both of you have children, there are bound to be some aches and pains along the way. Even if everyone gets along, it can be difficult for your kids to see you enter into a new marriage and have new siblings. Ideally, you can sit down with your kids and talk about how they’re handling things before your big wedding day. In the worst case scenario, your children will have a meltdown right before you walk down the aisle.

Here are some things you can do prevent a meltdown, or manage the drama if it happens.

Take Preventative Steps Instead of having an intervention for the “what if’s,” take the preventative steps to have the children feel included and reassured. Children often do not have the words to describe the complexity of their emotions. Your new marriage may be threatening to their bond with you, so the more reassured they feel in the relationship the less likely it is that distressing

Bring them Along If all else fails, bring your children down the aisle with you. Sometimes children won’t calm down unless they are attached to mom at the hip. Keeping them away from you may only make matters worse, heightening their emotions and escalating the drama. Avoid expecting that picture perfect wedding that you see in magazines, and expect a family perfect wedding instead.l

emotions will arise the day of the wedding. For example, take the little ones out on a date alone, and have a ceremony between you and your children. Don’t just marry the man of your dreams, make a commitment to your children as well.

The more they feel security in their relationship with you, the more comfortable they will feel with you showing love for someone else.

Take a Few Moments and Give Reassurance Even though you may want your wedding to be perfect, your kids must still come first. The wedding can be very confusing for your children, and if they don’t have the right words then tears are bound to spring up. If emotions do arise moments before the wedding starts, take a few moments to reassure your child,

About Jennine Estes, MFT is a Marriage and Family Therapist in San Diego, CA. Estes is certified in Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples and writes relationship and self-growth advice for her column, Relationships in the Raw. She is the creator of #BeingLOVEDIs campaign.

MFC#47653

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DIASPORA CONCERNS

10

DACA Recipients Brace for a World Without Legal Status

BY JOSEFA VELASQUEZ, THE CITY

E

ven before coronavirus made its way to New York, uprooting millions of lives, Raul Contreras was already living with a tremendous amount of anxiety over his future.

Like thousands of other New Yorkers who came to the United States as children, the 27-year-old may lose the legal protections and benefits granted under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program — the fate of which hangs on a Supreme Court decision expected in the coming weeks.

“Whether it’s me wanting to make a career move, or if I’m thinking about renewing my lease or moving in with my girlfriend or taking definitive steps in my future that will ultimately change my trajectory of my life, I have to be cognizant that ‘Hey, there’s this big expiration date over you,’” Contreras said of the possibility of DACA’s end.

And COVID-19, which both of Contreras’ parents are recovering from, has “added another layer of uncertainty.”

But the virus has also created “a shimmer of hope” for DACA to continue, Contreras noted.

That’s because roughly 27,000 DACA

Diana says her involvement with the Emmanuel Charismatic Church in Astoria has provided her a strong sense of community, seen on March 9, 2020. Photo: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

recipients across the country, out of 650,000 in all, work on the front lines as health care workers. On Monday the top court agreed to consider a new filing arguing that the Trump administration’s bid to end the “Dreamers” program should be blocked because of the pandemic.

“I think that’s a story that would influence whatever decision the Supreme Court wants to make on DACA,” he said.

DACA Under Attack In New York, the number of active DACA recipients has dropped in recent years — from 32,900 in September 2017 to 28,560 this December, according to federal immigration data. The declining figures reflect the Trump administration’s

push to end DACA, immigration experts say.

While the program is still accepting renewals for those who already have been granted deferred action, and has eased the renewal rules due to the pandemic, it stopped accepting new cases in October 2017.

To be eligible, applicants had to be younger than 16 when they arrived in the U.S., completed high school and not have a criminal history, among other criteria.

The outcome of the Supreme Court ruling could take many different shapes, but for DACA recipients worries of having their life upended have become the norm.

Instead, they’re focused on preparing for what comes next.

THE CITY spoke to several DACA recipients about what’s at stake for them, having known no home but New York.

‘You Can’t Go Back’ When the Supreme Court was hearing arguments on DACA in November, Contreras was stressed, so he did what any millennial would do: get a tattoo.

He got the word “valid” inked across his right forearm, a nod to the words “Not Valid for Work” that were stamped on the Social Security card he received shortly after arriving from Chile in 1993 when he was just a few months old.

Tattooed on his left forearm is a line from the Emma Lazarus poem cast into the bronze plaque on the Statue of Liberty: “yearning to breathe free.”

Throughout high school, Contreras was “disillusioned” and wondered what the point of college was. He was undocumented and would likely be following his father into catering work.

He was in college when DACA was announced and he was the only person left in his family who remained undocumented.

“I don’t think we had the time to celebrate. It just went straight to work,” Contreras said. “I think the first thing I did was apply to a local Radio Shack.”

In the years since his DACA was initially approved, he became a spokesperson for Mayor Bill de Blasio and is one of the few “Dreamers” who publicly talks about his immigration status.

Now that he’s confined to his Brooklyn apartment, Contreras is looking to get back into the public sector after working in corporate communications.

Despite the successes in his career, Contreras said his immigration status

looms over him like a dark cloud, casting a shadow on every decision he makes.

“I hate the fact that this is the thing that may define anything I do in the future,” Contreras said of his immigration status.

“And I try for it not to be. So right now I’m only focused on saving a lot of money and being able to still have some independence if the worst case scenario were to happen.”

He added, “If it does, the one thing I really want folks that are going through the same thing [to know] is you can’t go back into the shadows. You can’t.”

His DACA, along with his work authorization, is set to expire in December. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services suggest that DACA recipients renew their status 150 days before expiration, putting Contreras’ renewal window in July, a month after the deadline the Supreme Court is expected to make a decision by.

‘I Feel Really Guilty’ If it were up to Monica, she would have “definitely waited” to get married and have a big religious ceremony that befits an Indian wedding.

Instead, the 25-year-old attorney and her highschool sweetheart went to the Queens City Clerk’s office in January to sign the paperwork that legally wedded the pair.

It marked a bittersweet moment for Monica, which is not her real name. She’s undocumented, and her marriage to her longtime boyfriend is step one in a yearslong process to become a legal resident of the country she’s called home since she was 12.

Her nuptials were expedited because of concerns she could soon lose her DACA. The work permit Monica was issued under the program expires in October, and the earliest she could renew her status is next month. Without the work permit, she could lose her job at a major Manhattan law firm.

For a while, Monica’s now-husband had been suggesting that the pair hurry up and get hitched. “He’s obviously seen me struggle with this and is happy to help out,” she said.

As the spouse of a U.S. citizen, Monica can now begin the process to apply for a green card. The couple has already hired an attorney to help navigate the complicated and expensive legal process.

She suddenly has a pathway out of being undocumented while some of her friends in the same situation aren’t as fortunate. “I feel really guilty,” Monica said.

And if Monica becomes a U.S. citizen — a process that usually takes roughly five years — her undocumented Indian parents would likely be eligible for green cards through immediate relative petitioning. If she petitioned for her younger brother, he could be waiting for close to 15 years before a visa becomes available In the summer of 2012, when thenPresident Barack Obama announced DACA from the Rose Garden of the White House, Monica’s life changed.

continued on page 11

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11

DIASPORA CONCERNS DACA Recipients/ continued from page 10 “It was just amazing on so many levels because it felt like just that one thing completely removed so many barriers from my path,” she told THE CITY. She began taking driving lessons, something she couldn’t do before because of her immigration status, and got an internship.

Even though she recently became an attorney, Monica didn’t listen to the Supreme Court arguments last year over DACA and doesn’t keep tabs on the news.

“Once you start thinking about it, it’s hard to stop. I’ve had to deal with this, and I feel like most DACA recipients have had to, from such a young age. We’ve had to deal with that kind of trauma and that level of anxiety and the overall bad experiences that come from that,” she said.

“It’s so sad and problematic,” Monica added. “Most people turn out OK and it shapes you for the better. But to me, it also stole my childhood.”

‘Pushes Me to Go Further’ Diana is the only one of her siblings who is undocumented. The 22-year old was born in Mexico, while her older sister and two younger siblings were born in the United States.

Her mom had returned to her native Mexico after her eldest was born, thinking the family would settle in their home country. “Little did she know that two years later she would come back,” said Diana, who did not want her last name published.

She never felt left out because of her

immigration status. Diana’s parents are also undocumented, and it’s not like they did a lot of traveling, she recalled.

The family had been watching Univision when they first heard the news about DACA in 2012. The next day Diana and her parents left their East Elmhurst home and went to the Mexican consulate in Manhattan for more information.

She was too young to apply and had to wait until she turned 15 to file the paperwork for DACA. In high school, she “didn’t understand the value” of having a Social Security number and work authorization. But the realization set in during college, when she started applying for various internships and programs.

She graduated a semester early from Baruch College in December and is now getting her master’s degree in international affairs while working for an immigration advocacy group. Diana plans on going to law school, although she hasn’t made up her mind whether she wants to be a prosecutor or a defense attorney.

Diana’s DACA expires in October 2021, just as she’ll be nearing the end of her master’s program and getting ready to apply to law school.

“Yes, it’s going to be a challenge and obstacle,” Diana said of DACA possibly ending. “But I guess it also pushes me more to go further.”

By the time Diana finishes law school, she’s “really hoping that the [immigration] movement does advance to a much further degree to actually have something done federally.”

Raul Contreras shows his “VALID” tattoo on March 5, 2020. Photo: Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY Missed Opportunity Zara K., 33, grew up “super, super privileged.” Her mother was a doctor and her father had been involved in politics in Morocco and had an import-export business.

But the family was devastated in 1998 when her younger sister was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver who plowed into the 8-year-old as she stood on a sidewalk. Zara says her father started drinking after the tragedy.

Zara, which is her middle name, and her family came to Brooklyn in February 2000. After 9/11, traveling to and from certain countries became increasingly difficult.

Her parents went back to Morocco to tie up some loose ends with their businesses while she and her sister stayed with an uncle.

“Everyone’s visas — everything just got screwed up. To think back from there, a

decision was made and it was not by me,” Zara said.

She recalls all of the missed opportunities because of her immigration status.

She’s turned down school recruiters and a job prospect as a translator.

She and another sister dropped out of Hunter College because their mom was sick. Being undocumented, they couldn’t apply for financial aid. The family needed the tuition money to pay for her mom’s medical treatment, which cost more than $100,000, Zara recalled.

When DACA was announced, it was “a huge relief” because she didn’t want to rush to get married to gain a pathway toward citizenship. She applied immediately.

“I didn’t want to get married to someone I didn’t want. I know so many things can go wrong. Everyone said, ‘You’re not thinking straight. You’re wasting time,’” Zara said. When DACA happened, “It was just like, OK, there is hope.”

She renewed her DACA in the fall, making it valid until October 2021.

If the program were to end, one of her sisters could petition for her, but in the meantime, Zara’s been building up her savings and putting away some of her paycheck just in case.

But the stress of the pandemic threatens to damage her finances, Zara said.

“The anxiety and uncertainty is challenging while worrying about one’s health, as well as family and extended family back home.”l This story was originally published on April 22, 2020 by THE CITY.

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EDUCATION

12

Nearly 20K NYC Students Still Missing Promised IPads

BY ALEX ZIMMERMAN & JESSICA GOULD THE CITY, ADDITIONAL REPORTING

BY REEMA AMIN

F

ive weeks after New York City moved to remote learning, 19,000 students who requested devices still don’t have them. The education department has pledged to deliver them by the end of the month.

Department officials and educators have been mobilizing to fill the technology gap — mailing hard copies of assignments home, dropping off 175,000 devices that schools already owned, and distributing 231,0000 of 300,000 newly purchased iPads since online learning began.

Despite that massive mobilization, big challenges remain. The department is still working to ascertain the true number of students without devices.

Many students have gone weeks without consistent access to schoolwork and have slipped further behind their peers.

Even families who are now getting devices might have difficulty getting up to speed using them. On top of that, many low-income families may be dealing with food insecurity, job losses, and disproportionate health impacts of the coronavirus.

‘It’s Beyond Frustrating’ Six-year-old Dakari Bolton, a kindergartener who lives in a Manhattan shelter, did not receive an iPad from the education department until last week — more than a month after his school shut its doors — even though officials said they prioritized students in temporary housing for devices.

“It’s beyond frustrating,” said Keyshawn Woodbury, Dakari’s mother, noting that he receives special education services that have not completely resumed. “I want him to keep the writing up and to learn the letters.”

Though five of Dakari’s siblings received iPads, Dakari relied primarily on a paper packet of work his school sent during the first week of remote learning.

When he exhausted that packet, it took days of back-and-forth communications for his school to create and send a new one.

Even then, the updated assignments weren’t easy to obtain. The school sent the worksheets to one of the education department hubs that are still open for the children of essential workers, Woodbury said, a significant walk from their shelter and out of reach.

“It’s just a lot — you’re fighting with the [education department], you’re fighting to keep a roof over your kid’s head,” Woodbury said, adding that her son’s education is “at a standstill.”

She’s struggling to help her other children, too. Woodbury is not sure how to check whether they are getting assignments on their iPads.

Department officials said the delay in

Queens teacher Monique Lee goes to the post office every week to mail paper assignments to students who lack access to technology.

Photo: Courtesy of Monique Lee

Dakari’s iPad was due to a data entry snafu.

Massive Cuts Planned The bulk purchase of iPads comes as Mayor Bill de Blasio has proposed cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from the education department’s budget amid the coronavirus pandemic. The total cost of the 300,000 devices is just over $269 million, including three months of unlimited internet access.

The department received about $42 million in discounts on the devices, cases, and internet plans and may be eligible for federal funding to help cover the cost, officials said. It comes out to about $897 per device, including the case, internet, and a three-year warranty.

“We have always said that despite financial hardships we will not spare any resource needed for learning, and we decided on iPads because Apple could commit to producing devices on a large scale in a short time frame and give students connectivity without Wi-Fi,” Miranda Barbot, an education department spokesperson, said in a statement.

It’s likely that thousands more students, who may not have initially requested devices, still need them. “We still think there are kids out there who need help and we don’t know,” de Blasio told reporters. “We’ve asked school administrators and teachers to identify any families they think may not have a device and reach out and confirm whether they do or don’t.”

Many families assumed that schools would only be closed for a few weeks and figured they could rely on smartphones as a stopgap or didn’t realize they could request a device for each child, observers said.

“I don’t think the need has been satisfied by any means,” said Rachel Forsyth, who helps supervise school programs for Good Shepherd Services, a non-profit that partners with dozens of city schools.

Last week alone, Good Shepherd distributed 400 laptops to students that the organization bought or were donated.

‘Need for Connection’ Distributing laptops isn’t just about giving students access to online learning — it can also help families locate the nearest food bank or simply give students a way of connecting to their peers and stave off feelings of isolation.

“That need for connection and belonging and being in a space with other people who you know care about you is just huge right now,” said Forsyth, whose organization has also been providing a lot of technical support to families on how to use devices.

Skylynn Lozada, a senior at West Brooklyn Community High School, struggled to complete schoolwork for weeks as she shared a single smartphone with her brother.

“It was really hard to do school work and stay focused,” she said, recalling an economics essay she tried to type out on her phone, only to realize later she was far short of the 15-page length requirement. “It’s a little screen, everything is set up differently from how it would be on an actual laptop.”

Lozada got some relief after her principal delivered one of the school’s laptops to her doorstep a couple weeks after remote learning began. But she and her brother are still relying on her smartphone for internet access, which frequently runs out of data.

She also worries about staying motivated amid all the upheaval. Her father, a construction worker, lost his income.

Even though Lozada’s high school is an alternative program that specializes in serving students who have fallen behind at traditional schools, she is nervous about completing all her work.

“I wake up, and I dread it. I don’t want to stare at a screen all day,” she said.

“I’m going to try to do it, but my motivation is just slowly not there.”

Going Old School To help make sure students like Lozada don’t lose access, some educators have built mini logistics operations of their own.

Queens teacher Monique Lee has been

mailing out paper packets to students every week for the last month. She estimates that about a quarter of students at the High School for Construction Trades, Engineering and Architecture didn’t have a device when her school building shut down.

“I found out which kids we hadn’t been hearing from, and I thought, ‘Hey, old school mail always works,’” Lee said.

She makes a trip to the post office on Thursdays and said students snap photos and send her pictures of completed worksheets. “The biggest obstacle is me wearing my N95 mask while my glasses get fogged.”

In Brooklyn, M.S. 88 science teacher Lynn Shon has amplified her students’ need for devices on social media with links to a Google spreadsheet — and has had success matching her students with donated computers.

But as her efforts have expanded to other students in her school, it’s begun to feel a bit like whack-a-mole.

“I got a device for a student only to find out he had three siblings who didn’t have one,” she said. “Multiple school age children in a household with one device is a big barrier as well.” She said she has now matched 33 students with devices and continues to field requests.

“I don’t want to send the message to the world that it’s the responsibility of the teacher to be a social worker, to be the tech provider. But I can’t watch my students not participate in school because they don’t have a device,” she said.

“We’re all searching for comfort right now, and for me, comfort comes from knowing I’m doing the best I can.” l This is part of an ongoing collaborative series between Chalkbeat and WNYC/Gothamist reporting the effect of the coronavirus outbreak on how New York students learn and on how educators teach.

This story was originally published on April 26, 2020 by THE CITY.

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13

MONEY MATTERS

What’s the Deal With Coronavirus Stimulus Checks, and How Do I Get One? Smith, who encourages recipients to use an online calculator like this easy-to-use option from The Washington Post.

BY KRISTEN DOERER, PROPUBLICA

D

on’t procrastinate when creating an advance care plan. Age isn’t the only factor that should be considered. A medical crisis that leaves you too ill to make your own decisions could strike at any time.

At the end of March, the federal government passed a $2.2 trillion bipartisan emergency coronavirus relief package, offering some of the most hard hit a much needed stopgap. The legislation includes small business loans and coronavirus stimulus checks for low- and middleincome Americans.

Will I get a coronavirus stimulus emergency check?

You should receive a coronavirus stimulus check if you meet all of the following criteria: •You have a Social Security number.

•You are a U.S. citizen or legal immigrant.

•You are not claimed as a dependent on someone else’s tax return.

•You make less than $99,000 as an individual, $136,500 as a head of household

Editorial credit: Jason Raff / Shutterstock.com

or $198,000 as a married couple who filed their taxes jointly.

•You have filed or will file your 2018 or 2019 taxes; are taking Social Security, Supplemental Security Income, Social Security Disability Insurance, Veterans Affairs or Railroad Retirement benefits; or if you legally are not required to pay income tax (known as a “non-filer”), you give basic information to the IRS via the “Non-filers: Enter Payment Info Here” tool.

How much will I receive?

How much you will receive depends on your income. You will receive the full stimulus check amount of $1,200 if you made less than $75,000 as an individual or $112,500 as a head of household.

Married couples who filed their taxes jointly and made less than $150,000 will receive $2,400.

Parents will also receive an additional $500 for each qualifying child — that is, children under 17 who are claimed as dependents.

Individuals who made between $75,000 and $99,000, married couples who made between $150,000 and $198,000, and heads of households who made between $112,500 to $136,500 will receive a reduced stimulus check. The payment amount is reduced by $5 for every $100 made above the $75,000 threshold for individuals, $112,500 threshold for a couple or $150,000 for heads of household.

The cutoff range is higher for those with kids, according to IRS spokesperson Eric

When will I get the check?

The IRS will begin sending money via direct deposit first. It started sending out the “checks” via direct deposit the week of April 13, 2020 and will continue to send them throughout the summer. Most eligible Americans will have received their payments by April 17, according to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. If the IRS put your refund (from 2018 or 2019) into a bank account — that’s how you’ll get the money.

If you did not get a tax refund and instead owed money, you can read eligibility requirements and check on the status of your payment on the IRS website.

The IRS may need more information from you on where to send the check.

The first paper checks will be sent on April 24 to the lowest-income Americans who make $10,000 or less, according to reporting by the Post. On May 1, paper checks will be sent to Americans making between $10,000 and $20,000, on May 8, to Americans making $20,001 to continued on page 14

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MONEY MATTERS Stimulus Check/ continued from page 13 $30,000, and so forth.

You can find out more about how you will get the money by using the IRS’ “Filers: Get My Payment” tool.

How do I sign up to receive a stimulus check?

The IRS will automatically determine your eligibility and calculate your check.

There is no need to sign up if you submitted your 2018 or 2019 tax return or are taking Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income, Veterans Affairs or Railroad Retirement benefits; you will automatically be sent money.

If you do not fall into the above categories and are not what the IRS considers a “non-filer,” you will need to submit your 2019 tax return.

Do I have to use a tax preparer like TurboTax or H&R Block to get my check?

No. If the IRS does not have tax information on you and you do not have to pay taxes, you can sign up at the IRS page: “Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info Here”.

If you are required to pay taxes, the “Filers: Get My Payment” tool lets you check the status of your stimulus check, including where and when it will be sent.

The IRS stimulus product is built by Intuit, the maker of TurboTax. On April 15, ProPublica published a look at the

company’s competing “stimulus registration product.” Though the product is marketed as “free,” we found multiple trap doors leading users to paid products.

Also, TurboTax users sign away their personal data to the Silicon Valley firm, which the company can use to pitch third-party financial products to its customers.

What if I didn’t file my taxes?

You will need to submit your 2019 tax return UNLESS you: •Receive Social Security •Receive Supplemental Security Income •Receive Social Security Disability Insurance benefits •Receive VA benefits •Are a railroad retiree •Are a “non-filer” There are many ways to file for free with the IRS’ Free File program. The deadline for federal income taxes has been pushed back from April 15 to July 15, 2020.

What if I’m not legally required to file my taxes?

If you are a legal non-filer, you two options: You can register for economic impact payments via the Treasury Department and the IRS’ new “Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info” web tool. You will need to provide basic personal information such as your birthdate, Social Security number, and the names and ages of your dependents. People who are not legally

14 required to file a tax return include individuals who made less than $12,200 or married couples who made less than $24,400 in 2019.

You can file your taxes via the IRS Free File options — which are free — and you may be eligible for a refund, too.

Those taking Social Security, Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income, VA or Railroad Retirement benefits will receive $1,200 checks without having to file a tax return. However, if you have dependents under the age of 17 and have not filed a tax return, you will want to register via the IRS’ “Non-Filers: Enter Payment Info” web tool to receive the additional $500 per qualifying child.

Will the check be sent to my address?

If you provided your direct deposit information when you filed your taxes AND received a tax refund, the IRS will deposit the check directly to your bank account. Otherwise, it will send a paper check to the address you last used to file taxes, even if you do not live there.

The IRS doesn’t have my bank account information. How can I get my check sooner?

The IRS’ “Get My Payment” tool allows you to provide the government with your direct deposit information, so you won’t have to wait for a paper check and can get your money deposited to your bank account immediately.

What if I qualify for a stimulus check but owe the IRS money?

These checks are being treated differently than your tax return. You will still receive the stimulus check even if you owe money to federal or state agencies, with some exceptions like outstanding child support.

Is this a loan? Is it an advance on next year’s tax refund? Will I have to pay taxes for the stimulus check next year?

No, no and no. The stimulus check is a no-strings-attached payment.

What if I qualify for the stimulus check based on my 2018 tax return but don’t qualify based on my 2019 tax return?

The stimulus check will be based off of the most recent tax return you filed.

If you filed your 2018 taxes but have not filed your 2019 taxes, you can wait to file your 2019 taxes until you receive the check. But don’t miss the new July 15 deadline to file your taxes; taxpayers who file late will still face penalties and fees. The longer you wait to file your taxes, the longer it takes to receive your tax refund.l

Kristen Doerer is a reporter in Washington, D.C. Her writing has appeared in PBS NewsHour, The Guardian and The Chronicle of Higher Education, among others.

NY WORKERS’ COMPENSATION Are you working? Have you been injured on the job?

Was it a serious injury as defined under NY Workers’ Compensation Law? If yes, then call Figeroux & Associates for a FREE Consultation at 718-222-3155.

Why Should I Hire A Lawyer?

In addition to being eligible for workers' compensation, you may also have a claim against a party other than your employer. That is why it is so important to seek assistance from our experienced team.

Workers who know their rights and speak to a lawyer put themselves in a better position to obtain a recovery.

Find Out What Our Firm Can Do For You The Law Firm of Figeroux & Associates. Call us at 718-222-3155.

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15

NURSING HOME ABUSE & NEGLECT Nursing Homes/ continued from page 1 “It was almost a miracle,” another daughter, Toni Freda, told THE CITY. “We’re, like, ecstatic. My father’s coming home? Like, this is insane.”

Freda’s family believes he contracted the coronavirus while living at the Bensonhurst Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare, which has reported 34 deaths to the state Department of Health.

That’s nearly one dead resident for every six living there as of February — the highest share reported to the state by any nursing home in New York City.

Freda’s loved ones say they were never informed that coronavirus was in the building, even as the pathogen tore through the 200-bed facility where he was doing a rehab stint.

With the good news from the hospital, Cheryl and Toni prepared for their father’s homecoming.

They got gloves, masks and gowns to help care for him while he’d be quarantined in his southern Brooklyn apartment. They went grocery shopping to stock up on food. Their sister who lives in Boston was prepared to travel to Brooklyn to help care for their father.

“The next day they call us and tell us that he took a turn for the worse and he wasn’t gonna make it again. That was on his birthday. He died on Easter Sunday,” Toni said.

Freddie Freda — a “practical joker” who enjoyed but never quite mastered

Freddie Freda with his family before passing away from the coronavirus.

Photo: Courtesy of Freda Family

Facebook — was one of the 3,601 nursing home and adult care residents who had died of the virus as of April 25, according to state data.

On April 16, following complaints from relatives of nursing home residents, Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order that aimed to put families like the Fredas at peace. Homes are now required to notify relatives of residents within 24 hours about any infections or deaths within their facilities or face a $2,000 per violation, per day fine.

Earlier in the month, state Health Commissioner Howard Zucker had urged nursing homes to give such notice to families.

But people with loved ones inside nursing homes say they remain frustrated and frightened — and those who have

already lost family members say the governor’s action comes too little, too late.

Fatal Rehab Freddie Freda went to the hospital in late February for a urinary tract infection. He had Parkinsons and told doctors he had fallen in his apartment previously, but he wasn’t hurt.

Doctors asked if he wanted to go to the rehabilitation center for a few weeks to build his strength, Toni recalled.

Sure, Freddie said.

Then the facility went on lockdown in mid-March, following state orders to limit visitors in an effort to prevent the virus from entering nursing homes. Toni said she and her family had a difficult time getting updates on her father.

They finally got a FaceTime call from

him, with help from a staff member, but only after posting on the facility’s Facebook page and asking for help on a Bay Ridge parent Facebook group.

“He was totally out of it — delusional.

He went in there with a totally sane mind,” Toni said. “He was telling us they were under a lockdown and they were being held hostage.”

Toni and her sister called the facility daily to ask if there were suspected COVID cases at the Bensonhurst home.

“Nothing, nothing, nothing. They kept telling us nothing,” she said.

That is, until April 2nd.

That’s when the center called to say that Freddie was being rushed by ambulance to Methodist Hospital because he had symptoms of the coronavirus — a fever and labored breathing. He had also lost weight.

“That was the first time we ever heard anything about the coronavirus there,” Toni said.

Few FaceTime Calls Freddie Freda is not counted among the 34 COVID fatalities at the Bensonhurst Center for Rehabilitation and Health Care because he died at a hospital, not on the premises of the center.

Neither is Frances, who died at 92 after what was supposed to be a three-week stay at the center, according to her daughter Vivian, who asked that their last names not be used. continued on page 16

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NURSING HOME ABUSE & NEGLECT Nursing Homes/ continued from page 15 Frances had suffered a stroke in late February that left the left side of her body “a little weak,” so at the suggestion of her doctors at Maimonides Medical Center, her family placed her at the nursing home, where she could get physical therapy.

Six weeks after arriving at the nursing home on February 26, “this little Italian lady,” described as a ”bulldog” by her daughter, died after contracting the coronavirus at the facility.

“I’m disgusted. I’m just, like, disgusted with how they treated my mom,” said Vivan.

Until the nursing home banned visitors in mid-March, Frances’ 93-year old husband would spend every day at the facility making sure his partner of nearly 70 years was being cared for — bringing homemade food for his wife, who was a picky eater, and making sure she was dressed.

After the nursing home went on lockdown, Frances’ family had difficulty getting updates on her condition, Vivian said. The family was promised FaceTime calls, but they seldom occurred.

No-Virus Assurance Their first indication that COVID-19 may have infiltrated the nursing home came by accident nearly four weeks ago.

An employee who answered Vivian’s call let it slip that some staff were on a mandatory two-week quarantine.

But the Bensonhurst Center employee assured her that no one was sick with the virus.

After failing to get in touch with nursing home staff on other occasions, Vivian called the nurse’s station again the morning of April 6 and was told that her mother’s breathing was “not as strong as it was.” “‘You should have called me,’” Vivian recalled. “I said, ‘I want her in the hospital.’”

The Bensonhurst Center sent Frances to the emergency room at Maimonides, where her husband and family were finally able to see her. She had a fiveinch bed sore along her back, according to Frances’ family.

A doctor confirmed that she had the virus and put Frances on oxygen, according to Vivian.

“She looked like she recognized us. She looked like she was happy. Even the doctor said, ‘I see a change in her when you guys came here,’” said Vivian.

Still, Vivian had a sinking feeling.

“When they brought her in, she wasn’t the same. We felt like she was going to pass now,” she said.

“We went to see her on Good Friday, April 10th, and that was it. They called us to come say goodbye ’cause they said her breathing was disintegrating faster now. So we went, and within minutes we told them to take her off the monitor because it wasn’t really doing anything to her. She passed away,” Vivian said.

This past week, some relatives of residents at the Bensonhurst Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare began receiving letters dated April 6 alerting

16 Nursing Home Violations/ continued from page 1

families that a patient who was admitted to the center tested positive for COVID19 earlier this month.

But those warnings never came or came too late, Freddie and Frances’ families said.

The letter one relative received was stamped on April 7 and processed by the U.S. Postal Service on April 14. They didn’t get it until last week.

Efraim Acker, the administrator at the center, said in an email that all families “were indeed notified by general correspondence and individually” that there were cases of COVID-19 at the facility.

“While you did not provide us with any resident names and Federal Law prevents us from commenting on care provided to specific residents, Bensonhurst Center for Rehabilitation and Healthcare has historically been rated one of the top skilled nursing facilities in New York both overall and for quality of care,” he said in response to THE CITY’s questions.

Reunited for Brief Moments In Harlem, Charles Wilson, 60, says he still hasn’t heard a thing from Northern Manhattan Rehab and Nursing Center, even nearly two weeks after his wife, Florine, died after living there for a dozen years.

His very thin silver lining: At a time when family members are usually forbidden to be with hospitalized loved ones, Charles was able to see Florine, his wife of four decades, during her final days of life. He works as a cleaner in Mount Sinai Hospital’s palliative care unit and arranged to have her transferred there after she fell ill in late March.

Once she was admitted, he extended his usual Monday-to-Friday work schedule to seven days a week so he could visit his wife — usually at the beginning and end of each shift, about 10 minutes at a time.

“I wouldn’t touch her,” Wilson explained. “But I would go in, talk to her, put the kids on FaceTime. Each time, I would pray for her.”

Their time together came after weeks of separation while she grew sicker in the nursing home.

Northern Manhattan shut its doors to visitors March 16 — the day federal nursing home regulators required guests to be excluded to reduce the risk of infec-

tion. For two weeks after that, said Wilson, communication with the nursing home was inconsistent at best.

Florine moved into the nursing home in 2008, a few years after retiring from the New York Department of State, where she worked as a license inspector.

Northern Manhattan Nursing and Rehab Center did not respond to requests for comment. As of April 25, Northern Manhattan Rehab and Nursing Center has reported nine COVID deaths to the state.

Wilson contends he often had to call the front desk multiple times to be transferred to a line that connected to Florine’s room, which she shared with another resident. Sometimes, he would reach medical staff.

“I would call and the nurses would say, ‘Oh, she’s eating fine, yeah, she’s drinking,” he recalled.

At no point did the home tell him that she had or was suspected to have COVID-19, nor that anyone else in the facility was infected.

“How did she end up in the hospital, then? It doesn’t make any sense.”

the system, we launched a hotline where residents, families, or members of the public can share complaints about nursing homes that have not provided required communications with families about COVID-19 diagnoses or fatalities.

The hotline will also accept complaints about nursing home abuse and neglect, including failure to follow rules to keep residents safe. Every nursing home should be provided with adequate PPE and testing, and enhanced infection control protocols must be implemented to protect residents. I am grateful to the workers in our nursing homes who continue to serve and support our vulnerable residents. These workers deserve our respect and must also be tested and protected during this time. My office will continue to work hard to protect residents of nursing homes and make sure their rights are preserved during this crisis and beyond.”

Individuals can file confidential complaints about nursing homes to the OAG online or by calling 833-249-8499.l

Final Words Finally, the home called Wilson on March 29. Florine had stopped eating and drinking. A doctor at the facility determined she needed to be hospitalized, a nurse told Wilson. Please send her to Mount Sinai, Wilson urged.

The physician at the Mount Sinai ER found she had an advanced urinary tract infection, was “extremely dehydrated” and had COVID-19.

Wilson said his wife had “her eyes in over her head” when she was admitted to the emergency room that day. She slipped into a coma 14 hours later.

Florine passed away on April 15. She is survived by her husband, her six children, one of whom she shared with Charles, and six grandchildren. She was 74 years old.

He remembers that day she was admitted to the hospital vividly, he says, because that’s the last time he heard his wife speak.

“I asked if she could hear me, and she said yes,” Wilson recalled. “And then I asked, ‘Who am I?’ and she said, ‘My husband. Charles Wilson.’”l This story was originally published on April 26, 2020 by THE CITY.

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17

NURSING HOME ABUSE & NEGLECT

Important Information about Bed Sore Injury Cases

BY TIFFANY DAVIS

L

ong-term residents of nursing homes often fall prey to various complications related to a sedentary lifestyle. Their personal health status will often be the defining factor when activity and movement are considered by medical staff. Some of these living situations, however, are less than adequate.

Neglect, unfortunately, is a common occurrence and can result in the development of bed sores, among other health issues. A loved one in nursing home care should be monitored regularly by family and friends to assess the standard of care.

If a bed sore should appear and worsen while in the facility, there are some options to consider before seeking legal recourse.

Bed Sore Facts Bed sores appear on the skin and can reach all the way to the bone in severe cases. These sores are caused by the sedentary lifestyle of elderly and ill patients. Pressure from one's own weight, while remaining in one bodily position long term, causes the decrease in blood flow and oxygen to the area. The tissue eventually becomes infected and dies.

This open wound can lead to serious secondary infections and even death. The best treatment is prevention with proper care and movement of the patient. They can be very difficult to control and cure once the descent of health is underway.

First Appearance of the Sore and Documentation It is necessary to have proper evidence of the nursing home's role in the bed sore issue. Check the person in care at every visit, so you can be sure of the exact date of the bed sore's appearance. If the patient will be sent from hospital care directly to a nursing home, have the hospital staff check and document the condition of the skin prior to discharge. This will help to show evidence of prior bed sore absence or condition. You will also be able to tell if the affected area improves or worsens while in residence at the nursing home in question. Evidence of the negative progression of the bed sore is a necessity when defending your loved one in legal

encounter.

Your lawyer will ask for any documentation you have collected in relation to the case you are proposing. Preparation for this will involve your dedication to retrieval of medical records, dated pictures of the sore, and securing of witnesses. Be sure to meet with the doctor on appointment days. Ask for written documentation of the bed sore progression.

You can also form your own written notes when you go for visits. These notes should accompany pictures taken on a digital device where a time stamp is included. Be sure to also include the treatment plan from the nursing home staff and documentation of daily medications and applications. This treatment plan should include regular removal of the patient's weight from the offending area.

If you visit and repeatedly find the patient in the same position, they are at risk for increased amount of bed sores, as well as the deterioration of present ones.

Are Bedsores Cause for a Lawsuit?

The answer to this may vary from case to case. This is why proper documentation of the issue is so important. Cases where bed sore lawsuits may be advisable are those where the condition first appears in the new residential location, and where a worsening of a present condition is observed. Secondary infections, further health complications and fatalities are also circumstances that may warrant legal action. If the nursing home staff can gath-

er enough evidence to prove they are properly treating the symptoms and show improvement in the status of the sore, you may need to hold off on pressing for legal compensation.

Bedsore Settlement Amounts Settlements that are approved in bed sore cases will vary in the final amounts offered. These variances will be due to the different stages of health concerns related to the bed sore. If the bed sore is fairly new, and has worsened minimally, your compensation will be on the lower side. Bed sores that lead to secondary infection and surgical procedures will obtain a much higher amount.

Compensation can reach in to the millions when severe health problems come about. You can expect most cases to remain at 1 million or under, usually in the hundreds of thousands. Abuse and neglect are often determined to be the cause of these cases, leading to employee removal and facility reorganization, as well. These costs are considered to be related to health expenses, emotional trauma, and sometimes funeral necessities.

Who Pays for Bed Sore Treatment in Nursing Homes?

Medical procedures are usually covered by the patient's insurance once they are residing in a nursing home. Many elderly rely on state funded insurance plans.

These plans can have strict policies on

coverage or denial of specific ailments. In the case of bed sores, treatment cost may be expected to be covered by the institution that failed to properly prevent the development of the sores. Since bed sores usually happen when patients are bedridden, it is up to facility staff to follow proper prevention procedures. If a patient wins a legal case against a nursing home, care costs will then fall to the nursing home or be included in the settlement price. Out of pocket expenses are not usually incurred by sores that come into being in a certified and licensed care facility.

Compensation Legal action is best pursued under the supervision of a legal firm knowledgeable with similar cases. Take the time to meet with a legal representative claiming past experience with nursing home and bed sore cases. A decent amount of medical knowledge is necessary to ensure excellent representation. There is hope for the possibility of compensation in relation to bed sore symptoms and obstacles.

How do you find our if you have a legal case or can be compensated? Call the Law Office of Figeroux & Associates for a FREE consultation at 855-758-8845.

Remember, the lawyer you hire, does make a difference! Get the right information, to make the right decision for yourself and your family.l

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NURSING HOME ABUSE & NEGLECT

18

Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse Are Very Real

BY MARY CAMPBELL

T

he United States Census Bureau estimates that within three decades those persons age sixty-five or older will make up 20% of the population, i.e., an estimated 60 million persons.

As the "baby boomer" population ages, more people will reside in nursing homes.

So the problem of nursing home injuries and abuse, unfortunately will likely see a corresponding surge, and it will become more and more important to recognize and report any incident where a nursing home resident has been harmed.

What Is Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect?

While nursing home neglect is similar to abuse in the nursing home, there are key differences among the two. Nursing home abuse implies that the caregiver intends to harm the elderly person, while nursing home neglect is a form of substandard care, or a breach of duty, that causes harm to the patient.

An Increasing Problem A study conducted and documented a few years ago by the National Center on Elder Abuse (NCEA), researchers revealed that 44% of the nursing home residents surveyed stated they had been abused or maltreated in the previous twelve (12) months. That same survey found that 95% of those surveyed had either witnessed instances of neglect or had suffered neglect during that same time period. Unfortunately, similar studies documented by the NCEA estimate that only one out of every 24 instances of nursing home abuse is reported.

What Are the Warning Signs?

The Administration on Aging states that depending on the nature of the abuse or neglect, there are a number of warning signs that may indicate that abuse or neglect is occurring. These may include: Physical or Sexual Abuse •inadequately explained fractures, bruises, welts, cuts, sores, or burns •unexplained sexually transmitted diseases

Financial Exploitation •lack of affordable amenities and comforts in an elder’s home •giving uncharacteristically excessive gifts or financial reimbursement for needed care and companionship •a caregiver has control of an elder’s money but fails to provide for the elder’s needs •an older adult has signed property transfers (power of attorney or will, for example) but is unable to comprehend what the transaction means Emotional Abuse •unexplained or uncharacteristic changes in behavior, such as withdrawal from normal activities, or unexplained changes in alertness •caregiver isolates the elder (doesn’t let anyone in the home or doesn't let visitors speak to the elder) •caregiver is verbally aggressive or demeaning, controlling, or uncaring Neglect •lack of basic hygiene or appropriate clothing •lack of nutritional food •lack of medical aids (e.g., glasses, walker, dentures, hearing aid, or medications) •person with dementia left unsupervised •person confined in bed is left without care •home is cluttered, dirty, or in disrepair •home lacks adequate facilities (stove, refrigerator, heating and cooling, plumbing, or electricity) •untreated bed sores or pressure ulcers

A Worker’s Experience Workers’ World Today spoke with Arlene (name has been changed for privacy) about her experience as a home health aide and nursing home caretaker. She had this to say, ”Homecare is a pleasure; taking care of someone is a great incentive for me. My last case with an elderly Jewish lady, a doctor comes to her home.

He has no recollection of her mental health and just provides medication to her, day on, day on. A sore broke out on her while I wasn’t there; the other two home attendants did not attend to it. ...The other Sunday, when I got there; I reported the case immediately. My nurse was so surprised that the two other home health aides did not make a call. And I let her know that these are the people that we are hiring who only want money and do not care about the lives they are supposed to take care of....And lives have been deteriorating under the hands of person who are supposed to care for them. I have been doing this job from since 2000. I've been doing this for a while and I have seen the changes and this is about making money; it’s a hustle, it’s about making a quick dollar. I would like to see a change.

It is a suicide you are creating ... you’re killing that person's life instead of making that life enjoyable, until they're ready for the Lord to take their life.

In the News According to an article on www.abc7ny.com on September 26, by Toni Yates, an 86-year-old woman was assaulted at a nursing home as reported by her son. The patient's son, Benny

Gomez, says his mom was assaulted and posted a picture of his bruised and injured mother on social media, which has been shared nearly 9,000 times.

“What does she mean to me?

Everything," Gomez said. He added, “She has double fractures in her face," he said.

"Her nose is broken. She has stitches."

Eyewitness News met the heartbroken, shaken and angry son with his attorneys, days after his mother was rushed to the hospital from the Westfield Center Nursing Care facility in Westfield.

State officials and police are trying to figure out how an 86-year-old nursing home patient in New Jersey ended up with severe injuries to her face.The Department of Health and Westfield police are investigating, so no charges have been filed. Gomez's mother has not been returned to the facility.

Researching Nursing Homes While there’s no way to know about abuse that goes unreported, one can look up the name of a nursing home in federal inspection data and see whether it has been cited for sexual abuse or other issues in the past three years.

This can be done at www.medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare/search.html Legal Help If a family member or someone you know, has suffered abuse or neglect, help is available. Call the Law Office of Figeroux & Associates at 855-768-8845 for a FREE consultation.l

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Jamaican-Born Designer D’Marsh Couture Joins COVID-19 Fight Making Donation of Masks to Brooklyn Hospital

N

EW YORK, NY: Jamaican-born designer Glenroy March and his fashion brand D’Marsh Couture has joined in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Recently, the independent fashion designer presented healthcare workers at Brooklyn Hospital with a donation of masks to thank them for their service.

The staff expressed their gratitude to the Jamaican-born designer adding that the fashionable masks will certainly add color and brighten their day.

D’Marsh and his team will make another donation in the coming weeks to Brooklyn Hospital which will comprise additional masks plus head covering, before moving on to other hospitals in the tri-state.

Here’s how you can help D'Marsh continue its support of the frontline workers.

Visit their website: www.dmarshcouture.com/store as the designer is partner-

Designer Glenroy March (in black) pose with the frontline workers at Brooklyn Hospital after making the donation ing with Av Norden to design, produce, and distribute essential protective gear for frontline workers. For every mask sold, they will produce and distribute a mask and head covering to healthcare

workers. Additionally, with your donation, they will produce and distribute head coverings and masks for healthcare workers.

About House of D’Marsh House of D’Marsh had its genesis in Spring 2003 when designer Glenroy March launched his Spring collection during Caribbean Fashion Week in Jamaica’s capital city, Kingston. This start gave rise to the pursuit of a passion by a talented Jamaican who would later go on to stun audiences not just locally but internationally. With an eye for detail and perfection, the New York based March, honed his design skills at the prestigious American Academy of Dramatic Arts, obtaining practical experience while working in the costume department. With a constant pulse on trends and innovation combination, House of D’Marsh, seeks to marry sophistication with fashion-forward sensibility. The House of D’Marsh has received numerous editorials in a variety of local and international fashion and consumer magazines. l

Kitchen Corner

let dry on the pan for 15 to 20 minutes, or refrigerate until needed.

Chef John's Sweet Potato Gnocchi

4. While gnocchi dry, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

5. Cook bacon in a skillet over medium heat until browned and crisp, 7 to 10 minutes. Add butter and cook until lightly toasted, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in rosemary. Reserve until needed.

BY CHEF JOHN, ALLRECIPES.COM "Because I was careful not to work too much flour into these gnocchi, they didn't come out super dense, dry, and doughy. They stayed nice, moist, and tender. The key here is making them nice and small. The earthy, subtle sweetness from the potato works so well with the bacon, the little touch of rosemary, and butter, making these a great appetizer, side dish, or main." — Chef John Ingredients 1 large orange sweet potato 1/4 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese (optional) 1 large egg, beaten 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt 1 pinch cayenne pepper 2 cups all-purpose flour, or more as needed Bacon-Butter Sauce (Optional): 2 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 3 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary salt to taste

2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, divided, or to taste Directions 1. Prick a sweet potato all over with a sharp knife and microwave until very soft, 5 to 7 minutes. Let sit until cool enough to handle.

2. Cut potato in half and scoop flesh into a bowl. Mash or blend until smooth. Add ricotta cheese, egg, kosher salt, and cayenne; mix with a spoon until smooth and combined. Stir in flour until mixture comes together into a sticky ball of dough, adding more flour as needed.

3. Transfer to a floured surface and knead gently, adding flour as needed, until no longer sticky. Divide into 8 portions. Roll into ropes about 1/2inch thick, using flour as needed. Dust ropes with flour and cut with a bench scraper into 1/2-inch pieces. Transfer pieces onto a sheet pan and

6. Stir gnocchi into the pot of boiling water and cook until they float to the top, 3 to 4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer cooked gnocchi to the sauce.

7. Heat over medium to medium-high heat, coat with sauce, and season with salt. Turn off heat and stir in 1 tablespoon Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Transfer to a warm serving bowl and top with additional Parmigiano-Reggiano.l Prep: 30 mins Cook: 20 mins Ready in: 1 hr 10 mins

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This FREE Citizenship Program does not apply to anyone who has ever been arrested since getting their Green Card.

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21

LOVE & RELATIONSHIPS

Healthy Communication: It’s Not What You Said But How You Said It

BY JENNINE ESTES

C

ommunication is absolutely essential...yet it seems to be the most difficult part of relationships. Couples frequently come into my office saying they want “healthier communication.” But what does that really mean? All of these high-functioning, business-oriented, goal-driven couples communicate with one another by expressing how they feel and discussing ongoing issues. They regurgitate their problems over and over, reshape the way they say things, shift their perspective, and constantly try various ways to explain their side. So why isn't it working?

Communication is exactly what these couples are doing, but the bigger question is, what do they hope to accomplish?

Learning how to communicate is too broad of an issue. Healthy communication is about narrowing the focus, taking a deeper look within each partner, and understanding how the couple interacts together. From a therapeutic perspective, it is about eliciting the underlying issues

and emotions, gaining insight into each other’s needs, creating awareness of patterns, and changing the dynamic of the relationship. It has nothing to do with the English language and everything to do with the relationship itself.

Healthy communication is about more than what you say.

It’s easy to get caught up in the “content” of an argument. Who said what, when, and how many times the dishes haven’t been washed. We are so desperate to be

I’m done!

seen and heard and valued, but what captures our focus and energy is being right.

We think that if we can prove our point that our partner will “get it.”

Unfortunately, while this is probably the most common method of communication, it is terribly unproductive. To efficiency-minded individuals, the focus of communication is usually information.

The information exchange feels “productive.” Let’s talk about how to interrupt this erroneous pattern and really get heard in a conversation.

Healthy communication requires you to slow down.

Slow down and look below the request you are making. Whether you are talking about dishes or money or any other problem, conflicts usually are about issues below the surface. When you ask your partner to do the dishes, certainly they are wanting the actual chore done.

However, they may also be hoping you care about your common living environment and that you want to contribute to making your home a comfortable space.

When your partner nags about your spending, they may be feeling fear, lack, or like your priorities are out of sync.

Healthy communication requires you to be aware of your feelings.

Now that you have slowed down to look below the surface, turn your focus inward for a moment. What are you needing right now? How are you feeling?

Is your body tense with rage or is your mind racing with anxiety? Identify a couple of emotions then use them to comcontinued on page 18

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SPORTS & BOOKS

22

The New York Giants Draft Jamaican Matt Peart in NFL 3rd Round

Reading for Spring

BY DELANO GEORGE BELL JAMAICAN.COM

J

amaican Matt Peart has been selected by the New York Giants in the third round of the NFL draft. The offensive tackle from the University of Connecticut was the 99th overall pick.

It’s a satisfying conclusion to a high school career that he originally thought would include playing basketball.

Peart quickly became a football standout, maintaining his position as basketball captain, while attending the Governor’s Academy in Boston, MA. During his senior year, he committed to the University of Connecticut and started in all 48 of the Huskies’ games during a four-year career.

The 6 ft. 7 inch Peart is 318 pounds of pure potential for the New York Giants.

He completed the 40-yard dash in 5.06 seconds and with arms measuring 36 5/8 inches he has one of the longest reaches of any offensive tackle. It’s a physical attribute that, taken with his other talents, doesn’t bode well for opposing teams.

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, he and his family moved to the Bronx, New York in 2002. He participated in the Oliver Scholars Program and earned a scholarship to The Governor’s Academy in Byfield, MA. While there, he assisted the school to four consecutive Independent School League championships.

I Matt Peart Photo: Matt Peart Instagram

With a scarcity of soccer fields in the Bronx, Peart turned to basketball. He fully intended to continue to play the sport in high school. His athleticism and imposing size came to the attention of football coaches that were able to convince him to try football, even though he’d never before played.

In 2019, Peart was the First Team AllConference selection of the American Athletic Conference. During his time with the Huskies, he formed the anchor that would produce two 1,000-yard rush-

ers in 2018 and a 1,000-yard rusher in 2019. Peart was the 2019 team captain and was invited to the 2020 Senior Bowl and NFL Combine.

Peart graduated with a degree in allied health sciences with a focus on occupational therapy. With his selection as an NFL draft pick for the New York Giants, the team has obtained a player that’s willing to put in any work necessary to achieve success.l

know. “I hear that you’re probably feeling overwhelmed and having a stressful week, too. I imagine that my not doing the dishes makes you feel alone in taking care of our home since I’ve been gone so much this week. Am I leaving anything out?” This kind of response diffuses an escalated partner; suddenly you two aren’t on opposite sides slinging accusations and demanding attention. You’re on the same side, digging into what is really going on.

skills skyrocket. The safer you can be for one another, the easier it is to communicate directly and effectively. These skills take a lot of time and are often hindered by poor patterns acquired both prior to and in the present relationship. Couples often find that they trigger one another’s emotional baggage completely unintentionally and that can make these kinds of healthy communication habits even harder to acquire. If you two are not able to implement the above on your own, consider couples counseling to give you the opportunity to unpack the unhealthy habits and practice healthy communication in a safe place.l

Information New York Giants

Healthy Communication/ continued from page 17 plete this sentence: “I feel… when…”

You will also need to know the inciting piece for your feelings; try to be clear what it is that makes you feel a certain way without blaming your partner. For example, “I feel overwhelmed and attacked when you ask me to do the same thing three times in one day. This week has been really busy and I know you want the dishes done tonight, but I have been racing around trying to get things done all day. I feel angry and like I have to constantly prove that I am doing enough. I feel unappreciated when your focus is on my not doing the dishes instead of the errands I ran after working all day.”

Healthy communication requires you to listen.

Whether your partner is expressing feelings before or after you, do your best to let your guard down. Even if you can only do it a little bit, climb over the barrier and try to crawl your way into their emotional space. How are they feeling in this moment? If they aren’t able or willing to use the “I feel… when…” statements, you cannot force them to, but you can ask. Demonstrate compassion by telling your partner that you hear them and what you think they are feeling without being presumptuous that you already

Healthy relationship patterns + safely expressing emotions = healthy communication.

Ultimately both you and your partner need to be able to express your emotions and build a pattern of working together to resolve conflict. Healthy communication is about how you present your emotions and tune in to what your partner is feeling. When you realize that nearly every conversation exchange has a human with feelings behind it, your communication

About Jennine Estes, MFT is a Marriage and Family Therapist in San Diego, CA. Estes is certified in Emotionally Focused Therapy for Couples and writes relationship and self-growth advice for her column, Relationships in the Raw. She is the creator of #BeingLOVEDIs campaign.

MFC#47653

n trying circumstances, sometimes what is needed most is a dose of hope and inspiration. As entrepreneur and author, Dr. Velma Trayham, watched COVID-19 force business closures and fuel rising unemployment – especially among women in the African American community – she knew it was time to take action. Trayham re-released her motivational self-help book, When God Says Go, and dedicated all proceeds toward helping them get back on their feet after the pandemic.

When God Says Go offers advice for professional and personal growth based on the author’s extensive experience as an award-winning marketing and business consultant at her company, ThinkZilla Consulting, and as a mentor to women-owned start-ups through her role as executive director at Millionaire Mastermind. She has also shared her expertise with audiences around the country as a sought-after motivational speaker and says her guide in life is to help end poverty through faith and entrepreneurship.

“When I first released the book three years ago, we quickly sold nearly half a million copies. Yet as much as the premise resonated then, I believe it is much more meaningful today,” said Trayham.

“It’s all about surviving and thriving and moving toward the destiny God has ordained for us. My goal is to not only provide a useful resource to women entrepreneurs but also as a means of raising funds to lift them back up when this crisis has passed.”

The book includes examples of the personal “go-moments” of successful entrepreneurs and business executives and real-life prayers for changing one’s approach to personal and professional purpose. Rounding out the content are tips on things like handling negative thoughts, surviving financial distress and asking God for help – messages that seem especially fitting in relation to current events.

“I owe my business success to a relentless work ethic, thirst for knowledge and the grace of God. In these dark times, I want to help shed a little light to those who are experiencing a setback and let them know they can bounce back,” she added.l The special fundraising edition of When God Says Go: Turn Your Storms into An Unshakable Relationship With God, Leaving It All Behind is available download for $9.99 at https://velmatrayham.combook

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23

HEALTH

Blood Sugar Levels May Influence Vulnerability to Coronavirus, and Controlling Them Through Conventional Means Might Be Protective

Are you looking to get into the health & wellness business?

BY ADAM M. BRUFSKY THE CONVERSATION

Contact:

C

an watching your blood sugar help fight COVID-19? Sugar is not only something that sweetens our food. It is also something that is an essential part of the proteins that make up our bodies.

That led me to believe, as I wrote in the Journal of Medical Virology, that control of blood glucose by diet and exercise, as well as better control of blood sugar in diabetics, especially when ill with COVID-19, may possibly help control the severity of the disease and even its spread.

I have worked in the field of breast cancer for many years, and my colleagues and I have been trying to use a drug called hydroxychloroquine in clinical trials. The goal: reduce the number of breast cancer cells in the bone marrow and prevent their re-emergence many years later to cause recurrence – what’s called tumor dormancy.

You probably have heard a lot about the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine in recent months as it has been suggested as a treatment for COVID-19. No conclusive evidence to date proves that hydroxychloroquine is effective. But, it turns out, hydroxychloroquine might be able to lower blood sugar like metformin.

Colleagues of mine have shared that many of their COVID-19 patients not only had diabetes but some were undiagnosed diabetics as well.

Knowing the drug’s potential to lower blood sugar, coupled with reports of high blood sugar in COVID-19 patients, led me to put both together to try to explain some things about COVID-19 and how blood sugar may interact with the virus.

Blood sugar and how the virus enters cells The new coronavirus infects cells by attaching to the surface through a receptor called the angiotensin converting enzyme 2, or ACE2. Both the ACE2 and the virus need sugar molecules bound to their protein for this to work properly.

My idea, which I have described in a peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Medical Virology, is that COVID-19 infection and its severity is influenced by

the concentration of sugar-coated virus and the concentration of sugar-coated ACE2 receptors in the lung tissues. The degree and control of the lungs’ immune response may also depend on how much sugar is attached to virus’s spike protein approximately eight to 10 days after symptoms start, which may vary depending on your age and sex Researchers already know that people with diabetes are more vulnerable to COVID-19. What is unusual is that when I talked to physicians around the country taking care of COVID-19 patients, they told me that a lot of their patients in the hospital not only had diabetes and prediabetes but others had high blood sugar, without being aware of it. There is a recent report from Wuhan, China, that finds that is true there as well. COVID19 patients with Type 2 diabetes have poor glucose control.

People with SARS - which is related to the new coronavirus – seem to get high blood sugar temporarily when they get infected as well.

This makes sense because there are a lot of ACE2 receptors on the so-called islet cells of the pancreas. These are the cells that make insulin – which is critical for controlling blood sugar. If the virus infects these cells, then they stop making insulin and you can get a temporary diabetes with COVID-19.

High blood sugar increases the number of sugar-coated ACE2 receptors in the lungs of diabetic mice. So not only are the number of receptors greater, but also there are more sugars attached to them.

This makes it easier for the virus to infect cells. When there is more insulin, or through diet or exercise, there is less sugar, so there are fewer ACE2 receptors and less sugar on each one, and this may

reduce the amount of virus getting into the cell.

That suggests that a high blood sugar test called hemoglobin A1c – which can be used even in those without diabetes or prediabetes – could be used as a marker for patients at risk for COVID-19 disease. In fact, 3.8% of the U.S. population has a high A1c.

How is hydroxychlorquine involved?

Hydroxychloroquine may work by blocking processes in the cell that add sugars to proteins. This the opposite of what high blood sugar seems to do. This would theoretically impede the virus from interacting with its receptor and modulate the inflammatory response to the virus.

It is unclear whether hydroxychloroquine will work for everyone, or even in a small group of patients. While the medical community awaits clinical trials to tell us once and for all if hydroxychloroquine works in COVID-19, the interesting thing to me is that this debate may have brought us a possible hypothesis as to why high blood sugar may make the disease worse, and possibly what to do about it.

A lot of new drugs and theories are emerging about COVID-19 and the science is advancing rapidly. It is important to have theories explaining what you are seeing clinically and scientifically to see if they fit – and then test them. If not, try a variation. It is the thinking and the testing that will allow us to beat COVID19.l Adam M. Brufsky is a Professor of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh. This article was originally published on The Conversation.

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HEALTH

24

Anxiety: Causes and How to Overcome It

BY ERIN TELESFORD

T

he other day, June had a strange experience at work. She checked in and sat down at her desk as usual and began working on her assignment. About an hour had passed and she suddenly felt a sharp pain in the middle of her chest. It only lasted for a moment, so she let it go and eventually forgot it ever happened. Then she felt another sudden pain in the same place. Within minutes she was bombarded with small shocks of pain every minute or so. Her hands began to feel cold and clammy; she broke out in a cold sweat; her stomach and upper back ached. Her heart began to race causing shortness of breath, blurry vision and tremors in her hands. She had no idea what was happening and was terrified.

After the stiffness and tightness in her chest and back spread to her arms, she believed it was a heart attack.

Sitting quietly and very still at her desk, surrounded by people working away, June panicked, in her mind believing she only had minutes left to live. She was afraid to stand in case her heart suddenly stopped, and she’d drop dead on the floor.

But, suddenly, her name was called, she stood up and walked over to a co-worker standing in the doorway. Everything was normal. She even smiled and laughed like nothing was wrong. Eventually she had to

sit back down at her desk, and her fear of death started all over again.

The feeling that June had was, in fact, not a heart attack, but a panic attack– a symptom of her Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Panic attacks are a form of anxiety that causes shortness of breath, blurry vision, and a feeling of fight or flight.

It often makes its sufferers believe death is imminent, though symptoms vary per person.

Anxiety is focused more on the fight or flight response caused by chemical reactions in the brain. Vox’s, “The Mind: Explained,” gives an example of a

warthog’s experience of anxiety when it sees a lion in the wild.

“That warthog’s amygdala, the emotional center of the brain, identifies the lion as a threat and that releases adrenaline throughout the body. It prepares the body to face the threat and fight, or to flee. The warthog’s heart is racing and breathing speeds up, lung passages expand and certain blood vessels dilate.

All to make sure plenty of oxygen gets to the muscles needed to flee. Those muscles tense, ready for action. The warthog’s pupils dilate to take in more of the scene. Its peripheral vision shrinks to focus on the lion in front of it. Other systems get shut down. The warthog stops salivating and digesting. Blood flow is diverted away from the stomach, skin, and nerves involved in arousal get turned off.”

So why do humans continue to suffer from anxiety now that it is not always necessary for survival? Anxiety can be inherited through our genes. If you have one parent who suffers from anxiety, chances are, you will too. Women are twice as likely to have anxiety than men.

An imbalance of chemicals in the brain, like serotonin, can cause anxiety, as well as traumatic experiences.

Anxiety disorders reside in four categories:

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Catastrophic– People with these disorders experience an overwhelming belief that something very bad is going to happen. This includes separation anxiety and phobias.

Evaluation– The distinctive feature of this category is social anxiety which includes selective mutism and the fear of being watched and judged.

Losing Control– This comes hand in hand with panic disorder, the fear of the loss of control you have during a panic attack. “Agoraphobia takes it to an extreme,” people who have it avoid public places that might trigger an attack.

Uncertainty– This is the fear of not knowing what is going to happen. This includes Generalized Anxiety Disorder, OCD– which is the fixation on impulses, thoughts and rituals– and other disorders.

The rise of anxiety in today’s society is closely associated with the rise of anxiety consumerism. Weighted blankets, fidget cubes and spinners have a high marketplace on Amazon and other sites, with many items being targeted to children and teens.

Based on data collected by the National Survey of Children’s Health, researchers found a 20 percent increase in diagnoses of anxiety for ages 6-17. The most prominent reason for this jump is the rise of social media and screen usage. Teens who spend more time on screens and social media are more likely to be diagnosed with anxiety and feel more isolated, which worsens anxiety symptoms. Social media uses anxiety as fuel to keep people on their apps, creating a cycle of worsening anxiety and isolation.

Quitting social media helps decrease anxiety; however, it does not treat all the symptoms. Some people believe alcohol reduces the effects of anxiety for them; however, it has been proven that alcohol increases the symptoms and effects of anxiety over time. Others choose to use marijuana to combat their anxiety.

Although the chemical THC tends to make your heartbeat increase, which could cause anxiety, another chemical in marijuana called CBD has been seen to reduce anxiety. Many people use CBD infused oils, vitamins and skincare in hopes that the chemical will give them a calming sensation without the “high” of the drug.

However, the majority of chosen options for anxiety treatment remains to be prescription drugs, exercise and talk therapy. The most effective combination of treatments recorded are prescription drugs and therapy; however, professionals believe there needs to be better treatment options developed, as well as more studies focused on solving anxiety.

If you are concerned that you or a loved one is suffering from an anxiety disorder, be sure not to self-diagnose or treat.

Anxiety and all other mental illnesses must be diagnosed and treated by a doctor.l

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CONVERSATIONS

26

Black Pregnant Women/ continued from page 1 minority woman due to the very real possibility that you might die before reaching the delivery room. The cries of that newborn baby might never reverberate within the sterile walls of your hospital room.

According to Planned Parenthood of New York City, “Structural barriers to quality health care kills black pregnant women at alarming rates…it cuts across age, education and income levels.” If you are a high school graduate flipping burgers in a fast-food restaurant and going home to a city housing project or a PhD in an ivory tower going home to your Park Avenue penthouse, you both have an equal chance of dying. Prof.

Marian MacDorman, Population Research Center, says, “even collegeeducated black women have substantially higher infant mortality than collegeeducated whites.”

A contributing factor is in a word— stress—precipitated by racism and discrimination. According to Planned Parenthood, “the experience of being black in the United States can cause high stress levels that lead to…high blood pressure and heart disease…can cause life- threatening complications [during pregnancy].” How much abuse can the body endure from this unending assault?

The detrimental impact of racism on the expectant mom are not the types of medical diagnoses you want to see written on your medical chart as you are wheeled

into the delivery room. “Overt racism… from health care professionals can lead to pregnant black women receiving… often worse care…which can lead to… complications. Patients have reported not being believed, being ignored and having health care professionals dismiss their symptoms.” You go to your doctor not because you want to, but because you have too. He can’t visually see your pain, but the pain is there, and it is real.

Peter Schafer, director, Center for Health Policy Program, NY Academy of Medicine, graciously provided me with the transcripts of the 2018 NY Maternal Mortality Summit.

Speaker Dr. Howard Zucker, NYC Health Commissioner: “55 black women die from complications for [every] 100,000 black babies born.” These 55 women should be cradling their babies instead of lying in a coffin. Zucker continued, “All NY women should have access to quality care…before, during and after pregnancy regardless of race.”

Speaker Elizabeth Howell, MD, Mt.

Sinai Icahn School of Medicine: “African American women mortality rates are actually higher than in some countries…in sub-Sahara Africa.”

Planned Parenthood alludes to the fact that black women fortunately, are able to access treatment that will in fact ensure healthy pregnancies via Medicaid.

Encouraging news? Wait, there’s a catch.

It’s shocking that there are states in America where elected officials adamantly refuse to expand this federal program. These women thereupon fall into a “’coverage gap’ and don’t have health care coverage that contributes to a healthy pregnancy.” They are not walking around with that official governmentissued card safely tucked in their wallets.

And hunting for a doctor who won’t unceremoniously slam the door in your face is time- consuming and fraught with anxiety, thus interfering with the joy of this special time in your life.

Speaker Dr. George Askew, Deputy Commissioner for Health, NYC Dept. of Health: “We have to remember that for every number there’s a person…there’s a family…the numbers are bad in themselves; the individual outcome for families is worse.” These figures are amassed from years and years of comprehensive hospital death records and are just black and white numbers; we don’t see the faces of black women behind the numbers—women who used to be vibrant breathing women who are now mourned by their loved ones. “The day-to-day impact of structured racism is chronic stress…which markedly increases the risk of maternal mortality.” We don’t often recognize the correlation between stress levels attacking the body and how it precipitates the onset of serious medical disorders.

Speaker Dr. Joia Crear-Perry, president, National Birth Equity, paints an analogy between a lupus patient and racism: “Because you have lupus your body is constantly fighting…trying to survive… being black in American is like having lupus.” Another troubling issue is the existence of black servicing hospitals. ”Instead of questioning why these…hospitals are so bad your question is why do we have something named black serving hospitals in 2018 and white serving hospitals….I have patients…because she’s not screaming…she is not in pain, we don’t acknowledge our pain in the same way; that doesn’t mean we don’t hurt… physicians believe that black patients can tolerate pain differently ; as if there is this image of genetic blackness….some of the most segregated places in the world are hospitals and patient waiting rooms…next time you’re sitting in your doctor’s waiting room look around and see how many people look like you.”

Speaker Chanel Porcia-Albert, founder, Ancient Song Doula Services, “We have…racism…it’s not a coincidence that some of the most poorly resourced hospitals are in communities of color.

That is because of structural racism… there is inadequate bias training in the population of health care workers. Black pregnant women face substandard medical treatment and unnecessary surgery.”

We are known throughout the developed and undeveloped nations in the global community as a nation that allocates an exorbitant amount of expenditures to embark on medical research initiatives, our medical schools and hospitals are the envy of the world- yet minority pregnant women are dying.

As per Planned Parenthood, “We need to expand Medicaid… is instrumental in preventing black women from falling into the ‘coverage gap’ and to make sure they can receive necessary services to promote a healthy pregnancy…Medicaid [covers] vital prenatal care and health screening [to detect] possible preexisting conditions that could complicate pregnancy such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Instead of helping expand Medicaid which can help close the devastating racial gap in maternal health outcomes the Trump Pence administration is…working to impose restrictions on enrollment.”

Porchio-Albert, founder, Ancient Song Doula Services, “We have …racism…

It’s not a coincidence that some of the most poorly resourced hospitals are in communities of color…that’s because of structural racism. There is inadequate bias training in the populations of health care workers. Black pregnant women face substandard medical treatment and unnecessary surgery.” This unrelenting internalization of stress precipitated by racism contributes to medical conditions that in turn contribute to life threatening complications—racism is the root of it all.

Patients are checking into hospitals to make appointments for a plethora of conditions from a slight cold to serious conditions that necessitate surgery; the outcome obviously cannot always be successful, but the outcomes are too often not successful if you are black.

Questions, Questions and More Questions Why is there a disproportionate number of black pregnant women dying in childbirth? Why are medical practitioners manifesting unconscious racism? Why are black women facing roadblocks to accessing Medicaid? Why are black women treated at underperforming hospitals?

It is imperative that this shocking truism whereby chronic stress precipitated by a lifetime of racism attacking the bodies of pregnant women of color, resulting in life threatening complications that attack their bodies, rich or poor, educated or uneducated—is finally out in the open. Hopefully, these statistics will change so that pregnant black women will no longer be robbed of the opportunity of enjoying what should be the happiest moment in their lives. l

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27

IMMIGRATION

When to Replace Your Green Card

A

Green Card identifies its holder as a U.S. permanent resident, with rights to enter, exit, work, and live in the United States for their entire life—and to eventually apply for naturalized U.S. citizenship. Once you become a lawful permanent resident (Green Card holder), you maintain permanent resident status until you: •Apply for and complete the naturalization process; or •Lose or abandon your status.

There are circumstances under which you may need to get your Green Card replaced. According to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration (USCIS) if you are a lawful permanent resident, you must replace your Green Card if: •Your Green Card is either expired or will expire within the next six months; •Your previous card was lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed; •You received your card before you were 14 and you have reached your 14th birthday (unless your card expires before your 16th birthday); •You have been a commuter and are now taking up actual residence in the United States; •You have been a permanent resident residing in the United States and are now taking up commuter status; •Your status has been automatically converted to permanent resident status (this

includes special agricultural worker applicants who are converting to permanent resident status); •You have a previous version of the alien registration card (for example, USCIS Form AR-3, Form AR-103 or Form I151, which are no longer valid to prove your immigration status) and must replace it with a current Green Card; •Your card contains incorrect information; •You have legally changed your name or other biographic information on the card since you last received your card; or •You never received the previous card we issued to you.

Conditional Permanent Residents If you are a conditional permanent resident, you must replace your Green Card if: •Your previous card was lost, stolen, mutilated, or destroyed; •Your card contains incorrect information; •You have legally changed your name or other biographic information on the card since you last received your card; or •You never received the previous card we issued to you.

How to Replace Your Green Card If you are a lawful permanent resident or conditional permanent resident and need

to replace your Green Card based on the reasons above, you may begin the application process for a replacement Green Card by filing Form I-90, Application to Replace Permanent Resident Card, online or by mail.

If you are outside the U.S. when your card expires and you did not apply for a replacement Green Card before departing, or if you have lost your Green Card, contact the nearest U.S. Consulate, USCIS office, or port of entry before filing Form I-90.

If you are outside the United States and your Green Card will expire within six months (but you will return within one year of your departure from the United States and before the card expires), you should file Form I-90 as soon as you return to the United States.

If you are a conditional permanent resident and your Green Card is expiring, you must submit Form I-751, Petition to Remove the Conditions on Residence, to apply to remove the conditions on your permanent resident status.

Because immigration law is so complex, we recommend you consult with an immigration attorney, preferably a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA) for assistance. l

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