Editor’s note: This is another in a series of updates on Chatham’s “Neighbor2Neighbor,” a grassroots collaborative project of Abundance NC, the News + Record and the Caremongering Pittsboro Facebook group. N2N’s objective is to connect those in need during the pandemic with those who have the capacity to help. Marcela Slade, an organizer for Neighbor2Neighbor, is Abundance NC’s event coordinator and art director.
Nelly hadn’t been able to work cleaning houses due to COVID-19 since March. She was desperate and decided to look for a job with her newly (prior to the pandemic) acquired commercial driver’s license (CDL) to be able to commercially drive in North Carolina. She thought she would have a higher chance of getting a job during COVID-19.
Nelly lives with her husband, 82-year-old mother and two kids. Her husband is also out of work due to COVID-19 as well. In June she finally got a job as a driver, and then was diagnosed with the coronavirus.
She says she knows exactly when she got it. Nelly had been very careful in avoiding the virus. She had stopped at a rest stop to use the bathroom and had her mask on, but took it off to look at herself briefly in the mirror. She went into her stall and started hearing someone coughing excessively in another stall. When she came out, there was a feverish, sick-looking white woman, who had just used the bathroom and now was cleaning her face with a damp paper towel. She had no mask on and continued to cough excessively. Nelly left immediately.
When she got home, she started throwing up and had diarrhea. A week later, she tested positive with COVID-19 and had the sickness for about a month. It was followed by pneumonia which she was able to kick with antibiotics ... but she was weak for several weeks after.
Nelly reached out to me through the Neighbor2Neighbor/VecinoAVecino program to get help paying her rent. She hadn’t paid since March and her family had been sent her an eviction notice.
I explained our program didn’t have enough funds to cover rent costs but that I would reach out to people who have signed up to help and see what we could do.
More than $1,000 was raised in just four days! The amount she needed to cover her rent from March–August. I couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t either and she blessed me over and over.
Last week, Nelly called me to ask for help paying her bills. She was scared they would cut her water and electricity and couldn’t take that risk since her mother was vomiting and had severe diarrhea. She thought she might have COVID-19 and was considering taking her to the hospital if she continued to get worse. I suggested hot tea/drinks and that she should go to the Chatham County Health Department or a state-owned hospital, if needed, because they usually have free COVID tests and offer financial assistance.
I called her before the weekend to see how her mother was progressing and give her confirmation numbers on bills we were able to put some money towards, BUT NOT cover. She said she was much better. She no longer had diarrhea and had a low-grade fever. She was very grateful for the money and my attention.
COVID-19 is not going away, people are in worse situations then they were in the first months of this pandemic. Eviction restrictions have been lifted and so have utility cut offs. People continue to have NO WORK, continue to get SICK and are now getting evicted. I have started to get calls from people who have had their water cut off and are desperate to get help paying bills.
Please, if you can afford to help someone in need, consider donating. Your contribution, no matter the amount, will help us get people back on track. Together, we can get through this stranger than strange time.
To donate: Write a check to Abundance NC and mail to: Abundance NC / Neighbor2Neighbor 220 Lorax Lane Pittsboro, NC 27312 or donate online to our GoFundMe. Once we receive and process, you will receive a tax deductible receipt.
If you have time and/or resources to help a neighbor or need help, please join our program by completing this form in English or Spanish.