Long Island Family and Children's Association helped make sure seniors weren't completely isolated during pandemic
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- Two years ago this week, our lives changed in unthinkable ways as COVID-19 began to surge in New York.
For the elderly, especially those living alone, the sudden shutdown was a shock and struggle. But as CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported, one Hempstead woman has been sustained through it all every Friday.
Sadie Lloyd, 91, remembers the life-changing news of a virus particularly deadly for seniors.
"I'm here and all alone, and this virus is here and I can't get out and no one can come in. That is not a good feeling," Lloyd said.
Her family was 1,000 miles away as stores shuttered and friends and church gatherings were abruptly upended.
Enter Liz Spina - every Friday. The 61-year-old Merrick woman, a grandmother whose parents have passed away, has volunteered as a friendly visitor for Lloyd for six years. Visits during the pandemic morphed into a lifeline.
Even in the darkest days, they managed Friday visits by phone.
"She would say, oh, I got a phone call, someone else had passed away. It was just horrible. Sometimes it would be two people in a week," Spina said.
In time, they could gather outside.
"In the late spring, we plant flowers," Lloyd said.
"We giggle a lot," said Spina.
"We have a picnic in the backyard. I'll sit on the swing and -- we call it heel and toe, back and forth, back and forth -- and she'll sit on the glider because we were not allowed to stay close to each other," Lloyd said.
Weekly visits are back inside now, baking, chatting and always laughing over hot coffee and warm apple turnovers.
"She comes in, 'Hello, hello, hello,' you know, 'Where are you, where are you?' It was like a wonderful feeling that I had one person that could come," Lloyd said.
A silver lining to an unthinkable life twist.
"You connect with someone, you learn their past," Spina said.
There are 28 friendly visitors coordinated by the nonprofit Family and Children's Association. Family and Children's Association's Friendly Visiting Program is supported by PSEG Long Island.
Communities across the nation have similar programs. Backgrounds are checked, interests are matched and lives are saved.
"People don't realize that loneliness and isolation is as harmful to seniors as all the chronic medical diseases that they're struggling with," said Lisa Stern, senior and adult services assistant VP for Family and Children's Association.
Socially distant visits, solitude, struggles with technology and the isolation linger still.
"We have made a lot of progress connecting people to technology which can help them going forward," said Stern. "I think we have learned that maybe complete isolation and lockdown is not the answer."
More than half the nation's COVID deaths, half a million, were people over 75. Fears remain. Having a human connection and something to look forward to makes a difference.
"It makes your life feel more like you're more valued. She has made my day so much better. My friendship with her is a blessing. In one word, a blessing," Lloyd said.
"She really is a blessing and she's family," Spina said.
Lloyd and Spina are still very cautious, but grateful for a light at the end of a long tunnel and Fridays.
Even before COVID-19, a quarter of elderly Americans were considered socially isolated, associated with greater risk of dementia and death.