By CARL MCDONALD, JELANI GRAHAM, TYREIQ MOHAMED, JAYLEN PARKER, JAYLIN ROUNDTREE
Contributing Writers
An essential worker – a licensed practical nurse in Corning, N.Y. – was furloughed earlier this month since doctors at her primary care office are no longer seeing patients in person. That office determined Heather DeSano, mother of a senior at The College of Saint Rose, is out of work for the foreseeable future.
Her offices were temporarily closed, and DeSano, who worked for the same practice for 17 years, is now collecting unemployment benefits while she waits for the pandemic to subside, and for her job to resume. On a typical day she was responsible for bringing patients to the examination room and preparing those patients for a visit with the doctor.
DeSano, like millions of people throughout the country, was placed on furlough until the country, the state and individual employers determine when they will reopen their businesses and figure out what that reopening will look like. Saint Rose, last week, placed 61 employees on furlough, including both administrators and staff, through the end of June.
Until her furlough, DeSano had continued to do her job and offer answers to patients and she supplied her co-workers with support and food.
DeSano said she was emotional when she was temporarily relieved from work, but now she is doing laundry, making meals, watching television, and walking to keep busy. She also said she hopes to make a quilt with her family.
One Saint Rose student lost her job calling Saint Rose graduates to raise money from alumni. Danielle Smith, 20, called parents and alumni to help fundraise for the school and to encourage donations to scholarships for future students.
Smith, a sophomore at the college, learned the phonathon was canceled shortly after this year’s drive had just begun. She and her co-workers received an email alerting them of the ramifications of the novel coronavirus.
Smith and fellow student callers were hired by an off-campus company, Shift Marketing, to make phone calls and send out pledge letters during the annual phonathon. Student callers typically worked evenings from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., reaching out to parents of current and former students, alumni, and previous donors.
“I liked knowing I was helping my school in some small way,” said Smith. Although not completely dependent on the income from her job, Smith said that it helped her pay for groceries and afford other small day-to-day items like a cup of coffee.
“Not having a job has caused me to not have a set routine or a steady income,” said Smith. “It has made me feel a bit lost through all of this.”
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, approximately 22 million Americans have filed initial jobless claims since March 14. Fortunately for Smith, she didn’t have to file for unemployment insurance after losing her part-time job as a student caller. She is continuing her college education remotely at her home in Poughkeepsie.
One 18-year-old lost her job at a gymnastics studio in Brooklyn, where she worked for six months.
Alyssa Deleon taught children from ages 3 to 14 different tumbling and gymnastics skills at the Brooklyn, Manhattan and Long Island locations of her employer.
She was told more than a month ago through her work group chat that all the locations would be closed because of COVID-19. She and the other employees were directed by their manager to apply for unemployment benefits. Every Sunday she verifies her status with the Department of Labor. She is saving her unemployment income so that she can move into an apartment. In July, she expects to start her other work as a swim instructor between two to 11 hours weekly with the New York City Parks Department.
She is also a full-time student at Kingsborough Community College in Brooklyn. She recently moved to live with her father in Virginia for a time but intends to move back to New York at the end of April.
“I’m thankful I don’t have to provide for (anyone) else, so I just have to collect my unemployment to feed myself and buy basic necessities,” she said. Her current expenses include a $50 monthly phone bill, $30 for a physical for track, and some rent. She also has to pay for a Long Island Railroad ticket after she lost her wallet.
Another student who lost his job was Jaylen Parker, an employee at Nordstrom Rack in Colonie Center from early September until mid-March.
“My manager actually is the one who told me to apply for unemployment,” said Parker, who worked 40 hours a week at the store. He is still staying on the Saint Rose campus but intends to return to Brooklyn at the end of the school year to look for work. While he is not working, Parker is reading more, completing work and catching up on sleep.
“I got new music coming out,” he said. The “tape is called ‘romantic.’”
