Angela Smith can鈥檛 access her email 鈥� she has no computer, no tablet, no high-cost data plan and the library鈥檚 closed.

Smith, 48, is taking care of her 74-year-old mother, Minnie, in the Cedar Extension High-Rise senior apartments on East 30th Street, a Cuyahoga Metropolitan Housing Authority building just down the street from Cleveland鈥檚 main post office. 

Angela has Type 2 diabetes and Minnie has rheumatoid arthritis in her hands, feet and hips. 

Since the pandemic began and most of the activities that used to take them out of the house 鈥� shopping, socializing, attending senior wellness groups 鈥� have been shut down or become too dangerous, the Smiths have become increasingly isolated at home.

Lori Smathers is battling the same isolation. Smathers, who lives with her 27-year-old daughter in a house a couple miles away on East 49th Street in the Slavic Village neighborhood, has no computer either. She鈥檚 got a cell phone, but isn鈥檛 comfortable using video on it. 

Smathers, 59, has been in recovery from an addiction to alcohol, crack and heroin for 13 years, and is disabled due to anxiety, depression and arthritis. 

She takes about 10 medications to manage her conditions. 

For low-income older adults and those with disabilities, who have a higher risk of death due to COVID-19, the challenges of staying healthy and avoiding isolation during the pandemic have been particularly hard. 

鈥淭hey can鈥檛 see their family, they can鈥檛 see their grandchildren, they can鈥檛 do whatever, and that鈥檚 led to depression, anxiety and just a lot of loneliness,鈥� said Dr. James Campbell, department chair of geriatric medicine at the MetroHealth System, who before the pandemic would make monthly visits to University Settlement to offer health assessments to clients there. 

Depression and anxiety can worsen existing health conditions, Campbell said, and lead to declining health. Often, the first sign of a problem is when older adults stop eating as well or as much, he said. 

鈥淓ating is a very social event,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had people losing weight, getting malnourished鈥� it becomes a cascade.鈥� 

Many of the most vulnerable in the community, who were already relying on the help of non-profit, government and social service agencies to get by before the pandemic, are now even more dependent on these organizations to help them stay both mentally and physically healthy. 

For Smathers and the Smith family, University Settlement鈥檚 Adult Wellness program has been that lifeline. Before the pandemic, they鈥檇 visit the non-profit on Broadway Avenue in person, where from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. five days a week they could get two meals and a snack per day, participate in games and activities, receive health checks and information from local university nursing and medical students and get help with everything from utility issues to doctor鈥檚 appointments.

About 80 older adults and adults with disabilities, most living on a low income, took advantage of those free services last year, said Allison Woods, manager of the program.

Since the pandemic began and the Settlement鈥檚 Adult Wellness program could no longer offer on-site services, the program 鈥� like most other social service organizations 鈥� has shifted to virtual and delivery, Woods said.  About 55 people in the neighborhood now receive a weekly grocery and hot meal delivery, as well as periodic visits to drop off activities. 

It鈥檚 a neighborhood-scale effort being duplicated by dozens of organizations across Northeast Ohio, including local hospitals, which are providing technology and medical supplies to help manage chronic conditions from home, as well as community centers, food banks and mental healthcare providers. 

The University Settlement deliveries, and the visits, have been a 鈥済odsend鈥� for Angela Smith and her mother, she said, because they bring not only food, but also necessities like dish soap, bleach and other household items. Minnie Smith also relies on Meals on Wheels to deliver a meal once a week. 

鈥淭he need is still huge鈥� The need for food is just incredible at this point,鈥� Woods said.

Across the country, there鈥檚 been a 60 percent increase in the number of people seeking help from food banks, according to Feeding America. The Greater Cleveland Food Bank, , has served 375,000 families through December, . For four out of five Meals on Wheels programs across the country, demand for services has at least doubled, according to the organization.

The Settlement鈥檚 three weekly visits from its adult wellness program, even though they鈥檙e only five to 10 minutes long, allow the Smiths a chance to interact with someone outside their household and get help troubleshooting problems with doctor鈥檚 appointments, medications and technology.

In low-income communities, the lack of internet connections, computers and the high-cost data plans needed for smartphones have made it far more difficult for people, especially older adults, to remain connected to the resources and services they need. 

鈥淚t鈥檚 a population that鈥檚 not electronically sophisticated,鈥� Campbell said.  鈥淲e鈥檙e often doing phone calls instead of Zoom, or WebEX, or visual images, which, again, makes it a little more challenging.鈥�

Recently, Woods helped Angela Smith respond to an important email, as she had no way to access her account after both the library and Cuyahoga Community College had to shut down access to public computers. 

鈥淚 talked to a lady at Tri-C who said 鈥榶ou could go to a coffee house,鈥� and I鈥檓 like yes, if I had a laptop or computer or something like that, but nobody has that,鈥� she said. 

Since the pandemic began, Smathers hasn鈥檛 attended any 12-step meetings, which are mostly being offered online via Zoom and other video services. But, she said she still talks over the phone to many other people in recovery, and is not worried about relapse. 

University Settlement has helped Smathers with faxing required forms to receive welfare, she said, as well as just about anything else she needs and can鈥檛 access online. 

The lack of technology is a big problem, Woods said, and some clients don鈥檛 even have a telephone. University Settlement received some money from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act to help increase access to the internet and plans to distribute computers and tablets to clients soon. 

For now, both Smathers and the Smiths say they鈥檙e doing well. For the foreseeable future, they know they鈥檒l have to remain hunkered down at home in order to stay safe.  

They attend most of their doctor鈥檚 appointments over the phone, and are fending off boredom and isolation with books, games, jigsaw puzzles and other activities. 

Angela Smith, who until recently was taking a bus at 2 a.m. to pick up her medications at a 24-hour CVS pharmacy nearby in order to avoid crowds, now has both her prescriptions, and her mother鈥檚, delivered to her home.

Smathers gets out every day to walk her dog. 

They鈥檙e both looking forward to the day when they鈥檒l once again be able to socialize with their friends and family, attend Bible study groups and reconnect with their support systems outside the house. 

When that day comes, the community will have regained an important asset too, Campbell said.

鈥淚 always like to remind people that we鈥檝e also lost a huge resource because older people are sheltering in place,鈥� he said, as so many were volunteers and primary or secondary childcare providers for family. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the older people who are suffering, it鈥檚 the people who the older people were helping who have suddenly lost their support.鈥�

This story is part of Coping With COVID-19, an ideastream reporting project and local journalism collaborative funded by Third Federal Foundation and University Settlement. The series expands coverage of the local impacts of COVID-19 in Northeast Ohio and investigates how the coronavirus pandemic has highlighted and laid bare the existing inequities that stem from decades of disinvestment in public health, the social safety net, preventive medicine and communities of color.

Copyright 2021 90.3 WCPN ideastream. To see more, visit .

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