Survivng The Pandemic

Holocaust survivor Yosi Lazar, 86, welcomes a delivery of masks, water, and hand sanitizer by a volunteer. With no family in-state, Covid-19 lockdown forced him into isolation and occasional visits by volunteers became his lifeline.
Holocaust survivor, Yosi Lazar, celebrates his 86th birthday after moving into an assisted living facility. His daughter who lives out-of-state arranged for the move after his mental health declined rapidly when isolated under covid-19 lockdown. Due to Covid-19 infection risk, Yosi was kept inside the facility and was not allowed to leave, and volunteers weren’t allowed into the facility. Yosi says that his freedom being taken away in addition to social isolation, worsened his mental health condition and attests that with no visitors allowed at the facility, staff was abusing residents.
Before the holiday of Passover, overwhelmed with more groceries than his kitchen can store, Yosi calls for help to get rid of some food. During the pandemic many charitable organizations send food to holocaust survivors, sometimes overlapping and delivering more than the survivors can handle.
Yosi delivers a groceries for Shabbat to Erica Staren, 98. In an attempt to safely socialize during the pandemic, with the assistance of his caregiver, Yosi takes on a role of delivering weekly grocery packages to other holocaust survivors, kindly donated by the nonprofit Yedidim USA, in collaboration with Holocaust Heroes Worldwide. For many of survivors the visit itself is more significant than the grocery delivery, as a weekly pulse check and sometimes the only weekly interpersonal interaction during the pandemic. —Erica never lets us in. I got a peek into her apartment once and saw stacks of papers and books on the ground, and just piles of things all over. I wonder if that is because no one is able to come in to help her clean because of the pandemic or if she has no reason to clean because no one comes in because of the pandemic. She is 98 and lives on her own. She’s been an Elementary school teacher in New York most of her life. She is from vienna and her mother was a great cook, a gift she claims she did not inherit.