Publisher's Synopsis
Covid Orphans reveals the underbelly of society and celebrates the power of a community to counteract the darkness.
Chandra Powell, a single mother of three, is an essential worker in a long-term care facility. In February 2020, Covid-19 begins to spread rapidly through nursing homes in Florida and lockdowns are ordered. Chandra is one of a small staff who isolate onsite to continue taking care of residents and prevent bringing the virus home. She is one of the first to die. Chandra's last request of Isabella, her teenage daughter, is to take care of her younger sister and brother.
With no family to whom they can turn, Isabella, Makayla, and Tristen fear being discovered and split up in foster care. They resolve to continue living as if their mother is still alive and isolating as an essential worker. Amid grieving the loss of their mother, the trio successfully manages new challenges for a few weeks until a neighbor suspects their secret, and their lives take a dark turn.
Their descent into abuse, fear, and intimidation is interrupted by a simple gesture; the return of Chandra's personal effects left behind at work. But their relief is short lived as Isabella must still pay the price for choices made fulfilling her mother's last wish.
Covid Orphans explores the vulnerability of children left parentless due to Covid-related deaths. A journey from despair to the fulfillment of lifelong dreams, underscoring the concept that "It takes a village to raise a child."
In 2021 some experts predicted that 1 in 500 children in the U.S. would be orphaned by the loss of a parent or guardian to a Covid-19 related death. Others peg the number at one child being orphaned for every two Covid-19 related deaths. In a study published in The Lancet (July 2021), Dr. Susan Hollis, et.al. estimates over one million children worldwide had been orphaned because of Covid.
However you tally the number, it is staggering how many children will be left to be raised by someone other than a parent. Also consider all the children who experience any of the dozen metrics used to define 'at-risk' and it is not hyperbole to say that our social safety nets are inadequate and will be overcome by this human tsunami.
Utilizing the century-old concept of Intentional Communities, Covid Orphans: Collateral Damage offers an aspirational lifeboat where kind, generous people rally to nurture, love, and keep children safe when their parents can no longer do so.