A Vietnam War veteran in San Carlos that became disconnected as a result of the coronavirus pandemic is disconnected no more.
Henry Small turns 82 years old next month, lives alone in the house he built and sometimes will hear you if you scream as loud as you can.
The disabled and deaf veteran would go every day to the library for his vital needs and for companionship with library staff. Of course, that all ended in March when the library shut down due to the shelter-in-place orders.
San Carlos Library Spokeswoman Sara McDowell and others arranged to help once they learned that Henry was in trouble.
"He used the library daily from what I understand for computer and Internet access," McDowell said. "He would check out materials and converse through writing with the staff."
Soon the library provided Henry, who lost his hearing when he was injured in the Vietnam War, with a computer and a computer hotspot.
"This gave him the ability to communicate with community groups and to meet his daily needs like groceries and social interaction," McDowell said.
That was just the beginning, as more than a dozen people turned up to clear a jungle from his backyard - including Evan Hayden’s Boy Scout Troop 321.
"We’ve been clearing out what hasn’t been done to him build a garden in his backyard for some sort of nonprofit organization so they can grow plants," Hayden told KCBS Radio.
Soon trees were trimmed, a fence built and food delivered.