NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — A retired New York City nurse has been spending the pandemic making sure that COVID patients and isolated residents are getting the care they need.
Jill Furillo says she spent her career as a nurse as a union organizer. Now, she volunteers with New York Cares.
In the beginning of the pandemic, she started making virtual home checks for seniors, veterans and parents with at-risk children.
“It started very simply with people not knowing where they could get food,” she said. “We directed people to schools that had the free meals.”
The group also made sure people in isolation were also making sure food and other supplies were getting delivered to them, Furillo said.
She says she has talked to dozens of people and has made many new friends but, has yet to meet any in person.
“Only virtually so far,” Furillo said. “But I’ve got to know people very well and we would talk about and share our experiences just getting through the pandemic.”
It’s been a rewarding experience, she said and noted that she especially loved talking to the veterans.
“They have a lot of stories to tell, a lot of great stories,” she said.
Cassandrea Alvarez, with the New York City Department of Veteran Services, notes that the effort to reach out to New Yorkers throughout the pandemic “could have easily been done by robocalls,” but notes “that’s not the point of the project.”
“The point of the project is human to human connection,” Alvarez said.
New York Cares and volunteers like Furillo stepped up to make sure people were not completely isolated during the pandemic and ensured people were able to feel human at a time when connections were hard to find.