April 13, 2021
Felician Sister Maria Louise Edwards visits a homeless man in Pomona, Calif., March 4, 2019. (CNS photo/ Elliott Cramer, courtesy Felician Sisters)
As the pandemic provoked shutdowns across the United States in March 2020, Jason's stress level began to climb.
He had to handle cash as an essential employee selling car parts at an AutoZone in McKinney, Texas, a state with no mask mandate. His precarious health -- asthma, sarcoidosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, allergies -- put him at a higher risk of serious illness should he contract COVID-19.
As his hours dwindled at work, Jason's ability to pay his bills began to depend on the opportunity to mow someone's grass for quick cash or sell whatever he could find that was sitting in his garage: the tools he still needed, or the motorcycle, which was worth twice what he sold it for. Then last June 8 he lost his job.