Cassandra Gentry and Karen Gray

00:03 Hi, my name is Karen gray. Today's date is June 9th 2020. I'm in Washington DC at the plaza West Grand Family Care.

00:19 And your age, my age is 59.

00:24 I have two grandkids a girl and a boy 11 and 12 years old.

00:30 And with me today, I have Miss Cassandra Gentry.

00:35 Hi, I'm Cassandra Gentry and I'm a grandparent raising a grant to grandchildren. I have one boy, that's 14 and one girl. That is 9 I am 68 years old. I live in Washington DC at the plaza West grandfamilies program and I'm here today to be interviewed by another grandparent that's in the program miss Karen Gray.

01:17 Okay, Cassandra. I have a few questions. I would like to ask you.

01:23 Okay. What is your biggest worry about being? What is your biggest worry and your biggest Joy about being a grandparent?

01:35 Oh Karen, that's a good question because my biggest fear about being a grandparent is if I will be around to raise them until they're grown. So I worry about my fear is my health that I will be healthy enough to raise them until they're able to be on their own.

02:06 Am I Joy?

02:09 Is that I get a chance to be with my grandchildren 24/7.

02:16 They bring a lot of life to me without them. I don't think I would be as vibrant as I am.

02:26 They bring a lot to me that they make me want to do for them and they show me so much love and I show them so much love.

02:38 Okay, what supports do you need or as a grandparent caregiver to raise your grandchildren support?

02:49 I'm here. Well, there's a lot of things that I need in raising them. I would say the first thing that I need would be affordable house, which is something that the grand families program that we staying in has given us we stay in a 50-unit program for grandparents that are raising their grandchildren and it's affordable 2 and 3 bedroom housing and we have come as a community. So we are like a community that's able to identify with each other.

03:34 Other than housing Support Services, like Restless care, I dc127 the program that we work with five Restless care for us where we can get time off on the weekends for my children. They matches with a parent partner and we're able to you know, that. Children away get a griever, you know, we can come up and down, you know, at least get a briefer make me want to go on a vacation. Maybe you and I would like to you know, maybe going to Niagara Falls or something and we can send the kids with their parent partner and feel safe.

04:21 Default programs that we receive to help us with the food for the children, especially since they've been out of school for the covid-19. The kids are at home all day long and they're eating either lot. So the food programs that we get those that's a resources really need it for us the books that people come and donate to us that helps out other support the grand families grant that we received that has really been a big help to me because without that grin and I would not be able to care for my children as well as income on Social Security, you know.

05:21 And so with this the Social Security it would be very difficult for me. So the grandfamilies grant does help out a whole lot of help we get from China all the support that we get from each other right each other than what we get from each other is really helpful. I'm trying to think of some other things that the kids about you caring. What what program do we have that you really liked? You know, that was really helpful to you. What did you like so much. Well, I like the program that they have now because of the watches to the kids because the children some of the grandparents. Can I go out to the store to get certain foods for their grandkids to eat? So I like that

06:20 And then certain other things, you know because we have the books we have the computers. But other than that, that's it. How about the state they had coming in because after we were not able to do it because of the social so we weren't able to do that. But that was that was a good thing that we you know, I support that we had that was really really good.

07:04 I like the way that we communicate with each other. I think that's a big support each other, right, you know, we take care of each other. We're just like one big happy family, even though we're not related, but we're big happy family cuz we all stay here together and we look out for one another.

07:30 You got any more questions, you have to have the covid-19 taught you anything about caregiving.

07:37 Yes. Yes. I thought I had it all together. But with a distant learning I got lost in the shuffle.

07:50 The distant learning was so difficult for me and I thought it was just me until I talk with the other grandfamilies and I found out that it was difficult for them all so it took me about two to three weeks to even get on the distant learning look like I was lost it, you know, trying to with the social media and the virtual resume and things that I wasn't familiar with and then trying to do that and help the children with the work that I wasn't even familiar with that. It was very very difficult for me. I think that was the most difficult thing about the cold bit and also worrying about social justice. How do you social distance yourself from your grandchildren now? I know I saw

08:50 People riding by in their cars waving at their grandparents, but they didn't live with their grandparents. So how do you social distance from your children when you raising them, so there was a fear of going out maybe coming back in.

09:11 And didn't happen to be around them, you know to go out for you Central items.

09:18 We we were staying at home most of the time but we did have to go out for Essentials. And so when we will go out and then come back in and then I'm wondering

09:32 Are we in a safe environment. We in a safe environment, you know, so that was very difficult. And then the children happened to be locked down like that for. Of time not able to run and play.

09:50 Shut off from their friends even from the other children in the building because all of the play areas playground everything was shut down. So it's basically like they're in the house.

10:05 You know and they got tired this the first time I've ever seen them get tired of they gave, you know, they never get bored. They want to go outside want to go out and we can't take them out.

10:26 It's a risk to us because we're burnable and it's a big risk to us to take them out. So that's that's when you have a difficult parent. Yes. It is very difficult, especially with mine because they're so used to running, you know, running around and everything, but they can't do that that's noise right there. Right when they're confined confined because it feels like we're to find yeah, yeah.

11:15 If any such as food banks or anyting have been a Tribune attributed to you in Washington DC has done a wonderful job with resources doing quote it. We have received list of people and programs that would have resources for us.

11:42 But you had to go and get them. So I think the biggest one would be like the support services that they were giving up from.

11:57 From the food from the food and bringing the food to us.

12:03 That was a help but then they were bringing the food to us for the children, but we still had to get the food for the seniors. So we still had to kind of go out, you know to get the food yet, you know and essential items, but we got support from a lot of people that came to us to bring our stuff and when we get tried to contact surveyor's office and let them know what we needed. They tried to provide for us. So there was a lot of people that called and you know, you grandparents over there. What are you need? What can we do for you? You know, am I even my children school? They wanted to know what they could do for me. Even I usually drop off a little boy. You know. I told your parents I drop off a little boy every day at school and his mom pays me.

13:03 Do that. She has continued to pay me during the carpet, even though I'm not transporting him. She said to me so that I don't have to go out as much and it's anything she can do the comment, you know to go get me something so we can call, you know like that from people at 2 that I don't have any family, you know that stays here that I can you know depend on and then you are like if you going out here and you say I'm going to Walmart, do you need anyting you know, so that keeps me from having to go out and you going out and you getting it all or somebody else to say I'm going down to Safeway. Do you need something? So did we only have one person that's going instead of all of us going to the store and put myself in dress, right? Yeah.

14:02 That's true.

14:05 And are any other resources no longer available to you?

14:11 Yeah, the babies are the recreation, you know that they couldn't get their Recreation what they say first. How do you really have virtual Recreation for the kids? You know. They said we going to have virtual camp.

14:32 How do you go to Camp virtually? I don't understand it, but we'll see. We'll see virtual summer school.

14:43 I guess I don't know and I don't think your help commercial swimming.

14:54 I want to see how they going to do the camp. Yeah, we have all this virtual stuff going on and if it's difficult.

15:05 Yeah, that's virtual campus that we cannot sit back and do all of this.

15:16 So I'm just wondering how you know, it's going to it's going to work out.

15:23 I want to know too and I think the kids are trying to figure it out to ya anymore. We don't receive the services that we get here in the building like for the children to be able to come into the computer room for the US to be coming to the library. We don't even get to socialize anymore because there's no distance.

15:57 They got us on you know, social distancing so we don't get to do that anymore.

16:06 Do you think about caregiving any differently now? Yeah. Oh, yeah it is because when they go to school with no Pare this like all day long.

16:23 They want to stay up. They don't they also scheduled they don't want to sleep like at the right time and they don't want to get up at the right time and their emotions are different emotions are so different now, they don't want to

16:42 You know when my girl gets up she doesn't even want to you know, she just want to lounge around all day. She doesn't want to put her clothes on and you know, like we normally do so it's been a my caregiver and a caregiver is so different now and then I'll see your life. I can't help my baby. My baby is getting behind her studies because I can't help her. I don't understand it. I don't understand Spanish language, you know, I wanted t-shirt now. I want to go to learn Spanish because I feel bad cuz I couldn't help my job, you know, so that's a struggle of being that happened to do the

17:29 She said she didn't feel good. Okay. Well then when I call the doctor we got to do it on the first row.

17:37 Well being a caregiver I'm worried about is my child sick and at the Kobe, you know, you know contaminated what's going on and I'm trying to find out what's going on with her, you know, but then I got to go. Well, they take a blood pressure. I took her temperature, you know, but this is like

18:10 Me talking to you and you telling me well Cassandra. I think she's just maybe needs to go to the bathroom. Or maybe she ate something. That wasn't right. That's how I feel and I feel like I'm not talkin to the doctor. I'm just talkin to somebody, you know, you know over the phone.

18:35 Zoom appointment the doctor had him to stand up so he can get a good look at him and all you know, all of that is change the way that we care, you know, give is faintly more protective.

18:54 Of my child. I'm really more protective of my children. Now. Do you have your mask? What have you washed your hands, you know?

19:08 Social distance, you know, don't touch this don't touch that, you know, it's like I'm

19:15 Overprotective

19:19 It's make me be overprotective. I'm the same way. I feel that the kids.

19:26 They can't deal with this what's going on harder for them because they cannot do the things that they so used to doing. You know, they cannot do that.

19:56 Yeah, they that's how they are.

20:01 How do you deal with the happiness health and happiness in your home doing this coping?

20:07 Swimwear board, but we are happy.

20:16 I've gotten a chance to be around my children more.

20:21 Learn a little more I would say see those little things that I didn't normally see give it a year what they eat. You're actually listen to him. Right someday. I've days are so busy till I children and we're really not listening. But we have more listening time find out more things that they like that they need and really finding out more about ourselves.

20:59 I've been taking my medicine.

21:03 More like I'm supposed to cuz sometimes when I'm running out the door with them in the morning to get them to school. I'm not even you know, I remember maybe around 12 news that I haven't taken my medicine, but now I take my medicine so I'm feeling healthy.

21:26 I'm gaining weight. I know we both are on the Bella.

21:41 Jenny Craig

21:44 We need something that we have got that the kids have games all day today.

22:00 Eating all this non-stop until they close their eyes and snack and snack and snack and snack and snack. So, you know what they say old is some people's Comfort. Yes, and then I think it's more people's Comfort than less than some people say through stress and stuff. But most people I know they eat any questions you would like to ask me to Sandra well,

22:44 How do you feel how do you how do you feel about this covid-19? You think do you think that what do you think we're going to go back to Karen?

22:55 Do you think I'd like to exchange but it's not going to be okay going to have to still be wearing out mask gloves and everything. Okay. I don't think we're going to go back to normal. I don't think so. I don't think we're going to go back to normal, but I wonder how you know how we going to do this.

23:30 With the Graham Family

23:36 With the children

23:40 Socializing with each other. How are we going to teach our children how to socialize differently. They're going to be in a different world hardest part is going to be

23:55 For the grandparents

23:59 All the people just don't like change. We don't want to change and we going to have to check. That's the big challenge that we have to change. We will have to everyone when we got the stimulus told you that was one of the things that helped us out to a stimulus, but you know what my stimulus I just come up.

24:35 You don't help them to the emergency emergency purposes, but a lot of families went out and spent it. I was scared to go out, you know, I was scared to go out and then it wasn't anywhere to go by Walmart grocery store and I went to Walmart one day and it was so many people there. I just turn around and came out of my baby know we can't we can't be in here. This is dangerous situation. We have to go I wanted to go to the protest. What did you think about that? We could go to I couldn't I couldn't do it. I wanted the kids to experience at him everything but

25:31 It was just too dangerous. It was anything else.

25:49 How do you think they going to return the school?

25:53 Okay, that's cool. I am not ready for this. Okay, cuz I know I did a survey for a DCPS child go to school once a week and other things they stay home for them know she had to wear her mask all day in there. He will have them when I call we have to bring a bottle of water cuz they shutting off the water fountain and then I heard they saying that only 10 kids for Christmas.

26:36 Well, you know, I really thought about that too caring because my child is type 1 diabetic and they are very fun to Kobe. Yes, and I really wonder how will he return to school with his medicine. He has to take his insulin.