Lorri Evans

My mom currently resides in a memory care facility in Santa Cruz, CA. My mom has five daughters. 3 of us live nearby and were able to visit daily and were very much a part of her care. My mom also had several former neighbors who continued to visit as well as a close friend that came weekly to see her. Even though the caregivers are doing their best in a difficult situation there are not enough of them to meet all the needs that we were able to assist with and they simply can’t take the place of family.  Since the ban on visitation my mom has rapidly declined and has now been placed on hospice care. She has become depressed, lost weight,  can no longer dress herself, has much more difficulty speaking and walking with her walker is now a struggle and I fear she will soon need a wheelchair. On March 25 of 2020 she turned 99 we had to yell up to her 2^nd floor window to wish her a happy birthday. We are being robbed of whatever quality time we have left with her and she is being robbed of our comfort and feels abandoned and alone. Yelling up at her to her window or trying to do a video call just causes her more distress and is in no way close to being what she needs.  The ban on visitation may have  prevented her from dying of COVID19 but it will cause her to die of a broken heart. Please end the ban.