SAN ANTONIO – In the past two episodes of KSAT Explains, we examined the coronavirus pandemic in numbers and percentages, from unemployment and poverty rates to digital access and social inequities.
For this episode, we wanted to tell the stories of the people who are dealing with the realities of this crisis.
Episode 4: How pandemic has struck San Antonio’s economy and road to recovery
We spoke to business owners, hospitality workers, students forced to learn at home, people who have lost jobs and others facing unique challenges. Here are the people featured in this episode, which can be seen in the video player above.
Jody Bailey Newman
Jody and her husband Steve opened the Friendly Spot nearly 12 years ago. She tells us how hard COVID-19 has hit the Southtown fixture.
Lawrence Richardson
Lawrence spent more than a year without healthcare coverage. He had cerebral palsy and works at Home Depot. He tells us about the struggle to get insured before the pandemic hit.
Andre Greene
Andre worked at the Alamodome and lost his customer service job due to the pandemic. He’s still recovering from a traumatic brain injury he suffered years ago and told us how difficult it has been to make insurance payments and continue his recovery during COVID-19.
Savannah Martinez
Savannah attends CAST STEM High School in San Antonio. She is one of the many students in our area who do not have internet access at their homes. We looked at how parents, guardians and students were left trying to figure out how to work from home and juggle their child’s education.
Sharon Aguillen
Sharon is the CEO of San Antonio Visitor Alliance. She tells us about the major hit the tourism, hospitality and hotel businesses have taken in a city that thrives on those industries.
Sherry Burnett
Sherry has been homeless for the past year and a half. Things were turning around for her, but then came the shutdown.
Eddie Orduna, Fautoumata Oulare, Richard Cristoph
We spoke to three San Antonio residents about how this pandemic has impacted their employment. All three have higher education degrees and still found themselves in tough spots.