Help Within Reach
In May, Annie Mayombo, 67, woke up from three weeks in a coma. Disoriented and terrified, she couldn’t communicate with the nurses or doctors who were treating her. Worst of all, she had no idea if she was going to die.
“When I woke up, I couldn’t speak or feel my body,” says Annie. “I was so scared and confused. I didn’t know where I was or what had happened to me.”
A resident of Waterloo, Annie moved to the United States from the Congo in 2016. She speaks both French and Lingala, but not English. When she tested positive for COVID-19 in mid-April, she called her contact at EMBARC right away. Julie Molisho, then a Congolese REACH Advocate with EMBARC, had worked with Annie before. She advised her client to stay home for 14 days and keep close watch on her symptoms.
Annie was looking forward to ending her quarantine. But on the 14th day, she began coughing and soon had trouble breathing. She contacted Julie again, who immediately called MercyOne Medical Center. When Julie described Annie’s symptoms, the medical staff said Annie needed to come to the emergency room immediately. Annie’s son Justin drove her there, but he couldn’t stay due to safety restrictions.
Julie tried to follow up with Annie that day and the next, but she wasn’t answering her phone. Justin was calling, too, to no avail. When Julie contacted the hospital, she wasn’t able to get any information from staff, as she wasn’t listed as an emergency contact.
That’s when Moriah Morgan, REACH Advocate Manager at EMBARC, stepped in. After explaining the situation to the team at MercyOne, Moriah and Julie received permission to discuss Annie’s health information. It turned out that Annie had taken a turn for the worse. The next day after coming to the hospital, she had been intubated and put on a ventilator.
Julie Molisho, former Congolese REACH Advocate with EMBARC
“My community is like a family,” says Julie, who is a Congolese immigrant herself. “If someone is going through a hard time, it’s a little personal. It’s hard in my mind. We didn't want to lose her.”
Over the next three weeks, Julie worked tirelessly to bridge the gap between Annie’s family and the doctors and nurses at MercyOne Medical Center. Every day, Julie called the hospital to get an update on Annie’s health. She then shared the news with Justin, even when there was no change in Annie’s condition.
Annie finally recovered enough to be taken off the ventilator after three weeks, an especially happy outcome, since many COVID-19 patients who are intubated for more than a week never recover. Still, Annie’s journey was far from over.
Even after she recognized where she was and remembered her COVID-19 diagnosis, Annie couldn’t communicate with the nurses or other medical staff, since she didn’t speak English.
“This was so hard because I was supposed to start learning how to talk, how to breath, how to work. But I was not able to see my family. I was spending my days with nurses, but I needed to see my family in order to feel a little better.””
“This was so hard because I was supposed to start learning how to talk, how to breath, how to work,” says Annie. “But I was not able to see my family. I was spending my days with nurses, but I needed to see my family in order to feel a little better.”
During that time, Julie served as an interpreter between Annie and her care team, passing on important information and instructions. After another week, Annie recovered enough to be released from the hospital. Overall, she had been there for more than a month.
“Being sick with COVID was a deadly experience that I had to face,” says Annie.
While Annie was in the hospital, Moriah also communicated with Annie’s employer about her illness, ensuring that her job was safe. Because of that intervention, Annie was able to use paid sick leave through the first week of June. She was luckier than some low-wage and essential workers, who often have no sick leave to reply on.
“The health system is more difficult for us immigrants and refugees,” says Julie, who has since taken a role as a community health worker with the Black Hawk County Health Department.
“When someone has COVID, that person doesn’t know what to do. They don’t know how to use the health care system. EMBARC can be like a bridge. Someone can be there to direct them and connect them to the health care system, like I did for Annie. Someone has to be available for them; that’s very important.”
EMBARC’s REACH (Refugee Empowered Access to Community Health) program works to do just that. REACH Advocates like Julie, who come from immigrant communities, train on medical interpretation and community health care, and then provide wraparound case management services. During the pandemic, these REACH Advocates became front-line workers themselves, handling emergency calls and working with patients and their families from the first positive test through full recovery.
“EMBARC does a great job of hiring people like me to work with people like Annie,” says Julie. REACH, which trains immigrants and refugees to become community health workers, is one of the only programs of its kind in the United States.
Throughout the summer and fall of 2020, Annie continued to recover. She started working with Arlene Prather O’Kane, a retired nurse, who joined EMBARC this year as Medical Access Coordinator. Arlene and other EMBARC staff helped Annie with follow-up appointments, medical paperwork, and mail. Annie returned to work this summer, and she’s extremely grateful to be back home with her son.
“I really appreciate EMBARC’s assistance. Without them, I don’t know what I would have done. I feel much better now. I can move and take care of myself again.”
Help EMBARC support refugees and immigrants like Annie during the COVID-19 pandemic.