VOA – CONNECT EPISODE # 116 AIR DATE 04 03 2020 TRANSCRIPT OPEN ((VO/NAT)) ((Banner)) Providing Services ((SOT)) ((Dr. Marie Fang, Psychologist)) I'm Dr. Marie Fang. I'm a psychologist working in private practice in San Jose, California. As of March 14th of this year, I made the switch to exclusively teletherapy services. ((NATS: Hi, Vanessa. How are you doing today?)) ((Animation Transition)) ((Banner)) Providing Shelter ((SOT)) ((Rusty Bailey, Mayor – Riverside, California)) You know, people are dying on the streets. People are suffering on the streets and they don’t have to. We have the money for this. We have the public opinion. Public opinion said, “Yes”! ((Animation Transition)) ((Banner)) Providing Jobs ((SOT)) ((Ellen Graham, Co-founder, Cameron’s Chocolates)) We make coffee, chocolate and bake goods fresh daily. We don’t hire people to make chocolates. We make chocolates to hire people. ((Open Animation)) BLOCK A ((PKG)) COVID DISTILLERY DISINFECTANTS ((Banner: Distillers Change Course)) ((Reporter: Ozlem Tinaz)) ((Camera: Celal Cevirgen)) ((Adapted by: Philip Alexiou)) ((Map: Falls Church, Virginia)) ((Main characters: 1 male)) ((Sub characters: 1 female; 1 male)) ((Popup Banner: During the COVID-19 pandemic, an alcohol distillery lends a hand)) ((NATS: Michael Paluzzi, Founder, Falls Church Distillery Whoop. We’re still pumping. Kallie Stavros, Employee, Falls Church Distillery Oh yeah. We were still filling this. Michael Paluzzi, Founder, Falls Church Distillery Okay. All right.)) ((Michael Paluzzi, Founder, Falls Church Distillery)) We still produce our whiskeys and our vodkas and our gins. We still have our alcohol or our spirits that we produce but we’ve obviously pivoted. We’ve pivoted into making sanitization. It's the same type of process. We're using the same whiskeys, our base spirits that we would use to make a lot of our other products. ((NATS)) ((Michael Paluzzi, Founder, Falls Church Distillery)) Our plan was only to do this for today and help people out like nursing homes and hospitals and first responders and the elderly, you know, the hard targets of this whole nasty thing. It’s blown up into being much more than that. It’s blown up to be a business. I mean, I don’t know. We’ll see how long it lasts, how long the need lasts. ((NATS)) ((Michael Paluzzi, Founder, Falls Church Distillery)) When the governor issued their new regulations, it’s maximum 10 patrons at a time. It is impossible for a restaurant to staff the restaurant and a bar and make any money that way. So, that effectively put us out of business at the bar/restaurant. Luckily, we had the second business here that we’re springing off of, which is the distillery. What we, I’ve been able to do is re-employ all of those bar personnel. So, all the kitchen and all the bar people will be filling jugs and working full time. So, that’s another good side benefit, right? That everybody gets a job still because all those people I had to lay off last Sunday, on Tuesday I got to rehire. ((NATS)) ((Kallie Stavros, Employee, Falls Church Distillery)) It’s nice to be able to do something that is helping people. Obviously, it’s really hard to find. I went on Amazon just to look at what was available on Amazon and it looks like people are ripping everyone off. So, it's nice to just kind of help the local community and still have a job actually. I feel really lucky right now. ((NATS)) ((Michael Paluzzi, Founder, Falls Church Distillery)) Prices right now is important to us. I mean, that was a very, very important thing to us, to not gouge, right? I mean, because that’s what you're seeing now. You’re seeing people buy up, whether it’s toilet paper or hand sanitizer and then trying to charge exorbitant prices for that. That is part of what we were battling here, plus the need and plus the reasonableness of fulfilling that need. ((NATS)) ((Matthew Quinn, Customer, Falls Church Distillery)) I have a company down the street and all of our, everything we’ve used, is out. All of our containers are half-full and we’ve got to try to fill them back up. ((NATS)) ((Michael Paluzzi, Founder, Falls Church Distillery)) We're producing about 300 [1135 liters] gallons of sanitizer right now. We could easily do that every day if we could get the supplies, but we believe that we are on a plan to, at least, produce another thousand gallons [3785 liters] next week and hopefully continue to try to double that. ((Matthew Quinn, Customer, Falls Church Distillery)) I think all of us are trying to do what we can. I think seeing small businesses step up and provide this type of service is fantastic. ((NATS)) ((Popup Banner: In the days following filming, the distillery took more stringent health safety measures both within the workforce and with customers.)) ((PKG)) TELETHERAPY ((Banner: Teletherapy)) ((Reporter: Zdenko Novacki)) ((Camera: Dr. Marie Fang)) ((Map: San Jose, California)) ((Main characters: 1 female)) ((NATS)) ((Dr. Marie Fang, Psychologist)) In light of everything that's happening with COVID-19, many therapists, who otherwise see their clients face-to-face, are now making the switch to exclusively teletherapy services. And this sudden switch has presented an array of unique challenges that might not otherwise apply to offering teletherapy. ((NATS)) ((Dr. Marie Fang, Psychologist)) I'm Dr. Marie Fang. I'm a psychologist working in private practice in San Jose, California. And ever since I started my practice in 2012, I've been working with primarily face-to-face clients. But as of March 14th of this year, I made the switch to exclusively teletherapy services. ((NATS: Hi, Vanessa. How are you doing today?)) ((Dr. Marie Fang, Psychologist)) There are many advantages to teletherapy and particularly lately, surrounding the social distancing precautions around COVID-19, teletherapy allows many people to access mental health care who otherwise wouldn't be able to access it or in order to access it, they might need to put themselves at risk. ((NATS)) ((Dr. Marie Fang, Psychologist)) Teletherapy refers to all therapy services offered electronically, whether it be video, phone call, email or text. But colloquially, when therapists refer to teletherapy, most of the time they're referring to video therapy. Teletherapy is subject to the same rules and regulations as in-person therapy with a few extras to address the need to maintain patient privacy. ((NATS)) ((Dr. Marie Fang, Psychologist)) It does seem to be the case that the option of meeting a therapist through a screen caters well to some populations and not so well to other populations. So, for myself, I work primarily with millennials who often work from home and are meeting via video for their work calls anyway. So, the idea of meeting through video with their therapist doesn't feel very uncomfortable and many are excited to do so. However, I've heard from other therapists who found that their clients don't even want to meet at all if it means that they have to put themselves on a video. ((NATS)) ((Dr. Marie Fang, Psychologist)) There is research backing up the effectiveness of teletherapy showing that it's just as effective as in-person therapy when utilizing the same interventions. ((NATS)) ((Dr. Marie Fang, Psychologist)) Within the current context of the COVID-19 restrictions, my practice has shrunk significantly and there are a number of factors contributing to this. One big factor is my schedule has had to change. Normally, I drop my daughter off at daycare in order to go see my clients and my daughter's daycare is currently closed. So, I've needed to reduce my total hours available to see clients to about a third of what I typically offer to them. So, I only have a few slots available on my schedule right now. ((NATS)) ((Dr. Marie Fang, Psychologist)) I'm hearing from the majority of my colleagues that their income has dropped as a result of COVID-19 and switching to teletherapy. For some, their income has dropped as much as 50 percent or more. And there are some who aren’t taking a paycheck right now at all. ((NATS)) ((Dr. Marie Fang, Psychologist)) We’re already seeing major impacts of COVID-19 on people’s mental health, especially for those under the mandate to shelter-in-place. They may feel literally trapped in whatever dysfunction might be going on in their household. Generally speaking, my colleagues and I have so far seen an increase in anxiety in a major way. If clients were already experiencing symptoms of anxiety, they've just kicked up into high gear. And for those clients who, maybe, weren't otherwise experiencing anxiety, there is a greater sense of medical anxiety as well as grief over can canceled plans. People have had to move their weddings and even funerals around because of the shelter-in-place mandate. And for those clients who are prone to depression, isolation and loneliness have also contributed to increased symptoms of depression. ((NATS)) ((Dr. Marie Fang, Psychologist)) In order for teletherapy to be successful, one of the biggest factors required is a great Wi-Fi signal. Now most of the time when there is a spotty connection, if the therapist or client moves closer to the Wi-Fi signal, it's often resolved. But given the nature of our current situation, it's not always an option to move closer to the Wi-Fi signal while maintaining a private confidential space for therapy. ((NATS)) ((Dr. Marie Fang, Psychologist)) In my opinion, one major downside of teletherapy is it doesn't have that same kind of like special sauce that comes when you meet face-to-face. It's kind of similar to if you have a loved one who lives far away and you're meeting via FaceTime or some other video means, it doesn't feel quite the same as when you're in-person. ((NATS)) ((Dr. Marie Fang, Psychologist)) Because therapists have had to make this switch on such short notice, there are many factors that have created challenges for us, such as trying to get the necessary trainings in order to make sure we're on top of all of the ethical regulations to provide teletherapy and also figuring out technological issues just like everyone else in the world these days. It's hard to figure out which platforms are HIPAA [medical privacy laws] secure and care for your clients’ privacy and trying to onboard your clients to those platforms at the same time. I know therapists, who have tried one platform, had technological issues and then switched to two or three different platforms until they found one that really works for their practice. ((NATS)) ((Dr. Marie Fang, Psychologist)) One major issue that I've experienced meeting with my clients via teletherapy, particularly while the shelter-in-place mandate is in effect for some of us, is because there are so many people inside the household, it's really difficult to find a private space to meet with your therapist. ((NATS)) TEASE ((VO/NAT)) Coming up….. ((Banner)) Setting an Example ((SOT)) ((Rusty Bailey, Mayor – Riverside, California)) Yeah, this is my sleeping arrangement and it gets cold out here. So, I have a couple of different blankets, obviously sleeping bag. BREAK ONE BUMP IN ((ANIM)) BLOCK B ((PKG)) MAYOR / HOMELESSNESS ((Banner: Shelter for Those Without)) ((Reporter/Camera: Genia Dulot)) ((Map: Riverside, California)) ((Main character: 1 male)) ((Sub characters: 2 female; 1 male)) ((Popup Banner: Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, people without shelter struggled to stay safe)) ((NATS: Mayor Rusty Bailey & Homeless man: How are you doing? Hey, Mayor! Hey, Darrell! Hey, what’s going on? All right. How are you doing? Where are you at? Where are you at? Is that Michael? Yeah, that’s me. Hey, brother. Hey, it’s good to see you. You, too. You, too. You hungry? Going to get some dinner tonight? All right.)) ((Rusty Bailey, Mayor – Riverside, California)) So, my compassion for the homeless really started when I was in high school and my dad took me to a church that fed homeless on a certain night of the week. And I’ll never forget the moment when I was serving one of my classmates in high school and they looked at me and I could just see the shame on their face. At that moment, I knew that could be me and so ever since then, you know, serving the homeless touched me personally. ((NATS: Mayor Rusty Bailey & Heidi, Homeless: You keeping an eye on Heidi, Les? Yes. No, he doesn’t keep an eye…... He doesn’t? No. You don’t need to keep an eye on me. I’m a grown woman. You’re supposed to be in apartment. Why aren’t you in your apartment? I don’t need a house. This is my house. This is my community. I know this is your community. Are you trying to be my dad? Yes! No. Yes. You can’t be my dad. No. You are my mom! She’s my….right? Listen, listen to me. I had to….. This is my mother. This is my adopted mother. I have adopted Heidi. She takes care of me when I am out here on Massachusetts avenue. Oh, yeah! )) ((Rusty Bailey, Mayor – Riverside, California)) Raul Nava, 29-year old individual, was living on the streets and was stabbed to death. I got a text alert about this and came out and observed it and I said, I’ve got to do something. I can’t let this go on any longer. ((Rusty Bailey, Mayor – Riverside, California)) Yeah, this is my sleeping arrangement and it gets cold out here. So, I have a couple of different blankets, obviously sleeping bag. I’ve got my army hat here, as it goes on, a sleeping cap, my skull cap. I am a graduate of West Point 1994, class of 1994. I just got back from my 25th reunion and we got our hats there and so, I keep that close to my, close to my heart, but it’s on my head so, maybe it’s even better, keeping me warm. I lived here for 15 nights, every other night, for over a month, to bring a sense of urgency, to bring education awareness and to challenge the community, challenge the city to help me bring more attention and to bring more resources and to raise funding. ((Rusty Bailey, Mayor – Riverside, California)) This right here, only took a couple hours to build and we can get somebody off the streets, at least two people off the streets immediately. And so, this is the first step: from the streets, out of the tent, off the sidewalk and into safe and dignified shelter. ((Rusty Bailey, Mayor – Riverside, California)) So, we are looking at buying 20 of these and place them in this parking lot with bathrooms and showers and a place for eating. Unfortunately, the state of California has a requirement that any emergency shelter has to have 70 square feet [6.5 m2] of livable area for one individual and then 50 square feet [4.6 m2] thereafter. So, right now, this is not legal to stay in in the state of California, at least by the code. ((NATS: Mayor Rusty Bailey & Heidi, Homeless: Well, there you go. All the pictures. Hi, are you the mayor? So, where is it? Yeah.)) ((Michelle Dunn, Homeless)) Hi. I just got kicked out of my, well, not my homeless shelter, the homeless shelter here. They’re saying that the program’s shut down and I’m wondering is there is any other place that I could stay? My name is Michelle Dunn. I’ve traveled all around this country. I am finally here. I am stuck. I have no money. I cannot get out of here. Could someone please help me? ((Rusty Bailey, Mayor – Riverside, California)) I am frustrated by the bureaucracy. I am frustrated by whatever you want to call it. And, you know, people are dying on the streets. People are suffering on the streets and they don’t have to. We have the money for this. We have the public opinion. Public opinion said, “yes”! Political will is with us. Political will said, “yes, we will do this.” But for some reason, there is these, these hoops we have to jump through. These hurdles we have to get around, to get over, are preventing our neighbors without homes from sleeping in this shelter tonight. ((NATS)) ((Popup Banner: Since the outbreak of the pandemic, California has increased efforts to help those without shelter but are still struggling)) ((PKG)) PROMO: AMERICANS AND GUNS ((MUSIC)) Americans and Guns Differing Perspectives ((SOTs)) This is a fight for our way of life and our freedoms as Americans. The United States constitution says the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. ((MUSIC/NATS)) ((SOTs)) Got to be some regulation, stop somewhere. Guns take on a different meaning when you have to kind of recognize that they are not just one thing. Hunting has just kind of been a part of our lives as long back as I can remember. ((SOTs)) I was shot eight times. My older son, he was murdered. People think it’s only a city problem or it’s only a domestic problem or it’s a gang problem and that is absolutely not the truth. It hits families from every walk of life. It’s an attempt to demonize the tool. It’s not the tool that kills. It’s the person. ((MUSIC/NATS)) ((SOTs)) Easy access to a gun turns an impulse into a tragedy. ((MUSIC/NATS)) ((SOTs)) What frustrates lawful gun owners is that we get lumped into this heap in the media with people who are breaking the law. So, there’s a lot of ways to be safe with the guns. ((MUSIC/NATS)) ((SOTs)) We live in different realities, you know. If you have been affected by gun violence, what guns are is one thing. And if you have never been affected, you can kind of blithely go on with your life never really confronting that. ((MUSIC)) Coming Soon on VOAConnect ((MUSIC/NATS)) TEASE ((VO/NAT)) Coming up….. ((Banner)) A Place to Grow ((SOT)) ((Sean Cross, Employee, Cameron’s Chocolates)) I like working here because I can make new things, like sometimes I make coffee. Sometimes I make wraps. BREAK TWO BUMP IN ((ANIM)) BLOCK C ((PKG)) CAMERON’S CHOCOLATES ((Banner: Providing Jobs)) ((Reporter/ Camera: June Soh)) ((Map: Fairfax, Virginia)) ((Main characters: 2 females)) ((Sub characters: 2 females; 2 males)) ((NATS)) ((Ellen Graham, Co-founder, Cameron’s Chocolates)) We make coffee, chocolate and bake goods fresh daily. We don’t hire people to make chocolates. We make chocolates to hire people. ((MUSIC/NATS)) ((Sean Cross, Employee, Cameron’s Chocolates)) I like working here because I can make new things, like sometimes I make coffee. Sometimes I make wraps, chocolates like these, caramel, salted caramel. ((MUSIC/NATS)) ((Ellen Graham, Co-founder, Cameron’s Chocolates)) We have 35 employees and about two-thirds of our employees are intellectually disabled. The other third donot have intellectual disabilities but work in parallel with our disabled workers. So, we’re what’s known as a cooperative environment where we all help each other out. ((MUSIC/NATS)) ((Cameron Graham, Employee, Cameron’s Chocolates)) I'm making a recipe for sugar cookies, time four. ((Ellen Graham, Co-founder, Cameron’s Chocolates)) When I had my daughter Cameron, we determined that she had some challenges, especially in her development. I decided that I would try finding as many doctors as I could that could help her. And one of the doctors told me that I should accept the fact that my daughter would function on a cognitive level of a three-year-old for the rest of her life. And I didn't want to accept that. And so, I worked very hard to find ways to help her grow and develop. And that journey has led me through many steps. So, my husband and I came up with our own model and that's Cameron's chocolates. ((NATS: I need two pounds of sugar, Hannah. Okay.)) ((Kelsey Sohail, Job Coach, Cameron’s Chocolates)) This is our kitchen time now. So, we are making a gluten- free strawberry bar and sugar cookies. ((So, what is your role here?)) ((Kelsey Sohail, Job Coach, Cameron’s Chocolates)) My role is, I am the lead job coach. I support a team of four individuals. But also, I supervise all the job coaches. So, I go through and I make sure that they're following the recipes correctly and that…. Yeah. Is that one stick? That’s two sticks of butter? Yeah. All of the participants are different. You have to work with them in different ways to be able to make them as successful as they can be here. ((NATS: Where did you guys just go? We just went to the laundry. Here comes the other part of the team, right now.)) ((Chloeie Rebecca Scales, Employee, Cameron’s Chocolates)) So, yes, I have been working here, again, around two years. And we help each other and getting things all together, work and I. We get a lot of customers. And we definitely have a good healthy relationship with other people, job coaches, managers and everybody else. We are all like a family too. ((NATS)) ((Paul Provance, Customer, Cameron’s Chocolates)) My little group comes every Monday morning or as we can. Well, it’s got good service and always nice little things like muffins and good coffee. And I think we are doing something good for our community by patronizing a very conscientious establishment. ((NATS)) ((Kelsey Harmon, High School Special Education Teacher)) I brought students here on a community-based instruction trip. While here, we are looking at the different jobs that they have. It's a great place to learn just because there are people, all types of people come here and it’s very inclusive to everything, to all persons. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Ellen Graham, Co-founder, Cameron’s Chocolates)) Cameron’s Chocolates, we don't only look at the workers in terms of just their work skills, but we look at their life skills. We look at their social skills. So, our workers are broken into teams. So, we take a local town bus to go to the grocery stores. We walk to a local laundromat to do our cleaning rags. We go to the bank and make our bank deposits, all of the things that include us in the world outside of Cameron’s. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Cameron Graham, Employee, Cameron’s Chocolates)) I am cooking tonight dinner for my family. I cook twice a week because my mom said twice a week. I pick the days. ((Ellen Graham, Co-founder, Cameron’s Chocolates)) Not only my daughter but some of her co-workers have started cooking meals for their families. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Cameron Graham, Employee, Cameron’s Chocolates)) Today, I am making a chicken dinner. I love cooking. ((Ellen Graham, Co-founder, Cameron’s Chocolates)) There are other things that our workers do outside of the shop. One of those things is Special Olympics. Special Olympics touches the lives of so many of my workers. ((Ellen Graham, Co-founder, Cameron’s Chocolates)) For example, my daughter, in the winter, she plays basketball and in the spring, she plays softball. I have another worker who competes on a national level for ice skating. I have another one who competes nationally for swimming. And so, these are opportunities that exist. People with intellectual challenges can still do phenomenal things, given the opportunity to show you what they can do. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Ellen Graham, Co-founder, Cameron’s Chocolates)) Over 84 percent of people with cognitive disabilities are unemployed but they're not unemployable. And there's a big difference there. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Photo Courtesy: Cameron’s Chocolates)) ((Ellen Graham, Co-founder, Cameron’s Chocolates)) Our store opened in 2013. Initially, we started with three workers and today, we have 20-something workers who might not otherwise have jobs. We are proof that people with intellectual disabilities can have meaningful employment and be productive members of society. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Ellen Graham, Co-founder, Cameron’s Chocolates)) I would hold our bakery products against anyone else's. Our chocolates are some of the best chocolates you can buy anywhere. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Ellen Graham, Co-founder, Cameron’s Chocolates)) All of us are different but all of us have gifts. ((NATS/MUSIC)) ((Popup Banner: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Cameron's Chocolates has closed, leaving many of its employees without jobs and the daily social interaction they enjoyed.)) CLOSING ((ANIM)) voanews.com/connect ((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS ((NATS/VIDEO/GFX)) ((Popup captions over B Roll)) Near the Turkish Embassy Washington, D.C. May 16, 2017 President Erdogan’s bodyguard attacks peaceful protesters “Those terrorists deserved to be beaten” “They should not be protesting our president” “They got what they asked for” While some people may turn away from the news We cover it reliably accurately objectively comprehensively wherever the news matters VOA A Free Press Matters CLOSING ((ANIM)) voanews.com/connect BREAK THREE BUMP IN ((ANIM)) ((PKG)) FREE PRESS MATTERS ((NATS/VIDEO/GFX)) ((Popup captions over B Roll)) We make a difference When we unmask terror When we explain the impossible When we confront an uncertain future When we give voice to the voiceless The difference is Freedom of the Press We are the Voice of America where A Free Press Matters CLOSING ((ANIM)) voanews.com/connect SHOW ENDS