This story was told by a person incarcerated at Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility.
Caller: My mom got sick from COVID and she got sick and couldn’t really, you know, help her. She couldn’t really help me out, put money on my books or nothing like that. My brother, he had fallen off a ladder at work and, you know, so he broke his back and a couple of discs and is fine and everything.
UCI: Oh, no.
Caller: So, even my brother [unintelligible] to my immediate family. And, you know, just about food situation. So, I told mental health here that I needed to be in a more singular room, you know, and they didn’t put me in one.
And said that just I was hearing too many voices, and I was hearing voices, and they didn’t administer my meds right. It’s just been horrible about this COVID-19, that’s all I want to say.
UCI: Yeah, no, yeah. I’m sorry to hear that. Sounds like it’s been pretty rough.
Caller: Yeah.
UCI: And how – what has the COVID situation been like at your facility, you know, regarding, like, your programming and visitation?
Caller: Well, it’s been just picking it up. You know, just talked to my mom. You know, she’s old and she’s real old and, you know, when she gets sick I just can’t seem to get ahold of her anytime if I don’t [unintelligible] call. Because, like, you know – and lucky, alright, now I have money on my books, you know, because my brother’s girlfriend put money on my books.
Finally, you know, I asked somebody here, you know, if I could, like, ease in, you know, they could call my family for me, somebody that had, you know, money and more fortunate that I am to call my family and get ahold of my family. And the behavioral health, they check in on me here, but the room I’m in they don’t check on you. But, they checking on A, B, and C.
But things, like I said, things are picking up. So, at least I got a letter just now. I just got a letter just now saying you guys are a team and, wow, they wanted to hear the experience. So, it’s been sort of scary, you know, and rough.
