Fence can’t stop sisters
Picnic visit doesn’t break social distancing rules
LOCKEFORD — Stockton native Susan Webb had taken her special needs sister Kim Clayworth to Bodega Bay in mid-March for an early birthday trip away from the Hanot Foundation.
The sisters were camping in Bodega Bay, when campground officials gave them notice on March 18 that the facility was closing due to the COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home order issued by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Webb was ready to return her sister to the Hanot Foundation on East Sargent Road in Lockeford almost immediately, until staff said visits would be nearly impossible.”
“So then when I found out from consulting with the leadership here... they said ‘you know, if you bring her back, you can’t take her out again on her actual birthday,’” Webb said. “So I said ‘I’m keeping her,’ and she stayed with me for roughly 23 days until after her actual birthday.”
Clayworth’s birthday was April 3, when she turned 64. She has been a resident of the Hanot Foundation since 1986, diagnosed with Down syndrome.
Since returning her sister to the facility the first weekend in April, Webb said it had been a long eight weeks not being able to visit due to COVID-19 restrictions, social distancing measures and the stay-athome orders issued by the governor and counties.
Because Clayworth rarely speaks, Webb said she is unable to check in on her sister over the phone, receiving routine updates from the foundation staff instead.
Webb lives two hours away in Forest Hill, and prior to the pandemic, was visiting her sister every two weeks, she said.
The facility does not have a Zoom account, so not being able to see her sister for eight weeks began to take a toll, Webb said.
Earlier this week, the foundation staff told Webb she could bring a picnic lunch to visit her sister. However, Clayworth must be seated on one side of the facility’s front wrought iron gate, and Webb must be seated on the other.
Webb brought sandwiches, cherries, chips, soda and sparkling cider for the picnic, along with a small table and white cloth. She also brought a bluetooth speaker to play some Elvis Presley music, her sister’s favorite singer.
“I’m not here to change the rules,” Webb said. “I’m here to visit my sister, give a her lunch, now that I know that this avenue is open to me. I can maybe do this every two weeks or every week.”
Founded in 1929, Hanot Foundation provides a home-like atmosphere for developmentally adults and seniors.
Executive director Laura Reeves said Webb was the third relative of a resident to bring a picnic lunch and visit in this manner. Reeves said she and her staff are just one of many health care facilities trying to find creative ways to let family members see one another during a trying period.
“We feel through this process with COVID-19, that this is healing process because they can still have that closeness,” Reeves said. “Our residents fortunately do have family that are very active in their lives, and they’re imperative to their mental health.”
Reeves said it was difficult at first to maintain social distancing guidelines with visits in this manner, because her residents are very loving and caring people who want to hug and get close to family and friends.
“I don’t want them to feel alienated, so I was trying to figure out a way we could still have this happen,” she said. “As you can see, it’s been a great process. At the end of the day, it’s all about happiness right now, because everything is a little different.”