{"id":43957,"date":"2020-05-28T14:14:35","date_gmt":"2020-05-28T21:14:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/?p=43957"},"modified":"2020-05-28T14:16:55","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T21:16:55","slug":"fresno-non-profit-glow-helps-pregnant-women-during-covid19-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eltecolote.org\/content\/en\/fresno-non-profit-glow-helps-pregnant-women-during-covid19-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Fresno non-profit Glow! helps pregnant women during COVID19 Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

*Editor\u2019s note: Andrew Leal is a journalism student in SF State\u2019s Journalism 575 Community Media this spring. Taught by professor Jon Funabiki, the class is a collaboration with El Tecolote<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maria Cordova is a working, pregnant mother who suffers from asthma. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Cordova was in her third trimester. Seeking help, she turned to a support group for pregnant moms called Glow!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Glow! is run by the Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission, a community action agency non-profit that was set up a year after Congress passed the Equal Opportunity Act of 1964. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cordova\u2019s daughter mentioned the program during her third doctor visit and felt it was worth looking into.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe had mentioned they had a program that was interested in Hispanics who would have kids who are premature,\u201d Cordova said. \u201cAnd that is one of the things I\u2019m interested in because I have a nephew who is a preemie.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Glow! program doubles to help educate expectant moms like Cordova and as a research study with a focus on \u201cmaternal wellness and support for women in Fresno County,\u201d according to its website. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Groups consist of eight to 12 women who are expecting around the same time. The women meet once every month for 10 times. During the program, mothers are instructed by their doctors and a Glow! facilitator. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gabriela Leal delivers groceries while practicing social distancing guidelines to her Glow! participant during the COVID19 Pandemic. Photo: Andrew R. Leal<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Cordova\u2019s facilitator is Gabriela Leal, a mother of four boys and has been leading two groups of mothers for the past few months now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Leal has had to work from home and uses only her phone to contact moms like Cordova. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI provide moral support,\u201d said Leal. \u201cI contact them, remind them of their regular OBGYN appointments. I call them to see if they need any resources that maybe I can help them with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leal has plans in the works to get the moms online through Zoom video calls to resume the group sessions. Before the shelter-in-place order was put into effect in Fresno County, Cordova\u2019s group had met only once. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Gabriela Leal is on a zoom call with her coworkers from Glow! while working from home due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Photo: Andrew R. Leal<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHonestly I would have loved for it to continue having it,\u201d Cordova said. \u201cIf I was able to talk to the girls, it would be easy for me to share my experience.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cordova feels that in the group setting, the mothers are more comfortable asking questions about their pregnancy and could have their concerns addressed by fellow moms and Leal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think it was very helpful that (Leal) was already a mom,\u201d Cordova said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the other ways Leal helps out the moms during the shelter in place order is to buy groceries and a gas card that she expenses to Glow! Each mom gets $15 of food every two weeks from Leal, who personally delivers it to each mother\u2019s house while practicing social distancing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The difficulty is to shop for at times five to six moms while also buying for her own household of five. And she has to be fair, so every mom gets the same items as the others. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Maria Cordova is being interviewed on a zoom call while at home. Photo: Andrew R. Leal<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHonestly, it helps me a lot because how me and my husband both work, we don\u2019t qualify for any benefits,\u201d said Cordova. \u201cEspecially a family of three.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cordova was born in Culiacan, Mexico in 1993 and immigrated to the United States three years later with her parents in the mid 90\u2019s, settling in Fresno, California. She grew up going to school in Fresno, graduating from Roosevelt High School and planned on continuing her education at a college. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her plans were tragically cut short after her dad passed away and had to help her mom with the bills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen my dad passed away I still didn\u2019t have my work permit,\u201d Cordova said. \u201cSo I was working in the fields for about five years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cordova said she is \u201cone of the DACA students\u201d and had to wait to get her work permit but continued to work in the fields until she got her first job at McDonald\u2019s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From McDonald\u2019s she worked at a \u201cfinancial store\u201d where they \u201cgive like loans and checks,\u201d for five years. She now works for Molly Maid, a cleaning service company.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was during her time at the \u201cfinancial store\u201d that Cordova got pregnant with her first child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was having a really hard time becoming pregnant for my first pregnancy,\u201d Cordova said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She said that the stressful work environment in her job before the \u201cfinancial store\u201d was the reason for the difficulty getting pregnant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cordova\u2019s first pregnancy ended up being a healthy one, she said, but the second time around not so much. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey did see in the ultrasound that she may have teeth, or that her regular teeth might be bigger than anyone else,\u201d Cordova remembered during her second trimester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And now at 29 weeks pregnant, the pandemic stress has been heightened especially since Cordova has Asthma, which puts her in a high risk group for Coronavirus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen the whole pandemic started I actually had gone to the emergency room,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd it was because my lungs were failing.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately for Cordova she did not have the virus, but the thought of catching it still worries her day by day. She tries not to over think about the pandemic and stays away from the news when it mentions COVID-19 stories. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Cordova is not alone during this pregnancy and pandemic, she has her husband to help her. He works at night while she works during the day so they can take turns watching over their daughter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cordova is looking at the bright side of things at home during the pandemic and has a message for other expecting moms: \u201cJust hang in there and not to be afraid.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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