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THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, June 26, 2020 Page 15 Nonprofit tribute site Mourningamerica.org grows to 7,500+ COVID-19 victims With spikes reported around the country, grassroots site has become a solace for families suffering losses from COVID-19 W Site allows families, friends to post free obits, photos and messages of loved ones who have died “This is a disheartening ith the nation’s death t ol l app r oaching 130,000 victims of COVID-19, a public that has largely been trapped indoors has grappled with ways to honor those who have died from COVID-19. The nonprofit tribute site www. mourningamerica.org is one of the first to provide that opportunity, and since its recent launch it has added more than 7,500 victims, which sadly include 250 healthcare workers and 54 couples. The site, a self-funded effort by South Carolina couple Dermot Jevens and Rebecca Heiss, is the only tribute platform that allows people to add their own obituaries, photos and memories of loved ones. Also, visitors to the site can search and find victims already added and leave their own messages. trend,” said Jevens. “Every time our numbers go up, it’s a reminder of another soul we have lost. Rebecca and I take solace in the fact that MourningAmerica.org is providing a way for mourners to grieve when they can’t do so in person because of social distancing. When the site hit 7,500 victims, it was a reminder that we have a long way to go and the number is going to increase.” “We designed mourningamerica.org as a way for people to honor the victims, and it has become so much more: a cathartic experience to express love and loss for families and friends that have come from this virus,” said Heiss. “We get a pit in our stomach every time we see the numbers increase, but it also reminds us more people are finding us and finding use for us.” Unlike traditional obituaries that appear in newspapers and online, victim profiles on mourningamerica.org are free to post to anyone in the United States. (Note: Editors at the site verify each passing and the information included.) People can simply go onto the site and click “Share Their Story” and add details about their loved one, or add info to existing stories. Mourningamerica.org, whose tagline is “More Than Just a Number,” was created by Jevens and Heiss as a way to honor the lives lost from the virus. Neither have backgrounds in tech, web building or fighting infectious diseases. The project was a labor of love borne from the heart. “People are suffering great losses while being isolated MAPC releases town-by-town data on housing assistance needed due to COVID-19 financial crisis T he Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), a regional planning agency in Boston, has released municipal-level estimates of the housing assistance that might be needed in Massachusetts due to COVID-19, and it paints a dire picture of how much financial help may be required to keep thousands of Massachusetts residents housed once the state eviction moratorium and federal CARES Act benefits expire later this summer. A temporary boost of $600 per week in unemployment benefits will expire on July 30, and a statewide eviction moratorium is set to end on August 18. Once those stop-gap measures end, research by MAPC shows, nearly every city and town in Massachusetts will be facing a great need for housing assistance come late summer. “Almost no community will be exempt from a substantial need for housing assistance once CARES Act supplements and the eviction moratorium expire,” said MAPC Socioeconomic Analyst Sarah Philbrick, a lead author of the research. “Considering this data doesn’t include undocumented workers or self-employed workers who have filed, it’s likely these estimates underestimate need, although that also depends on how many workers return to work over the next few months. Cities and towns would do well to start planning for the impacts now, or they may see large numbers of vulnerable residents displaced by evictions or foreclosure.” This latest analysis is the newest in a series of MAPC reports on the statewide housing insecurity implications of widespread layoffs. Past reports looked at the gap between unemployment assistance and projected housing need in the early weeks of the pandemic, followed by a deeper dive into the demographics of impacted households and large-scale impacts of unemployment at the industry level. Estimates of needed housing assistance are determined by four main factors: population of each city or town, its unemployment rate, its cost of housing, and pre-COVID occupations and wages. The three largest cities in the state – Boston, Worcester and Springfield – have some of the largest total need of housing assisfrom their family and friends at a vulnerable time,” said Jevens. “They need an outlet to express their feelings and honor those who have passed.” “MourningAmerica.org is our way of giving people a voice at a time when they need it most,” said Heiss. “People are trapped at home, unable to be with their loved ones, and are now experiencing profound loss. We hope this platform allows them a much-needed way to share their feelings and honor the victims of this deadly disease.” Jevens is a board-certified veterinary surgeon and entrepreneur who currently serves as Treasurer/ Secretary for the American Animal Hospital Association. Previously, he was Senior Vice President, Collaboration and Innovation, for Compassion-First Pet Hospitals, where he was responsible for culture development, all specialty recruiting and innovation at a 41-hospital specialty and ER network. Jevens also served as founder/CEO of Upstate Veterinary Specialists, a multi-specialty animal hospital with locations in Greenville, S.C., and Asheville, N.C. Heiss, Ph.D. is founder and CEO of Icueity, a mobile application that focuses on building self-awareness (available in June). Her new book, “Instinct,” will hit the shelves in 2021. Heiss is a highly sought-after keynote speaker who uses her background in evolutionary biology to inspire people to break free of limiting, fearbased behaviors. Visit www.MourningAmerica.org to learn more, or email the founders at info@mourningamerica.org. tance; Quincy, Lynn and Lawrence also find themselves near the top of the list due to a combination of large populations, high to moderate housing costs, and high unemployment rates. Some of the state’s smallest communities, like Gosnold, Petersham and Phillipston, have very high rates of unemployment compared to their population, while other communities that have extremely high housing costs – such as Wellesley, Weston, Dover and Sherborn – rank among the highest average dollar amount needed in assistance per household. “As the state slowly begins to reopen, some parts of the economy may rebound and there could be a drop in unemployment need,” said Philbrick. “Nevertheless, we hope our research is helpful as cities and towns try to get their arms around the extent of the potential housing and financial insecurity facing their residents in the months ahead, and as they plan for recovery and neighborhood stability.” MAPC will continue to make regular updates to their ongoing analyses of the impact of COVID-19 on the region’s housing and economy. New test available to determine protective immunity to COVID-19 A RCpoint Labs, the diagnostic testing lab franchise with nearly 100 locations across the United Staes, is partnering with Ethos Laboratories to bring a brand-new test to market that measures protective immunity to COVID-19. Tru-Immune by Ethos Laboratories is the first Surrogate Viral Neutralization Test (sVNT) to evaluate COVID-19 protective immunity in the United States. Unlike other tests currently on the market, Tru-Immune detects the presence and magnitude of neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus (which causes COVID-19) that could prevent future infection. “This test will provide personalized information that has not been available before,” said ARCpoint Franchise Group CEO John Constantine. “This is the first test that can give you an indication of how effective your antibodies are at fighting COVID-19. We are excited about what this means for individuals, and the value it provides as they make decisions about returning to work and other activities safely and with confidence. ARCpoint Labs is proud to be the first national network of collection sites for Tru-Immune as we roll this out.” According to a recent article published by Johns Hopkins University, neutralization assays are the “gold standard” for determining if a patient has effective antibodies and protective immunity against SARSCoV-2. “Tru-Immune is the first test to evaluate protective immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that does not require the use of live virus, cell culture or even pseudovirus,” said Ethos Research and Development’s Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Joshua Gunn. “These significant innovations allow us to process samples in less than three hours, compared to viral neutralization tests that can take three to five days to produce results.” Blood tests capable of detecting anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies have flooded the market, but none can measure the viral neutralizing capacity of these antibodies. “If test reTEST | SEE PAGE 19

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