Life in the Time of Coronavirus

The Homeless Mother and Daughter Who Are Surviving Day by Day

A series about how this pandemic affects our lives, our loved ones, our work, and our way of life

Justine van der Leun
GEN
Published in
6 min readMar 31, 2020

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A photo illustration of a car parked in a parking lot, with coronaviruses swarming in the background.
Photo illustration; Image sources: Jack Adams Photography/ Getty Images, 4x-image/Getty Images

Life in the Time of Coronavirus is a new GEN series where we are interviewing people across the country who have had their lives upended or are experiencing the stress of the unknown.

Gabrielle B. is a 38-year-old single mom in Birmingham, Alabama. She and her daughter have been living in their car for the past two months and have been further displaced by the coronavirus crisis. Gabrielle receives some support from a mutual aid organization that helps people in need in her community. You can find your local Covid-19 mutual aid organization here.

II live with my 13-year-old daughter and our little white dog in our car at the truck stop. Unless somebody calls me and I can build up the strength to act like I’m okay and go visit them, we just sit here all day. But I did have a job that I loved. I did have a home. Then it all fell apart.

I used to drive a bus, picking up disabled people. I’d left my job as a FedEx delivery driver because I wanted to maneuver bigger vehicles and get my commercial license. Then I started working for…

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