Gianni is a 29 year old single father to a 2 year old named Salem and living in Oakland, CA. Gianni is separated from the mother, Meara, and are still on good terms but after the COVID-19 pandemic began, life became much more difficult. Gianni once had a very active social life. In the middle of 2020, Meara decided to move back to her hometown of Modesto, CA about an hour and 30 minutes from Oakland. Since doing so, Gianni has made a decision to stay in Oakland to work but commute to Modesto to see his son. He makes more money in San Francisco working at a fish farm in Fisherman’s Wharf but describes this time as being “very terrible, scary, and hard.” He feels like he has to offer his kid to a “future that I don’t even understand. I don’t know how to bring my kid into it.”

He expresses, “I was trying to figure out how to be a parent for the first time in my life when this all happened. I accumulated shitloads of debt, lost contact with most of my support group, and lost interest in the Bay Area.”

Gianni is strongly considering moving closer to his son in Modesto. But for now, he’s working as much as he can to save his money.