Until April 2020, household finances were stable, if sometimes paycheck-to-paycheck, for Brandy Jackson.
But that month, the elementary school instructional assistant came down with COVID-19 in the early months of the pandemic before vaccines were available. Her case was moderately severe and kept her from her job at Seattle Public Schools for an extended stretch, but she had already depleted her paid sick time after a bout of illness that stretched from the previous November to January.
