I live in rural America cut off from the internet. The pandemic has made me more isolated than ever.

When I moved to Drain (OR) population 1,169, I did so because it was my dream to buy a small farm and land is cheaper here than in larger towns. What I didn’t realize was that in rural America, internet options are often limited. Now that the libraries and businesses I used to rely on for internet have closed, the threads of connection I clung to before have been taken away. I cannot rent DVDs. I cannot go to the library to work. Even cruising grocery store aisles is a bad idea. The irony is that because most places are closed, people without internet access need it to survive more than ever. If an employee isn’t considered essential and can’t work online, they lose their income. Students without internet cannot join their classmates on Zoom, setting them back in the school year. Workouts are going online. Therapy is going online. Online shopping has been deemed the safest option.

But those in rural communities — as well as low-income communities — are being left behind.

[Karie Fugett is a contributing writer for the Economic Hardship Reporting Project.]