Christine Urquiza wants to make sense of her father's death

The hardest part was not being able to say goodbye properly." When Christine Urquiza's father, Mark, neared the end of his three-week battle with COVID-19, Urquiza and her family spent 10 hours trying to reach him in the overwhelming Arizona hospital where he was staying ("I turned 10 years older in those 10 hours," she says). All she wanted to do was hear his voice one more time. To tell him that she supported him. To tell him that she loved him. When she was able to reach him via FaceTime from her home in California, he was intubated and in a medically induced coma, unable to speak. Instead of being surrounded by family and friends, he was surrounded by a humming machine.

When his father's final moments became a reality, Urquiza did the only thing he could do at the time. In a FaceTime call mediated by a nurse, Urquiza read out special messages from family and friends, reminded her father of the vibrant community he loved so much, and played his favorite songs (Urquiza would recall this event about a year later as she sang along with her father, wearing a 1972 Rolling Stones T-shirt).On June 30, 2020, five days after being admitted to the ICU, 65-year-old Mark Urquiza became one of the 600,000 Americans who would lose their lives to COVID-19. [In the days following his death, Urquiza, who received condolences from family and friends, was filled with a mixture of sadness and anger. Not only for the loss of his father, but also for the failure of the federal and state governments to take responsibility for the lives endangered by unclear guidelines on how to detect early and minimize risk, especially for the black and brown communities disproportionately affected by COVID-19 (opens in new tab) And for not taking action. He knew he was not alone in feeling this way. Urquiza remembers a moment in the early days of the pandemic when she thought, if this doesn't work out, my family will be the first ones affected. It was like a premonition. So on July 8, 2020, the day of her father's funeral, she decided to share his story to help prevent this from happening to other families.

Urquiza used her background in public policy and environmental advocacy to found Marked By COVID (opens in new tab), a nonprofit that "promotes truth, science, and justice for COVID." one year ago today, Urquiza and her partner, Christine Kieves founded the organization, Urquiza has watched her "Honest Obituary" (opens in new tab) go viral, addressed the Democratic National Convention (opens in new tab) (DNC), quit her full-time job as vice president of an environmental nonprofit to He has led advocacy efforts. This includes fighting for the establishment of a permanent COVID-19 anniversary (opens in new tab), creating an online community for Americans who lost loved ones to COVID-19, and most importantly, exposing the truth about the nation's pandemic response.

"It was a big thing for me from the beginning," 40-year-old Urquiza tells Marie Claire. 'I want to tell our children and grandchildren what happened. The real truth. I think we owe it to future generations to impart wisdom about what happened and how we can respond in a way that might have a better outcome."

Marked By COVID currently has chapters in Arizona (the strongest, given its Urquiza roots), California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Texas, New York, and Missouri. In the organization's second year, Urquiza hopes to have chapters in at least half of the states in the country. The goal is to work with state governments to build communities while ensuring that relief and recovery funds meet the needs of those most affected socially and economically by the pandemic. It depends on the state and region in which they live.

One of the biggest challenges over the past year has been gaining the support of philanthropic partners who have contributed to COVID's non-support activities, such as raising funds for food banks. Urquiza plans to expand the size of the nonprofit by developing it from a volunteer base to a paid staff and reaching out to funders such as the Ford Foundation and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. According to Urquiza, the organization currently consists of a core team of 15 volunteers, about 1,000 activists in various roles, and 100,000 people who engage with the organization through social channels, mailing lists, and local hubs.

Needless to say, Urquiza never imagined herself in such a role, and often finds herself having to choose between being an activist and being a professional. a year ago, she was climbing the corporate ladder in the world of environmental non-profit organizations, and now she is a member of the organization's board of directors. Today, Urquiza says she is more aware of her activism than ever before and believes she has found her calling. She intends to lead the organization for the foreseeable future, but understands that it is more than a story about her and her father, and is open to putting others in the driver's seat.

The unfortunate reality is that millions of people experienced similar trauma throughout the pandemic, which has exacerbated the mental health crisis in our country (opens in new tab). As society returns to "normalcy," grieving Americans are left to wonder what "normalcy" would be like for them without their loved ones. Urquiza, like many other Americans, says he will not be able to fully process his grief until the truth is documented. That's why Marked By COVID is calling for a bipartisan commission to investigate the government's pandemic response and preparedness. The group recently sent a letter (opens in new tab) to the Biden administration asking for a committee and discussion. Urquiza followed up with the Biden administration on the one-year anniversary of his father's death as a way to memorialize, commemorate, and honor him. As of press time, the organization had not received a response.

"The (bipartisan committee and the official anniversary of COVID-19) is tied to my loss and grief, so until I see them through, it's my (healing) process," Urquiza explained.

"It's to finally see that my father's death and the deaths of more than 600,000 others were not in vain."

On the worst days, when all is still unreal, Urquiza relies on her partners, family, friends, and the community she has created. Challenging the country's response to grief while also actively managing her own reactions is a tricky and complex balancing act. But Urquiza recalls her father's globetrotting and reflects that in her own work. He was always kind to everyone. Someone who always made space for those who didn't fit in. A community builder.

"We've all been marked by COVID in some way," Urquiza says.

"What a beautiful tribute to my father to be able to ensure that the next first generation Mexican-American immigrant will not fail like he did."

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