A craving for Arizona Tea sent Gregorio Garcia to Walgreens. Garcia is a contact tracer at North East ISD and a frequent customer at this particular Walgreens. He was greeted at the register by a woman named Darlene. Their usual casual small talk led Darlene to reveal that she was dealing with incredible hardship.
“Darlene’s apartment complex had caught fire,” said Garcia. “She said the fire itself did not damage her apartment, but when the firemen came to put out the fire, the top floor was so drenched in water that her ceiling caved in, resulting in water damage to her possessions.”
Darlene also shared with Garcia that looters had taken what little she had left. She lost her first home during Hurricane Katrina and another when an electrical issue sparked a different fire.
When Garcia got home, he told his partner Heidi Reynolds about Darlene. Reynolds is a special education teacher at North East Transition Services (NETS) with a background in social work. Inspired to help Darlene, they got to work. Garcia decided to share Darlene’s story with the NEISD Health Services team. Within days, this incredible group joined forces to help Darlene refurnish her home with gift cards and everything from a microwave, couch, coffee table and kitchenware.
When Garcia and Reynolds shared the good news with Darlene, she couldn’t believe the kindness and generosity total strangers were willing to share with her.
“Thank you to the nurses,” said Darlene. “I appreciate everything. You guys are the best! I love it and I thank y’all so very much for everything.”
Thank you to Gregorio Garcia, Heidi Reynolds and the entire Health Services team for showing how #NEISDcares.
Click here to watch a video of Darlene receiving the donation from NEISD nurses.
