Day 924: Monday, September 26, 2022

We celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month: People deserve kindness and compassion regardless of nationality or the color of their skin.

I would like to reflect on what being Hispanic means to me, and the impact it has on my goals, aspirations, and career path. I am one of just over 56 million Hispanic and Latinx Americans today. The diversity within our community is rich in history and tradition with many similar roots and ideals.

A major misconception among non-Hispanics or Latinx people is that all “Spanish” people are the same, speaking the same language, eating the same food, and listening to the same music. The various dialects of our language, the multitude of recipes and spices used in different cuisines, and the many different genres of music show the diversity among such a strong and united group of people. As a first-generation Cuban-American living in this country, I’m grateful to have been immersed in my culture’s traditions, both tangible things and non-tangible ideals.

My family has always instilled in me the importance of family, putting your best foot forward, and hard work along with dedication can help to achieve anything you want in life.

Like many Hispanic and Latinx immigrant families, mine came to this country appreciating all the opportunity that was within their grasp and possible for them. With their deep roots of determination and family unity, they accomplished so much and are just one of the many families who have done the same thing. These are ideals that have molded me into who I am today and with moving forward in my career.

Working as a nurse in healthcare has shown me that health issues and concerns do not discriminate against who you are. People deserve kindness and compassion regardless of nationality or the color of their skin. Treating others as if they are your own family has been and continues to be one of my strongest attributes to my career.

That is one of the many things I can take away from my heritage. If you can go through life treating others as if they are your loved one, we would have a strong and united community, being able to support one another and care for each other.

My husband is Dominican and we have two children that we want to raise with our families various cultural traditions and ideals. We want them to know their background, appreciate where they come from, and embrace the values that have gotten our families to where we are today.

We want to raise the future Hispanic and Latinx people of the world to be proud of who they are and strong in their beliefs and thinking.

As a whole, we can do anything we set our minds to and their continued future success is theirs for the taking, with their family and culture to support them every step of the way.

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! September 15 - October 15, 2022

Reflection by Theresa Alvarez, Nursing Student

Announcement and Request from Victoria - Subject: Nomadic Shelter

From: Betsy Randolph <rjurny@gmail.com> from St. Patrick's Date: September 24, 2022 at 4:01:33 PM PDT To: Victoria MacDonald <victoriamacd2012@gmail.com> Subject: Nomadic Shelter Hi Victoria, I'm writing to you to see if you or anyone in Emmaus would like to help for a couple of hours at the first Redwood Gospel Mission Nomadic Shelter Saturday, Oct. 1. at St. Patrick's Episcopal Church. This is the first one since the pandemic! We will host one on the first Saturday of every month from October through March. We need a few more people to eat with guests, serve the meal and greet people at the door.

We could use a couple of people to bake cookies ahead of time and bring them to St. Patrick's. We ask all the volunteers to meet there at 5:30. Some jobs will be over in less than an hour, others will take longer. All will be done by 8 or 8:30 when the clean up crew, all St. Patrick's folks, finishes up. Please let me know if you or anyone else in Emmaus would like to help out. You all did a great job in 2020.

While I know you are very busy helping out at the Sam Jones Shelter perhaps some could help out for a short time at the Nomadic Shelter. I'll look forward to hearing from you. You are welcome to call me at (408)981-2024 or simply reply to this email. I hope you all in Emmaus are well. Best wishes, Betsy Randolph

Please let Victoria know if you're available for this Saturday evening!