“[Being a social worker] wasn’t something that I ever planned to do, but sometimes God will talk to you and guide you in [a] direction.

I love helping people, [and] I think when we find our true passion, it has to do [with] where we come] from. I was a paralegal for eight years before I became a social worker. I [was trying to] be an attorney [because growing up], there were a lot of issues in my home. But as you move through life[‘s] seasons and stages, you start realizing that there’s something much deeper that needs to be fixed in our society. Attorneys don’t fix the root of the problem. They just put a bandaid on [it]. For example, if a family is going through a divorce, you get [the] people divorced. That’s not fixing the root of the problem. I started working at [different places, and I’ve] seen the pain and suffering that other people were going through [outside of] my own life experience. I think that’s what touched me. I’ve worked with refugees and resettlement, victims of human trafficking, unaccompanied minors and then I decided to come to [HISD].

I do a bit of everything. I address student’s mental health needs whenever [they’re] in the middle of a crisis. I work with our homeless student population on campus [and assist] them in applying for government services such as SNAP, Medicaid [and] housing. I collaborate with teachers, administrators, students and parents in various ways to ensure that a resolution is reached in the best interest of our students. Part of my job on campus is providing safe spaces for everyone. Nurse Thomas and I have collaborated to create a calm room in the nurse’s office. This room is open to anyone that needs a space to regulate, decompress or just center themselves and breathe.

I wouldn’t be here if it was to serve anybody but the students. I love working with the kids, and I want to keep doing it for as long as I possibly can. Everything that I do means a lot to me. A little bit of help can go a long way. What for one person is insignificant, for another person can mean a whole lot. No matter what I do for a person, big or small, it is always a win for me.”