I remember April 16, 2020 at 6:30 pm when my sister got home and made me go downstairs because she told me that she needed to talk to me. She was on the phone with someone while I was going down the stairs. At first, she was making me feel comfortable, and then after a while, she hit me with the “I need you to help me.” That’s when I realized that she will ask me to go to work with her. That’s the time when Covid-19 started and got a lot of cases. My sister told me that they were short of staff because most of the staff had their permanent work and the other one is pregnant and cannot work because she was about to have her baby. 

At first, I was scared because the first time I came to the residential house, it was scary, and from what my sister told me that everyone is scary and they throw tantrums almost every day. My sister told me to work immediately. It’s not even a week since she asked me. I started working my first day, it was so tiring I remember doing the house chores in the morning at like 6:30 am waking the clients up, serving their meals, preparing their clothes, giving them showers, and cleaning. It’s basically a basic daily routine.

I worked for two residential facilities and at first, I worked only 3 days a week. But when the cases went up, I needed to work through all week even Saturday and Sunday. I remember I was exhausted working, but then I needed to help my sister out. Everyone was so problematic and needed to get tested every 2 weeks even now. We wear personal protective equipment (PPE), mask, face shield, and gloves. We make sure that everything is clean and we sanitize everything. Now I’ve been working here for 6 months and in that 6 months, a lot of things have happened. I wasn’t able to attend a lot of things because of work and besides, I need to be more cautious because I work in a facility where the clients have developmental disabilities, so they aren’t able to take care of themselves. We give them most everything and make them feel comfortable and loved. I enjoy working here because they are so fun and make me happy. There’s one client in here that’s so cheerful; every morning she says “Hi” and puts her hands up to give a high five and she’s so sweet. I love them all equally; they have different kinds of attitudes that I love. Before it was scary, but when I get to know them, it is really fun and I look forward to seeing them every day.