Like all of us, Racheal Dulaney is looking forward to the other side of this pandemic. With her paperwork now in place, she plans to get her GED and enroll in Oregon Culinary Institute.
“It was always my mother’s wish to see me follow my dream. So, yeah,” she said. “I’m bound and determined.”
But for now, she’s working with the Street Roots team.
She’s been with Street Roots off and on since 2015 after she left an abusive marriage and ended up living on the streets. She was introduced to Street Roots by her brother Chris and attended an orientation, thinking it would be a good way to make an income. What she found was much more — a group of friends who became family and steady, supportive customers.
“I absolutely love Street Roots,” she said. “It’s given me an opportunity to turn my life around.”
Since March 17, she’s been working with the Street Roots Coronavirus Prevention and Action Team.
“When I signed up to help out,” she said, “I didn’t even know I’d be getting paid. I just wanted to help my community.”
As a member of the team, Racheal is responsible for putting together the supply kits, relief packets that include hygiene supplies, warm gear and much-needed accurate information about the virus. She also organizes and takes inventory of these supplies at Street Roots.
“It’s important that we have the right count so we have enough supplies to make up our kits,” she said. “We make about 75 kits a day.”
Working with the action team is a positive, healthy experience for Racheal.
“I absolutely love working with this team! All the friendship, the camaraderie,” she said. “We’ve become a family.”
When asked how she’s taking care of herself, she said it’s not so easy.
“This is a scary time for me right now,” she said. She has problems with anxiety and a compromised immune system. But she tries to “stay away from things that are negative. And I try to relax as much as I can.”
What gives Racheal hope these days?
“Just knowing that it’s gonna get better,” she said. “I wake up; it’s another day sober. I’ve got good work, and I get to work with people that I absolutely love. And in the future, when our children are asking about the 2020 coronavirus, I can always say that I was a part of helping others.”
