COVID-19 Hometown Heroes
From the inception of the stay-at-home order issued in early March, Debbie Moritz has faithfully come in every day to work on the front lines. She has had to navigate the quickly changing protocol related to public safety while providing excellent care to the most vulnerable individuals in our community.
Meet Debbie… Intake Coordinator at The Mission at Kern County. She has been working in case management in our Homeless Intervention Services faithfully for 16 years. Debbie meets with new guests and assesses the needs of each homeless individual who comes through our gates. Many come hungry and in need of basic necessities. After a warm meal, a shower and a new set of clean clothes, Debbie then orientates the guest to our shelter programs. Over time, Debbie builds relationships with our guests. This enables her to empower them to begin to be involved in their own planning and goal setting. While working with other local agencies, Debbie makes sure our guests receive the best care possible. She is known for treating clients, visitors and employees with kindness, respect and dignity.
“The most difficult change to put in place has been teaching and enforcing social distancing. Each night, when I go home I pray that I did everything possible to keep each individual entrusted to me safe.”
As many of us have experienced, Debbie has not been able to visit with her daughters and grandchildren for over 7 weeks due to working closely with the highly vulnerable population receiving services at The Mission. When we asked her what she is looking forward to when this is over she said “I want to take my grandchildren and daughters on a vacation and just enjoy one another once again.”
We are so thankful for your selflessness. You are truly a Hometown HERO!!