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Saturday, April 25, 2020 • Vol. 65 • No. 17
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INSIDE.
At odds. Residents in the Shady Acres area are trying to thwart an affordable housing project.
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Mixed bag. Some local businesses have had better luck than others in securing loans.
Page 4A
Chalk it up to fun. Residents are using sidewalk chalk to stay active and connected.
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THE INDEX. Church....................................................... 5A Classifieds.............................................. 6A Coupons. ................................................. 8A Food/Drink/Art................................... 3B Obituaries.............................................. 5A Opinion. ................................................... 3A Public Information......................... 2A Puzzles...................................................... 3A
Let’s give thanks to unsung heroes in community By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com We might see them walking around our neighborhoods or driving by on their way to work. Maybe we give them a smile or a nod or even say hello. We might have an idea of what they go through when we can’t see them or engage them. But oftentimes
we’re left to guess. The goal of today’s edition of The Leader is to pull back the curtain of our everyday lives and shine a spotlight on the people who we’re counting on to keep us safe during the COVID-19 pandemic. These are the healthcare professionals in our community, the employees at our local grocery stores and, of course, the police officers, firefighters and other
first responders who put their health at risk so we can ensure ours. As you’ll find out by reading their stories, their selfless actions also put their loved ones at risk. So please take a few minutes to dive deeper into the lives of Garden Oaks nurse Sherry Chavez, H-E-B employee Ariel Gray, Santos Torres of the Harris County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office and Oak Forest resi-
dent Henry Rodriguez of the Houston Fire Department. In many ways, they are just like you and me. In other ways, that often go unseen and unheard, they are the unsung heroes of our time. We hope you enjoy their stories, and we encourage our readers to tell us about similar ones. And when you see these people out and about, rememer to say thank you.
Faces of our Front Line
Torres takes personable approach to policing GO
Gray serves as mother hen for local H-E-B store
Santos Torres does not live anywhere near Garden Oaks, but he’s become an integral part of the community during the last two years. He patrols the neighborhood’s streets for the Harris County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office, which has a contract with the community to provide an extra law enforcement presence. Torres’ presence, even though he wears a badge and carries a gun, often is affable in nature. He likes to wave at residents and chat them up, which is an integral part of community policing. “He likes to visit. He likes to interact. He’s very good at interfacing with the community,” said longtime Garden Oaks resident Terry Jeanes, who coordinates the neighborhood’s contract constable program. “That’s a good thing, because they feel comfortable with him there.” Lately, though, Torres’ job has been more uncomfortable than usual. Precinct 1 Constable Alan Rosen
Ariel Gray does not talk about the dangers of her job with her two kids, 8-year-old Jeremiah and 5-year-old Jasiah, because she doesn’t want them to worry. Perhaps when they’re older, they’ll realize their mother was an unsung hero during the COVID-19 pandemic. They might also come to understand why she doesn’t love on them as soon as she gets home from her shifts as a cashier at the H-E-B in the Heights. Gray first makes sure she’s clean. “Mommy take her clothes off and gets in the shower, and then it’s time to hug and kiss and say hi,” Gray said. Such is life these days for Gray, who has adjusted to a new normal both at home and at work. Grocery stores such as H-E-B and Kroger have become bastions of comfort for area residents, who are staying at home more often and making more meals in their kitchens.
See Torres, P. 9A
See Gray, P. 9A
By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com
By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com
Chavez takes pride in Rodriguez stays taking care of others close to COVID-19 By Adam Zuvanich azuvanich@theleadernews.com
Sherry Chavez calls it cumbersome. It’s also hot, and the warming weather in Houston doesn’t help. But wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) – such as masks, face shields, gloves and medical gowns – often is a requirement at work. It has been since March, when COVID-19 was in the early stages of making its way around the region. Chavez, a longtime Garden Oaks resident, is a nurse at Houston Methodist Emergency Care Center near the intersection of the Southwest Freeway and Kirby Drive. She said she has regularly encountered patients with symptoms of COVID-19, the infectious upper-respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus strain, and has grown accustomed to suiting up in PPE. “You wonder in your mind, ‘Are you completely covered?’” Chavez said. “It has to be done, because we don’t really know exactly what we’re dealing with.” Chavez said some of the sick people who have come to her ER during the last two months are tested for
COVID-19, treated and sent home. Those with more severe symptoms, such as fever and shortness of breath, are sent to Houston Methodist’s facility in the Texas Medical Center. As of Wednesday morning, the disease had infected at least 5,100 people in Houston and Harris County and caused 79 deaths. According to the World Health Organization, there have been more than 2.4 million cases of COVID-19 across the globe, with it leading to more than 163,000 deaths. “It’s mean and it’s nasty,” Chavez said. “It’s out there and it wants to take a few lives.” But helping people, particularly those who are ill, is a big part of Chavez’s life as she’s been an ER nurse for three decades. So relinquishing that role is not something she’s considered, even though going to work during a pandemic puts her and her family at risk. Chavez’s husband, Manuel, is a retired EMS chief with the Houston Fire Department. They have four children – Conner, Garrett, Holley See Chavez, P. 9A
By Betsy Denson betsy@theleadernews.com
Henry Rodriguez, an Oak Forest resident and 10-year veteran of the Houston Fire Department, took a two-week vacation at the beginning of March. When he came back mid-month, things at his job were quite different on account of the COVID-19 pandemic. “I had a mask and was wearing it if someone had symptoms, but it wasn’t required,” Rodriguez said of the time before his vacation. “Now (personal protective equipment) are mandatory, including N95, goggles and gloves. We assume that they have it.” Rodriguez received a promotion a year-and-a-half ago and now works at Houston Fire Station 30 on Irvington Boulevard. The first responder is part of a unit called basic life support care. Rodriguez is one of two emergency medical technicians who drives an ambulance to provide hospital transport to those who call 911. Sometimes the two will answer a call on their own, but often they accompany the other HFD personnel on
City of Houston dispatch calls. The uptick in calls Rodriguez answered upon return from his break were largely related to COVID-19, the upper-respiratory disease caused by the new strain of coronavirus. “A lot of people thought they had the symptoms,” Rodriguez said. “They thought we could test them.” Rodriguez explained to each what the best of course of action and treatment would entail as well as the likelihood of getting a test in an environment where they were in short supply with stricter guidelines in place for screening. “For those people who wanted to go to the hospital we would transport them,” Rodriguez said. “We can’t deny them. We’d radio it into the hospital and wait to hear before we brought the patient in. Now hospitals have separate entrances (for suspected COVID-19 patients).” For those who were coughing or experiencing breathing difficulties, Rodriguez and his team had to weigh the risks involved in nebulization, or delivering drugs into the lungs directly via a mist. A blood oxygen See Rodriguez, P. 9A