Essential Worker Is New Mom, Soon To Be SSU Grad: Local Hero

ROHNERT PARK, CA — When times are tough, heroes emerge. We all know someone who's making a difference right now as we live through unprecedented times. Here at Patch, we've launched an initiative to help recognize these everyday heroes.

This submission comes from Ondrea Hereford, who nominated her daughter, Analisa Hereford:

Where the nominee lives:

Rohnert Park

Name of the nominee:

Analisa Hereford

Is the nominee considered an "essential worker"?:

Yes

What does the nominee do for work?:

Security front end, Target

Why do you believe the nominee should be recognized or honored?

My daughter just had a baby 7 months ago. In January 2020 she went back to school at Sonoma State University and back to work at Target and during this time has been an essential worker at an essential business. I was worried when she got pregnant that she was going to quit and not be able to go back to work or finish school because she was going to be a mom and it's her first child and she's 22 years old.

But after the three months that she was allowed to take off for having her baby she went back in January to work and went back school full time to finish as she had promised.

Then all of a sudden a few months later the world seemed to shut down and we had a pandemic on our hands, the Coronavirus. She still didn't give up, she's a very strong person and she went and showed up for work every day. It was not easy being at work as an essential person because people were not so kind. During these times some are even more stressed and a few people even took it out on my daughter going as far as saying, "I hope you catch the coronavirus and I hope you die from it."

I prayed my heart out every night for all my kids and my grandchildren but I was mostly worried about her because she's the one who was an essential worker and had to come home and go back everyday. I supplied the masks for me and my children and the rest was in God's hands.

I feel she should be recognized because it's tough being a young mom knowing you have a few months left to graduate from the university that you've been going to for almost four years and working at the same time. She was very overwhelmed through it all but she pulled through, she is an amazing strong young woman. She is kind and generous and helps everyone around her, even me. Even when she was threatened at work she told the gentleman, "Thank you have a nice day." That is the kind of person she is, even though she cried when she went home because the last thing she wants to do is bring anything home to her family. It's a very scary time out there, Coronavirus doesn't pick and choose -- it can happen to anybody.

My daughter never missed a day at work. She took care of her baby and she's finishing school and graduating on May 16th of this year. She did it after 4 years of hard work and going to school, then being an essential worker going through this pandemic that we're going through, and finding out that she cannot walk to get her diploma. I know it hurts her and it hurts me too but she still has not complained about anything. When they asked her to come in to work more hours because other people didn't show up during this crisis, she showed up. This is why I think my daughter should be recognized and honored because she put everyone else first. Having a newborn baby and facing a lot of things that she has not faced before, I'm very proud of her work ethic and how much she helped people without thinking twice about herself.

What's one thing you want everyone to know about your hero?:

That she's my hero. And if you know her or knew her you would also say the same thing, she's just that kind of person.

Thank you for all you do, Analisa!

>> Do YOU have a local hero you would like us to know about? Share their story here.

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