OHCA The Oregon Caregiver Spring Summer 2021

www.ohca.com SPRING/SUMMER 2021 The Oregon Caregiver 25 PROFILE seeing it in an equitable way? Are we really getting it to the communities that need it most where exposure is high? What is the biggest lesson that you’ll take away from the COVID-19 pandemic? The biggest lesson that I will take away, and I start to cry every time I think about it, is that there are really vulnerable populations right in front of us all the time. They often get ignored and it breaks my heart. Whether that’s people with memory loss, people with disabilities, or people with language barriers, I want to make sure they are seen. I want us to continue to be able to reach out and to understand their needs and to meet their needs. I want us to recognize that their needs have been unmet for a long time and that we must catch up. That is going to live with me for a long, long time because I feel like we’re all complicit in ignoring big populations of people. I feel responsible for having not been more aware. I feel like we’re all complicit in ignoring big populations of people. I feel responsible for having not been more aware. We have to be honest about the people we’re not serving. It’s easy to gloss over sometimes and think, “We are taking care of enough people.” I think about the fact that Latinx people make up 13 percent of the population, but they make up 38 percent of all Oregon COVID-19 cases. That’s not okay. All these health dispari- ties have been kind of mind-blowing. When the world gets back to some sense of normalcy, what are you most excited to do in a safe post-pandemic world? I got my Johnson & Johnson shot in April and I just saw one of my best friends from Bend. She and her husband came over Saturday night and I gave them a big hug. I literally have not seen them in over a year, so I was excited to see them. My daughter is a sophomore in high school, so we’re going to start looking at colleges. I’m really excited to just start traveling with her. What do you love most about Oregon? The outdoors. I love the fact that we have so much space—all the lakes, the rivers, the gorgeous trees—and it is just beautiful.