#CaltechTogether: Mauro Hernandez
“My job is to help my co-workers perform their work efficiently. This past year, with the COVID-19 pandemic, the way we do our work has changed dramatically. I see more frustration in my colleagues, because now we do not have someone who can help us in person with work matters because many offices are closed. Although we have help via Zoom, emails, or by phone, it is not easy to use technology for many people. When the saliva tests for COVID came to us, it was a relief. Now that the vaccine is available, it gives us all more confidence and security. When I got information that people like Leticia Rojas [an education professor at Pasadena City College] and Regina Cabrera [Caltech event marketing manager] were helping in Spanish and English to get people appointments for the vaccine through their volunteer work with Get Out the Shot: Los Angeles, I tried to help my co-workers immediately. I am so thankful to the volunteers who helped us get our appointments—49 appointments in all. Their work is very valuable for us. In this small place, we are people who speak many different languages. We are a community of great cultural diversity; this is the most diverse place I have ever known. I also believe that it is a place where we can all make a difference to create a better community. I like to do volunteer work in the community and have done it for more than 30 years with the Oaxacan community in Los Angeles, promoting the indigenous folklore of Oaxaca. Currently, I am president of the Regional Organization of Oaxaca, a nonprofit organization in California.”
Mauro Hernandez has worked with Caltech Facilities for 31 years. His current position is lead custodian. At the beginning of March, when education workers became eligible for the vaccine, Hernandez worked with Get Out the Shot: Los Angeles (GOTSLA), a volunteer organization, to make sure his staff got vaccinated by getting the word out, connecting employees to volunteers, and checking in to make sure they had appointments. When Caltech announced that eligible family members of its employees were invited to the March 19 clinic, he told his crew immediately, and as a result, many high-risk spouses received a vaccination.
#CaltechTogether is a special series of #SoCaltech spotlighting the many ways members of our community are joining together to support one another and to take responsibility for our collective health and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.