Introducing Dolores Deel
Growing up, my family had a strong work ethic; we did everything with a cheerful heart and were ALL IN. My family was Mexican-Caucasian, and being part of a biracial family exposed me to social inequality early. One day in particular sticks in my mind as the point when I discovered my passion not just for housing but for helping underprivileged communities. I was about ten years old, and my family had just moved to California. During our search for a place to live, multiple landlords turned us away. When just one landlord remained, my Caucasian mother handled everything alone. When she emerged from the house, I remember hearing the landlord say, “I am so glad you are not Mexican because I did not want to rent to any of them.” Those words have stayed with me ever since and are why I chose a career in housing and feel so passionately about the work I do.
Eventually, upon returning to Baltimore, I quickly realized that I did not know the city. Children lived in environments that prevented them from seeing beyond this ‘invisible fence,’ which encompassed tremendous barriers that hindered their learning and required them to focus on survival. How can we help them move beyond this fence? Ultimately, this question is how I got started in We Rise. I believe the only way to change direction is through the children. The only way to help them is to provide an environment that allows them to focus on education. It is our responsibility to keep them out of harm’s way and to remove the ‘fence’ so that they can dream big. This, my friends, is called hope. My 5-year-old grandson, Mason, has autism, and when I look through his lens (which is very different from my own), I can open my mind and see that hope. He is definitely an ALL IN kid.
While serving at We Rise, I hope to create ‘connectability.’ This means connecting on a level of empathy, understanding, not just hearing it but feeling it, experiencing it, and then passing it along. Achieving ‘connectability' on a board or in a community is what success looks like to me. Look in a mirror and ask yourself: what can I do? Because everybody can do something. The only way this is going to get better is through action. Are you ALL IN?