Thanks to God and OneWorld, we are going to be around a long time and get to know more grandchildren.” – Maria Concepcion Fernandez Valadez “
Married on January 7, 1945 in Mexico, David and Maria have been through a lot together. World War II, Flu Pandemics, Polio Outbreaks, Mexico’s Financial Crisis, human rights and civic action movements and through it all they said this past year has been one of the hardest. As the parents of 10 children, 28 grandchildren, 50 great-grandchildren and now 6 great great-grandchildren, David and Maria are used to having a full house. They are a very close family, getting together for weekly dinners and big family celebrations. “Since I was little,” said Maria Gonzalez “Grandma has been the coffee lady, going around asking everyone if they need more coffee while a big pot of her special posole cooks on the stove.” It has been hard for celebrations to come and go and especially hard for Maria, or as she is better known Grandma Conchita, to not be able to squeeze all of her grandbabies. When news of the vaccine came “We were happy and excited,” said their daughter Sara Inda who lives with her parents to help them out. “Maria kept us informed and now that we are vaccinated we feel much better.” It has been hard to hear of personal friends and family who have died from the virus and challenging at times to separate the myths from the facts about the vaccine. “Early on my father was telling the rest of the family about supposed bad side effects,” said Maria Gonzalez. “I encouraged him to do his research and make sure the information was coming from trusted sources.” She shared information about the vaccine and how she trusted the doctors at OneWorld who shared the research with her. After she got vaccinated and had no side effects, he decided to get the Covid-19 vaccine as well. “He now tells everyone he had no doubts.” laughed Maria. Many people continue to be reluctant about the vaccine. Varying levels of access to health care as well as language and technology barriers have contributed to health disparities among racial and ethnic groups. OneWorld has partnered with other health systems, state and county public health officials and community organizations to reach minority groups throughout Douglas and Sarpy County.
Dedicated in honor of David Valadez Esparza, who recently passed from Covid-19.
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