PAC Student Media

By Alejandra Gonzalez
Pulse Staff Reporter

Being in a small town like Somerset has its perks, until the city goes under lockdown. 

Since the coronavirus outbreak, some businesses have closed until further notice, students are learning from home, and employees are working from home or taking precautions at work. Small communities are struggling to have ends meet and even feed their families.

The coronavirus has impacted my family. Almost everyone in my family works on the frontlines. My mother and older sister both work in education. Most of their work is done through online sessions. My father and brother work for the government and are exposed to people on base, but my brother just received the OK to start working from home. My father, though, continues to travel long distances for shipments. 

Lastly, my sister and I are on the frontlines at H-E-B. Although we are taking some extreme precautions for our partners and customers, we are serving over 5,000 customers a day. This virus has rattled my whole family, but still we tend to look at the positives of what our small town is doing to prevent the spread. 

“I live out in the country of Lytle, Texas, and now that we have to stay inside our homes until everything clears, it has been a struggle with feeding eight mouths three times a day,” said Tina Castillo, a Lytle resident. 

The H-E-B Plus in Lytle, Texas, has taken extra precautions to help their customers receive the amenities that they need and to keep them safe from other customers. Some of the resources that H-E-B has improved are the curbside pickup hours and how many orders they will take in a day. H-E-B also knows that it has been a struggle for citizens to find new employment because of businesses having to close down. To help the unemployed, H-E-B is hiring temporary employees and giving them the opportunity to work.  

“I was super excited to hear that H-E-B was hiring temporary workers. It has been a hard time paying bills since the job I previously worked for let a lot of us go permanently. Being able to work helps us not worry about the bills we have to pay,” said Anna Davila, an H-E-B co-worker. 

Through this hard time, teachers and staff of Natalia ISD have been wanting to show their students that they are here for them and are thinking of them. The neighborhoods of Natalia ISD students were filled with honking from their teachers’ cars. 

“I have missed my kiddos so much… driving around seeing them today was truly amazing. I know that it is a hard time for them just as much as it is for us. We will all get through this difficult time,” said Valeria Gonzalez, a Natalia ISD teacher.

As a community, we look out for each other in times of need, try to be supportive and compassionate while protecting each other’s health.