Minolka Moronta says, looking back, there’s not much she would want to change about her life. She was born in the Dominican Republic and lived in Providence for some of her childhood. She moved back to Rhode Island after her first child was born and is now married with three kids. She owns her own home in Providence and works as a supervisor of a food pantry, a job she loves.
But like many people, her life has been upended by COVID-19. Her husband got the coronavirus early on in the pandemic. He became very sick, and eventually he was diagnosed with long COVID. He went on unemployment at first and eventually had to leave his job as a factory worker. Now Minolka is in the position of caring for her husband and supporting their family without his salary.
“It’s very difficult,” said Minolka. “It’s putting pressure right now on me. Since he left his job, it’s putting on a lot of pressure. The mortgage is very hard. (I) try to pay it, the best that I can do, you know, because I don’t want to lose my house. Three kids and a husband sick, it’s not a good choice to be in the streets.”
Minolka is used to seeing people who are struggling financially. It’s her job to provide food assistance, and she’s been working at the Providence food pantry in different capacities for seven years. But these days, the stories she hears from customers are hitting closer to home. Minolka has missed mortgage payments, and with prices way up, it’s been a struggle to afford food and her utility bills.
She has applied for homeowner assistance through Rhode Island Housing but she’s still not sure if she’ll get the help she needs. The uncertainty has caused her a number of sleepless nights, but lately, she’s become more concerned about the impact her financial struggles are having on her three children, two of whom have special needs. She’s especially worried about her 19-year-old daughter.
“I think my daughter, who has bipolar disorder, she’s been more in the hospital than home because of the situation,” said Minolka. “I feel like I want to put back time and go back to when I was 20, 22 or 23, but we can’t do that.”
Minolka says her job at the food pantry helps her keep things in perspective. In fact, she says she has more of an appreciation for the struggles her customers are facing, many of whom don’t have their own houses or apartments to go home to. But in order to go to work and help other people solve their challenges, she says she has to distance herself from the financial uncertainty she’s up against at home.
“Every single day when I get out of my house, I leave all my problems in my house,” said Minolka. “When I come to the door to my job, it’s a new person. I have to be happy for my customers. It’s difficult because I have to have two sides, you know? All my worries stay home.”
Minolka says she’s trying to stay positive when she’s home, too. Her youngest daughter is going off to Boston University this fall, and while she’s got some scholarship money, Minolka knows that a college-bound child is yet another expense she has to budget for. She says she believes her strong work ethic and her faith in God will help her persevere.
Joe Tasca can be reached at jtasca@ripr.org
