Our dear friend
Denise had found her dream job as an executive assistant to a cohort of doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital. She was making more money than she had ever earned in her life. She saved for a house and took joy in caring for great grandchildren while living comfortably in a beautiful neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island.
Then it was all taken away. DOGE, Musk, and Trump killed it. Denise suffered the fate of many Black women working in Boston’s hospitals—she was let go overnight.
Since her savings ran out, her landlord has been an angel, carrying Denise for more than four months and even paying for her internet. Her landlord knows how responsible Denise is and has witnessed how hard she is working to secure stable employment. But now, her landlord can no longer afford to support her.
Denise continues to get interviews, but her prospects are challenging.
At 68 years old, she finds herself, like many *Black women of her age, dealing with agism while navigating an employer's market of talented and younger people looking for work. Yet she's at it every day, applying for jobs and securing interviews!
The one thing that distinguished UMN from other organizations is that we took the concept of family very seriously. Denise does too. She is caring for several family members even in this difficult time.
Denise lives what we at UMN taught and embodied in our work. We never left anyone behind. So THANK YOU to everyone who can contribute and if this is not the time for you ? Please pass this along to caring friends and family.
We all are family!
-Horace Smalls
*Recently, CBS news ran a story on the crisis of the 600,000 Black women who got the boot through the policies of our MAGA president. It speaks exactly as to what our sister is going through.
Organizer and beneficiary
Denise Covington
Beneficiary