SNYDER, Texas — Many people have experienced struggles during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Among those is Tesia Quintana, a single mother in Snyder. She moved to West Texas from Arizona, where she had a hard time finding work in the Four Corners area.
Being a transplant in a small community can be challenging, especially being the only breadwinner for her two children, Miryia, 11, and Alec, 1.
Being without reliable childcare, she's worked different jobs and had a hard time sticking with any workplace.
“This has being going on all my life basically, but I guess this year way the worst. I recently got a new job. I had been on unemployment that helped me a lot, so it was time for me to go look for work and I went through jobs like crazy because I couldn’t find a reliable childcare. I would find a sitter and everything would be good for the first two days and then I’ll get a message at two in the morning. 'I’m sorry, I can’t babysit tomorrow.' And I’m in a bind to where, what do I do, you know? And I start calling everybody I know if their willing to babysit for me and I get no luck, so I have to call in. And it’s been like that for a long time. I’ve been let go of jobs because they see me as unreliable, because I don’t have a sitter and I end up calling in. And that’s when stress starts hitting the most, because I’m trying my best over here trying to go to work, trying to provide for my family," Quintana said.
This year was especially tough. Quintana became sick with COVID-19 and went through a custody battle with Alec's father, which completely drained her savings, leaving her living paycheck-to-paycheck.
"So, all of that just piled up on me. On top of it, it was just so much, all the bills. I’m late on my car, my insurance. My light bill got cut turned off. And my daughter, you know, 'Mom, we’re out of shampoo. We're out of toothbrushes. Mom, my shoes don’t fit. Mom, I need more socks. Mom, my clothes are getting too small.' And I’m just like, 'Oh my god.' So, I have to choose between what bill to pay half, what bill to call and postpone the payment," Quintana said.
All of this happening in a short period of time built a burden that eventually felt like too much. Quintana then called her sister in Arizona.
"I cried telling her I give up. I’m done. I can’t do this anymore," she said.
Quintana then hung up and fell asleep, not answering her sister's subsequent calls. Her sister then called Snyder Police and asked them to send officers to check on Quintana.
“Four to five hours later, there was a knock on my door. And it was close to the evening and I opened it and it was the cops. And they asked me if everything was okay, you know, 'What’s going on?' I said everything’s fine and I know my eyes were big, swollen puffy, red," Quintana said.
But then she started to open up, telling the officers what had been happening in her family's life.
“I just needed to get it all out. And they stood there. They listened to me. They stood there and listened without judging me," she said.
Snyder PD Officer Daniella Garcia came back later that night with the dispatcher who took her sister's call. Both women were also single mothers and could relate to Quintana's story.
"We kind of said the same thing. You feel like you always do the right thing. You do everything the best way that you know how and some how or another something comes up and sets you back and we definitely both understood that, especially with us being single parents," Garcia said.
They brought with them necessities to help Quintana and her children get by.
“They came with a big basket of shampoo, laundry soap, body wash, tooth brush, tooth paste, toilet paper, paper towel, juice boxes, milk cereal, diapers and a box of wipes. They came with all of that in the middle of the night." Quintana said.
The officers came back again two weeks later and this time, had a bigger surprise. While Quintana was talking them, she mentioned Miryia's 11th birthday was coming up soon and she really could not celebrate because of how strained her finances were.
A crowd of officers and their families showed up on her front lawn with a cake and a present for Miryia. They also put together funds to help Quintana get back on her feet.
"On behalf of the Snyder Police Association, we were able to provide her with a check for $500 to help her with school supplies and school clothes," SPD Officer Benjamin Guerra said.
There was also an extra $200 tacked on by an anonymous donor. Quintana said she was overwhelmed by the generosity and caring of the police department.
“You never see this. You never see police and fire department coming up to your door with a big old cake and presents," Quintana said. "And I was thinking about her school clothes. How am I going to get her uniforms? How am I going to do this?"
The officers said it was refreshing to see someone who was open and honest about their struggles. In their experience, they had seen people who were afraid to tell law enforcement that something was wrong.
"There’s nothing wrong with telling us what’s really going on. It’s life we’re just as human as they are," Guerra said. “We’ve all faced a battle and we’ve all been down a road where we struggled. We all need some type of assistance at some point."
Quintana said she is doing better now. She found a job working for a construction company and her employers are understanding and willing to give her the flexibility needed to not only provide financially for her children, but be the main caretaker for them as well.
