Thomas Martinez and Beverlee Newcomb

00:05 Hi, my name is Thomas Martinez.

00:08 How much 61 years old today's date is Monday, March 9th 2020.

00:16 Location nearest Fresno, California

00:20 Canelo my interview Partners Beverly

00:24 And my relationship to Beverly Hills.

00:29 Professional Ama

00:32 I'm a delivery driver.

00:39 Hi, my name is beverlee Newcomb 73. Today's date is Monday, March 9th 2024 in Fresno, California. And my partner is Thomas and the relationship is he's my delivery driver.

01:01 So, how did you when did you first meet each other? I believe two years ago.

01:14 I'm a home delivery driver. I deliver food to Beverly.

01:22 So hum.

01:25 Yes, it's professional.

01:28 Haha an idea to

01:32 Beverlee

01:35 At that time in Clovis

01:46 Happy that you met each other.

01:49 Quotes about maybe Thomas about the the word that you do and kind of how it works.

01:57 How I got some beans.

02:03 Home delivery drivers to one of many clients

02:12 The dalinda food program cuz I work in the end of food program to see if there's different programs.

02:21 That we offer and we do I just happened to be to food program. There's other drivers to do other things set.

02:32 So we offered like transportation to appointments and stuff like that. But I've covered Beverly's hump are partial food needs.

02:43 Beverlee

02:45 Was the signs meme mainly because

02:50 I do this for my clients that have mobility issues.

02:55 You know, I'm I'm with. Try to give them back.

03:00 A sense of Independence

03:04 So did her

03:06 She doesn't have to rely on other people other ways of getting food.

03:15 So that's how how I initially came to me.

03:21 Beverlee on this how I got to be in this is to process.

03:28 I started bulk. I delivered food to food banks and hanging out big groups, you know, and I got a bigger vehicle and that's how you know, how life started then I went to doing Center senior centers where I delivered lunches, which is more of a hot meals and I did that and then how have you seen a recent assignment was home delivery, which is more of a

04:04 Frozen foods

04:08 I got caught up in her freezer van to take to take your food. That's all I had delivered in the freezer man, and part of my qualifying for that is and I took took a class in LA on food safety and I became a food safety manager so I can keep your food.

04:35 At the right temperature if you don't milk products and stuff like that. That's that's how what makes me better way better to serve you, you know, didn't know exactly safe food at the safe temperature and I'll give you a week at a time.

04:54 So that everything is alright. I can cover everybody. You know, that's how I how I do it. I'm on museum on a four-day week schedule with you mainly because holidays if I don't do Mondays using now I do because I'm doing something else but

05:19 Monday I keep open in case like save Thanksgiving lands on a Thursday then I had I need to switch to

05:28 That big till Monday. That's why I didn't tell you the amount of food. Did it give you depends on funding phone? So now we're I'm delivering to you more food or because we got more funding. That's why I've how you're getting before. I was delivering you breakfast and dinners now, I'm delivering you breakfast lunch and dinner.

05:58 That's why I had a movie to Monday because it was more crap for me.

06:04 I try not to mess with your new give you a different time and do the way I do that is high get up earlier and start earlier and look cuz I got to load my own truck. I don't packages to my chili just load everything the way that you know, the way I wanted to get it out and put the empties back into the truck. So I try not to inconvenience you as much as possible really my goal in the days to get everybody.

06:36 You know how I try to be.

06:40 You know certain time so they don't we don't I don't interrupt your schedule cuz I realize

06:48 Penis senior probably go to the doctor a little more than when you were younger, you know, so that's that's why I do things that I do and I tried my best to help you, you know, not only no just delivering in if I have to I'll put it away or you know, but I asked you know how I'll ask you if you want me to go inside and put it away in your freezer freezer refrigerator.

07:18 And answered many questions as I can, you know, but being that I'm just the driver that can explain a lot of the questions, you know, I'll try.

07:32 But have a lot of times I have to refer you to to the workers that assigned you to me.

07:39 And not because basically I get a computer readout everyday and you're on my radar and that's how I know to delivery today. And where are you living the phone number contact information stuff. So that's how

07:55 How my day goes in peanut with you?

07:59 I know I had an alcoholic.

08:02 How things are done.

08:07 So how long has it been that you have been consistently delivering?

08:14 I think

08:16 I'm not sure but I think what it would wear on pot 2 years.

08:20 I'm not exactly sure. I'm not sure either.

08:26 Because he took over from another driver.

08:35 Yeah, yeah, he runs and runs out in the complex that she lives in have two clients.

08:46 Hernandez-hernandez practically your neighbor and then I moved to other parts.

09:00 How that's all hard how I got to this point actually.

09:05 Was I you know, I moved here I relocated to press them actually came here to work on the freeways.

09:15 And when I got here there was no 168 freeway. It was no 168 freeway. I came to do that specific freeway.

09:25 And I do to demolition on it.

09:29 Can I really have the the 168 wasn't there was only an interchange between the 99 and the 41.

09:44 You're a sight that's like I did all the Democrats going up to the mountains. That was the first face and then it continued later Shepherd and then board for about 30 years before they actually got the funding.

10:13 So that's how I got here just to do that will be discussed before my job was asbestos removal.

10:24 I came to the valley to pray. Why did the 198 at the same time in Visalia the widening and that's why I made it home later. And then eventually I got out of that business.

10:43 Home and made it out to see you see the driver DLC.

10:50 Big different

10:52 Well, that's all.

11:03 Really? How did you come here?

11:07 Clovis

11:11 I lived in the Toll House. Well, I grew up in Fresno basically and then

11:18 Got married, Leah

11:24 5 acres and Tollhouse

11:28 Had a house built we were up there for twenty 20 years little I got 20 years my husband passed away.

11:38 And I kept it for

11:42 Another two years, but then my I got really bad arthritis and I couldn't I couldn't keep it up. Any longer five acres is it's a lot to keep up. So I move to closest.

11:58 And not realized it couldn't cook anymore without burning everything or the house and I called the senior center to ask about.

12:11 Used to be called years ago with Meals on Wheels.

12:17 That's what I hear. You know, I don't exactly know why the whole history I heard it was and that's just what I heard EOC started around the time of John Kennedy. It's over 50 years old, but the term

12:44 Meals on Wheels

12:46 I believe did it came there was two.

12:50 Reasons that I heard it came when was the when they started bombing England and they needed it to give people their food and they had news on Wheels it took them.

13:06 You know their food really imagine that they had a team out there cuz people couldn't just go walk around and going out to the store and me the Nazis were bombing England so that they had people to deliver their food. So these terms came out of War. That's what I do. You know, it's the same with the Civil War.

13:35 They had people to go to livers at people their food.

13:49 To go out grocery shopping on one. So it's not I guess it just stuck his own Meals on Wheels, but that's not exactly

14:06 It's a term. It's just something that people use not the name Food Service delivery driver.

14:19 My

14:21 The term is for me your title, but I sure enough. Everybody knows me and you're good at it.

14:38 How are you?

14:40 Guy, that's how a good game. This is not a overnight thing this

14:47 That's it. And that's growing, you know constantly growing since I've been there.

14:56 More older people

14:59 Well, if ya could be I mean there's so many different groups in this Valley 222 live to not only seniors. I mean and other groups like a recall on

15:20 Head Start pre Head Start battered women runaway children. I'm just just you know, there's a lot of different groups that we delivered and I saw

15:39 And

15:42 That's too big.

15:45 It's a big job as a cook stove all that, you know, I'm not exactly sure. Go and I load there's free blow up at 3 in the morning getting my stuff ready so that I can leave.

16:12 By seven 8 in the morning. I mean it's thousands of news. I heard they make like $7,000 a day. I'm not sure 50 times.

16:26 Just one meal 50 * 7 that's 350 have to give me a 700 meals alone.

16:34 So that's kind of a lot honey, cuz I have to give you 7 for dinner and 7 for lunch. Thanks 50 Peach Beach one and then and I'm just one driver.

16:49 How many drivers are there depends? I will tell you where it where I'm at. I never really, I think that there is between there's two groups factors as food services, and then there's Transit where they're taking them to the doctor or to wherever they need to go. So I'm thinking there's a hundred and twenty five.

17:15 Vehicles background cuz they're not all there's only a couple of freezer Vans and then there's box man's and then there's regular mess then there's school buses and ask you pick up people on different sizes of school buses kind of big operation for maintenance facilities.

17:42 Southern and then they do they have a taxi pick up people to go to college and have a like a small Fleet of electric vehicles with a plug in the meantime how they got two and then go to get the junior college. They're out. This is a big valley and this he'll see you. Okay, personally. I've been from Yosemite to Bakersfield and from where is closer to the other side Los Banos, so it's a big big Valley.

18:21 This tastes a service and I

18:26 Now that's just a lot of area pretty busy out here.

18:35 Why it's so big, you know, I'm not exactly sure why he owes his why they have in the Indus Valley there really isn't need to be reprogrammed. This isn't really based on a money are monetary. Yours is based on Mobility, but there's other programs that are probably based on

19:06 Finance so this Valley unfortunately, maybe the the finances aren't as much because we have a lot of agriculture agriculture them jobs. Probably don't pay that.

19:23 You know, they're not typing jobs. So because of our poverty, you know, that's another.

19:31 You know area that they have to address, you know, I know that's not a secret cuz it's this Valley right here can be pretty low income.

19:48 Because we we will feed the world but there's a cost.

20:00 And I am not it's just it's not a secret. I mean, it's something that I'm personally from what I hear there's only another area that it's like this and that probably be like in Detroit.

20:18 That had met Ariat why I don't know I thought about it maybe because it closed down all the auto plants. Someone else knows better than me and I'm a driver but you here why are you here? And you know it all the sudden you're in the in the middle of an orange Orchard Odyssey on some little town and you're delivering out there.

20:56 So that's how this works.

21:06 What's a good time for delivery driver? Yeah, yes.

21:13 He just him he's his personality just this nice guy.

21:20 Are there any kind of people in your life who come sort of in and out regularly once a week that you see?

21:31 Not really.

21:33 This is kind of a different my daughter comes over and she helps me. But yeah, that's a bad idea.

21:44 Avoid all my clients with everything included I try to connect, you know, my oldest clients 105.

22:01 So you're not a lot of my clients don't have.

22:08 That much, do you know where you know like people to come in Hi, how are you today or really be concerned about?

22:22 Hang on what's going on what's going on in long? Cuz maybe like a lot of people might not all week only see me and all that really that's a big responsibility.

22:36 And I got my. So my clients really.

22:41 I like to see you know, make sure they're all right. There's not much I can do.

22:49 But these say hi and see how you're doing if I see there's a need.

22:58 Oh, oh, supervisor and tell her I'll be able to figure things out for me. If I see something you would say, for example a client of mine came up to me to me. I ran out of oxygen because you know, he has on them oxygen tanks. Well, I'm not supposed to go changing tanks are you know stuff like that? That's not what I what I was supposed to do. I could probably figure it out, but I'm not supposed to be so I got to call my supervisor in

23:37 Since that her have a police officer something to come over real quick change the tanks or something because you know, so I do, you know, I'm not being nosey. I'm just whatever I see, you know, if you can't answer the door. I need to know I want to know why a lot of times it could be.

24:03 Here I will get back to Mobility. He couldn't come to the door because you will chair battery doesn't work no more. Well, I was going to have someone come over there and

24:16 Fix get a new battery do something cuz I need to give you your food and it's important to me to everybody.

24:27 You know that ass that involved, like I said, I'm on the last last in a long line of people. I got up early in the morning to make sure it's Indian Food Service responsibilities.

24:47 And I appreciate it.

24:53 Doctor's appointment center

24:56 Can I hear I need to get to your doctor's appointment soon. That's that's why I try to meeting all pretty consistent on my times in my thing is well, yes, but you still need to eat. Yeah, but we got to find some some solution to that the once a week.

25:17 I'm there. So you have four more days to make appointments.

25:27 That's how this thing works and it works pretty good.

25:48 I've met you know, I've never got her. I've been in the military. I just $10 and you don't have to do not take my safety, you know, like I wear a back brace and a lot of people ask me all the time and I go up and never got hurt so I can't tell you don't work. You know, I know it works for me I guess but

26:16 I try to watch my way to

26:21 So I don't see myself as slowing down. Did you tell me that you run?

26:34 And I you can give you a good pretty like how would I say it's sediments, you know, like you're a driver and your except for this job.

26:45 You know, you should get off the truck and get all the food and not everybody lives on the 1st floor.

26:53 Hang on a live second floor third floor and I go to the high-rises of town. They live on the 8th floor and also,

27:05 Have all the waiters, but you know, no parking that mean you park in the middle of the downtown. And yeah, it's it's it's going to be

27:17 I think there's some people that coming with me, you know them that are the program.

27:26 And there's actually an app on your phone that you can count your steps.

27:32 Anna I think they call it a hundred thousand steps in a week some like that. Wow review your own lot of steps.

27:52 And that little thing counts your steps.

27:56 And I wasn't counting my steps. Really I wasn't it was the girl that came with me.

28:10 That's how I learned how many steps I take.

28:21 Museum for 2 minutes and then

28:28 Songs that suck but I do

28:33 My day is today.

28:38 My day goes faster by being organized a van a freezer fan doesn't look that big, you know, but to get to

28:47 You know to have everything right as it is nothing but organizing.

28:59 So it's boring.

29:06 Whatever is good on TV.

29:10 I see on your laptop a lot. Well, yeah, yeah.

29:17 I know you watch TV, but I can't do a whole bunch. I used to but I can't anymore.

29:26 Cuz my arthritis butt.

29:31 Flowering

29:33 Plants a few yeah, they died on me really easy though.

29:42 As you seen was organized when I get there. I try I try.

29:49 I used to volunteer a lot of that.

29:56 I volunteered at the hospital and and I did do hospice work volunteer for hospice. I really enjoyed that.

30:07 People used to go. Oh, but they're dying. Well, yeah, we all are but I met somebody need is people and great stories.

30:21 I did that for oh God 5 about 5 years I can.

30:33 People that you form connections with from the hospice. Oh gosh. Yeah a lot but most of them pass but we used to exchange Christmas cards with the family, you know, even after they had passed but yeah, I meant some of the knee this family's great families.

30:58 Yeah.

31:01 What's really bright your phone's been in places where you get to meet people who are so kind of far away from yeah. Yeah. Yeah clients on.

31:16 Even though they're up in age.

31:22 I really have a lot of talents and I like you probably know more about a laptop and then I do because I don't I didn't grow up with one. You know, I didn't you know, so I don't really have time to be alive burn to life.

31:43 Get an overview, you know, it's called computer literacy. That's how I I know about it cuz I took the class not a doubt it, but I don't use it today. I'm not I don't get that. I don't do that Social Media stuff, and I'm not up on Facebook or any of that. I never got to that. I mostly like if you call me.

32:13 $10 how I answer the phone, but

32:16 I just kind of old-fashioned. I was in the actually I was in the military in the 70s and they had a meeting in habitat. We had on we still had wire, you know, that's how we

32:36 We talk from housing artillery so we talk from

32:41 Point corn gun to the next time we use a wire and now they have

32:55 Come out with the first sound like laptop.

33:02 Now they use that stuff. They didn't they didn't have it back then.

33:07 I was kind of a new stuff. I remember the first.

33:12 Telephone mobile telephone

33:20 I never I have a I use a cell phone all the time. That's all right. I could to your house so fast, it has a map. I've memorized most of them but sometimes I get a new one so good. It has map at Van it and I cannot lie I can get to the next but there's a secretary for that. All she does is Maps. So all I do is walk in and it's all there for me also.

33:53 She gets me to where I need to go. It's all in order.

33:58 I don't have no I don't just have a problem names.

34:03 There's someone that does it for me today before they're already plotting my route. How where I'm going to go on cruise on it who's off later who called them or you don't like the ad?

34:18 Had to go out of town are they at a doctors appointment now so that I don't go somewhere and I know they're not there and I guess all jobs, you know, you don't want to

34:35 Waste companies time, you know use up times and you're not supposed to try to be pretty.

34:41 Genoa fishing on it

34:44 Don't you understand? It's how I get to 290.

34:50 But I it's it's

34:53 It's pretty accurate.

34:55 For the most part. Yeah, boiii experience with with the food delivery system or with known each other for a short amount of time so far.

35:19 Might just like to thank Thomas for the work he does.

35:25 Thank you. How are you? Not really holidays. Did they ask me? What client would you think?

35:36 It would be good at this and your name popped up. Yours yours truly.

35:43 What is the prize so that's how your name popped up and I enjoyed.

36:07 It's my pleasure. Thank you have no problems.

36:14 And I know it is I might pop in and and leave real fast. And when I do that you helped me because everybody wants to finish the daylight. You want to go home? Yeah, that's good to take a break have some lunch keep keep on going down the road.

36:48 Henna

36:51 It's good eyes.

36:55 Amiga

36:57 I'm glad you're my client like that. Thank you.