JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. — ‘A boomerang of positivity’ is how 12 Who Care Recipient, Jacksonville mother and healthcare worker Dorthenia Smart, can be described.
A "gem" and "amazing human being" is what the person who nominated Smart had to say about her. If there was ever an embodiment of the saying 'what you put out into the world, you get back,’ it would be Smart.
"I always tell people to stay blessed because they're blessed they woke up this morning," Smart told First Coast News.
Smart says she’s blessed to be a mother of five, thanks to her adopted children and stepchildren. A messed up Burger King order led to her current employment.
“I was working at drive-thru in Burger King at University and this lady came by and we messed up her order three times," she said. "When everything was done, she asked to see my manager and he said, ‘Yes, what's wrong?' She says, 'Nothing wrong, but what are you paying her? I want to hire her. I'm the head of human resources at Shands Hospital.' And I almost died. I was like 'Whoa!'"
Smart says that situation happened to her four more times. She was working three jobs and helping her mother, who had cancer, at the time.
UF Health Shands in Jacksonville is where you'll find her now, helping people who don't have insurance get healthcare. The person who nominated her for 12 Who Care says they have never met anyone who cares more about their clients.
"We had to go through this program with my mom so I kind of understand it a lot," Smart said.
She also understands what it's like to have 88 people expected at a family reunion and Tuesday family game nights with her two youngest children. They are two of the five kids she didn’t think were in the cards.
"The pastor came and told me, he said, 'You're gonna have about five kids,'” she said. “And I was like, ‘Okay? Thank you... I'm almost 40.’ And sure enough, I ended up with five children. It's just a whole new experience with them because now my 12-year-old is a preteen and oh God, I wasn't ready for that."
But Smart is ready to take on each day with a full heart.
“They gave me, here at work, I had a baby shower here,” she said. “I had three baby showers. They surprised me! That was a good moment at work."
Watch the video with her interview to see how laughter fills her day.