WORKING HARD TO HELP HER

The office has a wall full of ceramic Tiffany’s-blue-painted crosses and “Do you know HUHH?” insignia placed on the dark brown desk and armoire.

The event planner makes her last statements while others begin to arrive to finish the gift bags for the upcoming event. The bags sitting outside the office match the colors of the crosses on the wall. Next to the bags are white tissue paper and gifts ready for placement. Even though it is well past 5 p.m., work still needs to be done.
Dandreon Gray, 39, has been working since the age of 14 and has no plans of stopping anytime soon.

Gray, a native of Memphis Tenn., currently works part-time for the City of Grand Prairie as a coordinator for IMPACT Coalition, an organization whose mission is to eliminate underage drinking. She’s also the executive director for Helping Us Help Her, also known as HUHH, an organization that helps teenage girls to develop the right tools to make the best decisions in life.

“I wake up, I go to bed thinking about what I can do to improve the organizations,” Gray said.

Her extreme work ethic stems from her mother, whom she said was a great influence on her life as a child. Her mother would do everything she could so Gray and her siblings kept a roof over their heads and could have anything they needed. As a child, she always wanted to become a doctor, so she could help people, and a mother.

Gray became a mother to three children: Kaelyn Gray, 17; Mark Gray, 11; and Kaden Gray, 7. She and her cousin made plans to graduate from college in Tennessee together and to move on to become doctors. But plans suddenly changed when Gray decided to move back to Arlington to help her mother.

Gray still ended up in the medical field, earning a degree in healthcare administration from the University of Texas in Arlington. She is a first generation college graduate.

She doesn’t regret moving back to Texas and changing her degree, but she does wish she had stuck to the plan with her cousin, who is now a doctor in Tennessee.

“I’ve accepted it, I’ve embraced it,” she said. “I would not take anything from my journey because this is where God has me.” Deandra Durham, 38, has been a friend to Gray since junior high school. Their friendship is perfect for Helping Us Help Her, where Durham works as an executive assistant.

“It’s a balancing friendship,” she said. “We play off of each others’ strengths and weaknesses.” She didn’t know how much help Durham would provide until they started building Helping Us Help Her together. Any time Gray needed help, Durham would be there. Whether it was filling out papers until 3 a.m. or attending a meeting when Gray could not be present, Durham stepped in.

She sees Gray as a very strong individual because outsiders would never know Gray has gone through so much in her life. “She’s always smiling, regardless of what she’s going through,” Durham said.

Gray faced adversity as a teenager. Because her parents worked overnight shifts, she had to become a mother figure to her younger siblings. Gray never wanted her mother to feel like she wasn’t able to handle the responsibilities given, so Gray accepted the challenge and excelled.

One of Gray’s most painful situations she had to overcome was when her father and her second child were both in the hospital at the same time. Her father was in ICU on one end of the second floor, and on the other end she was delivering her son, who later went into NICU, she said.

Her father and first son were the most important people in her life at the time, and she was unable to see either of them. It wasn’t in her best health interest, since she just delivered a baby.

A few days later, she checked out the hospital on Father’s Day and within 15 minutes of arriving home the hospital called.

“I thought they were calling me to give a report on my son,” Gray said. “And they called to tell me my father had just passed.” Through it all, she remains a hard worker and in high spirits, no matter the circumstances.

Keandra Hill, currently a freshman at the University of North Texas, has known Gray since she was born. Hill is Durham’s daughter and has attended Helping Us Help Her events.

She sees Gray as an inspiring person in her life.

“Even when she’s upset… she is so calm and collected, it’s amazing,” Hill said.

Gray has helped her become a confident young lady by not only telling but also showing her that she can make it through any obstacle with hard work and dedication. “It’s a presence that she has,” Hill said. “I guess she’s always had it.” Gray lives by the mantra she heard at a conference by guest speaker Dr. Samuel Chand, a self proclaimed dream releaser:

“Your thoughts become your words, your words become your decisions, your decisions become your actions, your actions become your habits, your habits become your character and your character becomes your destiny.”

She believes the best way to reach your destiny is to understand that every morning you wake up your life is in session; it’s up to you to do what needs to be done in this session, and that will determine your day.

Gray went through many trials and tribulations in life. But instead of letting life bring her down, she keeps a smile on her face, works even harder and perseveres. “I would like to be remembered as a young lady that gave her all,” Gray said. “Trying to make the world a better place for young girls.”