Fernando is our beloved Engage Café barista, almost as close as a family member, who greets us daily with our first hot beverage and choices galore of pastry, fruit, juices, and more.

Fernando has lived in the United States since he was 20 years old. He emigrated with his wife from the Philippines, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology and also had helped with his family’s auto parts business. His first job in the United States was as a machinist for a company in California that manufactured parts for oil drilling. He later chose to settle on the east coast. Fernando is fluent in Tagalog, Spanish, and English.

Our barista is also a homeowner, gardener, bowling enthusiast, and most helpful husband. At home he does regular cooking, laundry, lawn care, and front and back yard flower gardening. His wife works as a full time certified nursing assistant. He has a son, age 32, who is a naval non-commissioned officer at grade E5, with one child; and a daughter, age 30, who is a hospital neonatal intensive care nurse, expecting her first child. Fernando’s maternal aunt has recently joined myPotential At Home as a certified nursing assistant.

Fernando is a hard-working man with a strong personal work ethic. For decades, he has worked two part-time jobs. He came to TVAR 19 years ago, and evening jobs have included food service at Asbury Methodist and Ingleside, and most recently at Costco. Fernando works at TVAR’s Engage Café from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., where he is responsible for inventory, ordering and serving. He works from 4:30 to 10:00 p.m. at Costco Food Court, where he operates the cash register for unending lines of hungry customers. Fernando demonstrated how he gets plenty of exercise at Costco, as he rapidly moves from the cash register to the kiosk six feet away to obtain the order ticket, then to the food assembly counter where he prepares the food order, then back to the cash register. We salute Fernando’s kindness each morning, as he jumpstarts our sleepy minds. And we so much appreciate his outstanding dedication to serving our senior community with consistent excellence.

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