On a mild morning in mid-March, a steady stream of cars carrying teachers, health care workers and grandparents rolled through the parking lot of Ellis Davis Field House in southern Dallas County.
Lisa Wheeler, a Parkland Health & Hospital System nurse, was at the other end of the parking lot, dressed in her uniform blue scrubs, face mask and shield. She met each person who rolled down a window or opened a car door with a fresh sense of optimism.
Her smile concealed, Wheeler tried to express with her eyes how happy she was to be there.
“I feel like there is hope now,” Wheeler said.