Eliodora Benito

In October of 2009 the wealthy owner of the prestigious office building at 10000 Memorial in Houston decided to replace the facility’s responsible union cleaning contractor, ISS/Sanitors, with a non-union cleaning contractor, Professional Janitorial Services.

Each of the building’s janitors, including 47-year-old Eliodora Benito, was fired. “My job was my support,” says Eliodora. “When I lost it, my palace collapsed.” 

While it may not seem like a $7.75 an hour job could support a palace, it did for Eliodora, who has endured a lifetime of poverty and struggle.

“I come from a very poor family,” Eliodora says. “We didn’t have a house. We lived in a field in Mexico, under a propped-up shelter of palm leaves. We didn’t even have anything to cook beans with.”

“When I was a little bit older I tried to go to school but it didn’t last,” she says. “The other children laughed at me because I was so old and I still didn’t know how to read. So when I was nine, I started working. I never had a chance to enjoy my youth.”

Eliodora worked in the fields, planting and harvesting. The work was backbreaking. She thought that marriage might be a way out. “I got married when I was 14,” she says. “But it was torture. He hit me, dragged me by the hair, and abused me mentally. Nobody defended me. I didn’t know what to do.” 

When Eliodora’s husband finally abandoned her and the children, it was a relief. She decided to bring her children to the United States and to try to begin a new life. Today she still supports two kids and also cares for her 67-year-old mother, who is diabetic.

“My mother tells me, ‘I’m holding you back.’ I’m just another burden for you,” Eliodora says. “But she isn’t. My mother didn’t abandon me when I was young, how could I ever abandon her?”

Despite losing her job, Eliodora is remarkably strong. “I have my family. I have my strength. I have my faith,” she says. “God has not abandoned me.”

What about the wealthy building owner who put Eliodora and her coworkers out on the street? 

“I hope he reconsiders because it was a bad decision,” Eliodora says. “He made it without thinking about other people. We have families that need us, children, parents. He should have put his hand on his heart before acting.”