DBT40 Honoree: Helana Rodriguez

Title: Director/Executive Director

Helena Rodriguez | DBT PHOTO BY LUIGI CIUFFETELLI

Workplace: Delaware State Chamber of Commerce/Project Comfort

Age: 33

Warming hearts through workforce development and community service is what propels Helana Rodriguez’ work at both the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce and her own nonprofit organization, Project Comfort. 

As the director of the chamber’s workforce development affiliate, the Partnership, Inc., Rodriguez said it’s her privilege to manage five flagship programs, including Intern Delaware, Navigating Delaware Pathways, Superstars in Education and Training, Principal for a Day and the Delaware Young Professionals Network.

Along with her tenacity for workforce development through the state chamber, her work with her nonprofit, Project Comfort, really stands out as she and her husband coordinate efforts to support seniors across the state. When she discovered that 60% of nursing home residents do not receive a single visitor as her own grandmother had an extended stay in a nursing home before her passing in 2017, Rodriguez knew she found a passion for something needed in Delaware – comfort for senior citizens through blankets and precious time. 

Last year alone, she and her husband coordinated more than 400 individual donors, over 200 volunteers, more than 20 business-based blanket drives, 27 organizations who made cards, as well as storage logistics and distribution events to 19 nursing home facilities. But what she is most proud of from their most recent year of service is the 376 collective hours that were spent with nursing home residents providing human interaction, comfort and memories to those who are otherwise confined to their assisted living space.