Ralene Simpkins and Elvey Mendez: This is My Home

Caught in a Florida downpour, two nurse navigators found more than just shelter—they found a reminder of what makes Moffitt special.

After a long day in the Neuro-oncology and GYN clinics, Ralene Simpkins and Elvy Mendez were bracing for a soggy sprint to their cars when an unexpected act of kindness changed everything.

A fellow Moffitt team member—someone they didn’t even know—offered them a ride, turning a stormy evening into a heartwarming moment of connection. Ralene and Elvy share how that simple gesture reaffirmed their sense of belonging and why Moffitt truly feels like home.

Podcast Transcript

Ralene Simpkins and Elvy Mendez

My name is Ralene Simpkins. I am a registered nurse in the Neuro department, and I serve as a Neuro navigator. (Ralene has since been promoted to Manager, Clinic Operations in GYN) I have been with Moffitt since 2017, all of which has been in the Neuro department.

 It was a typical summer Florida working day leaving at 5:00 and that means thunderstorms. And so this particular day it was me and one of the other navigators in the Gyn department. Her name is Elvey. And so I was taking her from Magnolia campus to the off site where she parks.

My name is Elvy Mendez. I am a nurse navigator with the GYN population. I've been with Moffitt since February of this year. Ralene is sunshine to everyone she meets; I love her. And from the beginning, from my first day, she was my preceptor. So she always offered to me, if it's pouring outside, I can definitely take you.

My car is parked behind Hope Lodge, which is an uncovered employee parking lot. And so we went through Blue Valet garage. It was storming. And so we were going to wait until some of it lessened.

It was pouring. It was raining hard hard.

So we’re sitting there waiting. And here comes this car. And the lady in the front seat says, hey, do you need a ride? And I was like, oh no, it's okay. Uh, my car's just right over there and we're just waiting for the rain to stop.

She insisted she was not going to leave us there. There was no way because it really it was thundering. It really didn't seem like it was going to stop anytime soon.

We got in and I said, oh, this is nice. And I look at the driver and I look at her face and I said, you're on the emails. But these emails were to like all employees, so this person was pretty high up.

She never said, I am. This is my title. She said her name and that's all. And, um, then she took us over to Ralene’s car. We both got out and she offered me to take me to McKinley, and that was like, wow, this lady is really nice.

That's someone who genuinely doesn't see anything, just sees people. And she was just this sweet, very friendly. Um, and I didn't feel uncomfortable. And I still get chills when I think about that moment, because here it is someone who I honestly couldn't remember her name, but I remembered her face. But I also remembered she has a pretty important position here as well.

The next day, I remember Ralene came up to me and said, I think I found out who it is. And I turned out to be a really high executive in Moffitt. I mean, Ralene and I talked about it for the whole two weeks after that because it's impressive. Where I come from, you don't even meet executives, but not only to see them, but to have them offer you a ride and not only offer you a ride, but at no point say, you know, this is who I am or nothing like that was so such a humbling experience. So I remember going home and telling my husband, you know, I really do like where I work. I really feel that I'm home.

For her to offer us into her personal space just to help lighten our load or make it a little more comfortable for us. It's just really, to me, spoke to the heart of who we are here at Moffitt. I will never forget that.

You just feel equal. You feel important. You feel valued. So to have that experience was one of the things that has made it life changing for me to work at Moffitt.

If that is her vision at that level, you know, attitude reflects leadership. This is a safe place to show your heart and to be who you are.

So when I think of her, um, I truly believe that she must love what she does and where she works. Because if she didn't, I don't think her behavior would have been the same. When we love what we do and we love where we do it and we feel comfortable, then we are able to not only do our job, but also look at everyone that's around us.

If I were speaking directly to team members, I would say that you are in a safe place, that if you are here to make a difference, that it doesn't have to be the big things. It could simply be a hello and you making a connection with someone, taking just a small amount of time of a busy day can change the trajectory of someone's outlook, their perspective.

It's the experience. It's how that experience made me feel. So it also brings to mind that quote by Maya Angelou that someone may not know or remember what you said, but they'll always remember how you made them feel. And for me, in that moment, she made me feel like a person and not another Moffitt nurse.

Yvette Tremonti, our VP chief Financial administrative officer (now retired), took the time to just really be kind. That just spoke to the heart of who she is as a person. And then to me, it gives me license to then give that same heart not only to a coworker, but to our patients to say, hey, this is a family environment and come on in. You know, and that's what she did for me. We heard from Raylene and Elvie how this small act of kindness made a great impact on them. It spoke volumes that one team member went out of her way to help other team members. She didn't even know. Raylene and Elvie felt valued and cared for and felt like this was their home. And this is the Moffatt promised culture, one where we commit to making a difference in showing that we care. We're all in this together. Let's look for ways to extend human kindness to each other and help to lighten the load.