Raukshaun's Fight With Covid-19 As a Combat Medic

May 12, 2021 at 10:00 AM EDT

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During Military Appreciation Month, we’re honored to spotlight the brave service members who bring their expertise, knowledge and dedication into our workplace. Their stories reflect the company’s core values of community and respect.

Raukshaun P. is a product planning manager at a Home Depot direct fulfillment center (DFC) in Georgia. He’s been with the company for six years and has been in the military for 14. When he’s not wearing an orange apron, he serves as a combat medic in the Army National Guard.

“My direct managers, HR, payroll – everyone has been super supportive,” Raukshaun says about balancing his service commitment with his job. “My leaders are open to having conversations with me about making sure my military service won’t derail my career plans.”

But even with a flexible job, maintaining that balance hasn't always been easy. For Raukshaun, 2020 brought unimaginable challenges with the lockdown.

Last March, he was deployed to an overwhelmed hospital that needed assistance treating COVID-19 patients. By May, he was called to Atlanta to assist with the Black Lives Matter protests. Shortly after, he was assisting with pandemic efforts again at a COVID-19 testing site.

Raukshaun finally returned home eight months later in November. It wasn’t long before he was working again at his fulfillment center, but that came with its own set of challenges.

His center was facing record levels of customer demand due to the pandemic. But for Raukshaun, keeping calm in high-stress situations is a skill he’s been mastering for years in the National Guard. “Work stress seems very manageable once you’ve been through combat,” he says.

And through all his deployments, Raukshaun says The Home Depot’s support of his service and career has never faltered.

“It’s a night and day difference between the support I get at The Home Depot, and the stories I hear from some of my fellow guard members,” he says. In fact, he’s even recruited some of his fellow soldiers to come work with him. “I can’t think of a company that is better than ours at dealing with employee military deployments.”

The Home Depot is proud to employ more than 35,000 veterans and military spouses throughout the company. If you’re a veteran or military spouse looking for career opportunities at The Home Depot, visit www.careers.homedepot.com/military.

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Tweet me: Meet Raukshaun, a @HomeDepot employee and National Guard combat medic who spent 2020 serving his community in the face of COVID-19. Learn more about his service and sacrifice here: https://bit.ly/2RPLP53

KEYWORDS: Home Depot, NYSE: HD