IN THE SPOTLIGHT: New citizen front and center at The Inn, Dencina ‘Dee’ Barracks

There’s a new pep in the step of Dencina Barracks, front office manager for The Gasparilla Inn and Club. Dencina, or “Dee,” is a brand-new American citizen. Her citizenship became official at a ceremony in October. “October 25, at 2 p.m., the best day of my life!” she enthused. “The whole week I cried.” The tears were a mixture of happiness, gratitude and relief. There were many hurdles to overcome before this day could take place.

“There were so many things that happened along the way,” she said. “Errors were found on my files. Because of a medical emergency, I missed my first appointment with the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which was set for March 20, 2021.” She had informed them she couldn’t make it, but a formal explanation was needed.

“That set things back another year, and I had to get a lawyer to help prove that missing the appointment was unavoidable,” she said. Without adequate reason, USCIS could have ejected her from the process. Fortunately, that didn’t happen. Still, the process took four long years.

Dee originally came to the U.S. in 2009, never planning to become a citizen. Born and raised in the Bahamas, she was the sixth of 14 children and the second-oldest daughter, a position that came with significant family responsibility. She came to the U.S. after a series of misfortunes and was offered respite and healing for her physical, mental and spiritual challenges. Between 2002 and 2006, Dee lost her mother, father, husband, older sister and several aunts and uncles.

With her parents and older sister gone, Dee became the family caretaker. Her youngest sibling was only three when their mother died. “It was like this ripple effect that went on for a period of time,” she recalled. By 2006, she was serving as mother to both her younger siblings and her own two children. It was overwhelming.

“I felt I needed to do this because everybody around me was hurting,” she said. “They needed strength from me. But while I was putting on a facade of strength, inside I was being torn apart. I couldn’t let my siblings or my children see that. Then her late husband’s mother, who lived in the U.S., offered to care for Dee’s two children while Dee recovered. So, Dee joined her children and her mother-in-law in the U.S., beginning her journey to citizenship.

In the Bahamas, Dee (her American nickname) had held various professional positions. “My resume included being a certified Nissan advisor with Ford and Nissan in the Bahamas. I was the apprentice for a famous painter in the Bahamas. I was also a professional photographer responsible for photography at the Ocean Club on Atlantis. I also did nursing and hotel work,” she said. Her hotel experience was part of the concierge offerings at Emerald Bay in Exuma.

Coming to America, though, she chose private nursing care. “I was working for a family here on the island,” she said. “I never realized what Boca Grande was. I thought I was coming here to work as a nursing assistant. Her client always directed her along a straight route when she took him to Hudson’s or anywhere else on the island. Then, finally, she started to notice more, and realized she liked the atmosphere in Boca Grande.

When the person she had been caring for died, she decided to change her line of work.

“I decided to see if there were any jobs in Boca,” she said. After 12 years in nursing, she felt it was her gift to care for people, but she decided to turn a new page.

“At this point, I was done with people passing away,” she said. “All my clients, I took care of them until they died. Now, I want to care for people in a different way.”

Checking out Indeed.com, she found an opening at the Gasparilla Inn and Club for a turndown attendant. This was in 2016. “I had never done housekeeping, so I decided to try it. When I sat down before the interviewer, she said, ‘You’re applying to be a turndown attendant with a resume like this? I’m happy to interview you, but are you sure?’ I said, ‘Yes, I just want to get in the door. I don’t care if it’s picking up grass. I just want a job here.’”

After the interview, Dencina met with the front office manager to see if there were other positions available. 

By the end of the day, she was offered a post as a front desk attendant/concierge assistant. Over the next few years, she changed roles a few times and has now been with the Inn for eight years. In her third year at the Inn, both Jon Reecher, then-general manager, and Brent Cross, assistant manager, realized she wasn’t using her full potential. They offered her the position of concierge manager.

“I did that, and I always assisted the front office manager,” she said. “I had one job but worked at double capacity. Brent told me, ‘Dee, as concierge manager, I don’t want guests to hear the word no. If they need something, find a way to meet that need.’ I took it to heart, learned every department, and made it my business to be able to operate from my desk.”

This trust and respect extended beyond the job. “Upon passing my citizenship test in November 2023, USCIS discovered an error on my account,” she said. “Mary O’Bannon, special projects manager at the Inn, helped connect me with the right people to get my case moving.”

She continued, “When I told Brent about my citizenship, he said, ‘If I can’t make it to your ceremony, I’ll ensure someone from the Inn represents us.’ Not only did he come, but so did his wife, Sharon.” Others from the Inn included Laura Maxwell, guest experience manager; Sydney Hicks, HR department; and Mary O’Bannon with her husband, Delbert Barracks, who works at the Inn’s Pink Elephant.

“I call them my Inn family,” she said. “The whole week of my ceremony I was crying, and when they showed up at USCIS, I felt at home.”

Today, Dee has a home in Port Charlotte. She is married again, and her two children are grown. Her daughter, Rechae, 19, recently left for college in Orlando. Her son, Richard, 20, lives at home, as does stepson Jordan, 18. All the children have worked at the Inn at one time or another.

Recently, she’s been known to break into song: “Proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free … ’cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land. God bless the USA.”

Her sisters and husband have encouraged her to get a passport and visit family in the Bahamas, but she feels they should come visit her in the place she now calls home.

“I always felt this was home,” she said. “God chose me and put me in one of the most beautiful places. I grew up on a small island where everything was close by – church, school, grocery store. Boca Grande feels like a sanctuary. No matter the hurdles, I would never turn my back on the Gasparilla Inn and Club.”

Dencina still enjoys helping people. “With what Boca Grande is going through now, I’m happy to help in any way I can,” she said. “We just keep going together as a community. It’s what Boca Grande does. It’s super impressive. This is what family looks like – togetherness. The Inn is like the matriarch of the town, standing strong after the storm. It’s impressive.”