ElNido-SuccessStories - El Nido Family Centers

EL NIDO FAMILY CENTERS
Celebrating 90 years of transforming lives
El Nido Family Centers, one of Los Angeles’s
The success stories and individuals on the
oldest social service agencies, has come a long
following pages span generations, ethnicities and
way from our modest beginnings in 1925 as
backgrounds but all share one thing in common:
a camp in Laurel Canyon for undernourished,
they personify the transformative power of El
neglected and sick children. El Nido, which means
Nido Family Centers’ work. Their stories tell the
“the nest” in Spanish, was originally founded by
story of El Nido’s dedication to create stronger
the National Council of Jewish Women. Today
families and brighter futures for 90 years in Los
an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency, we
Angeles. As you read their stories, you will find a
help to transform the lives of more than 10,000
consistent theme throughout, which is both simple
children, youth, and family members in some of Los
and yet exceedingly powerful: El Nido saves lives.
Angeles’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods.
This book is a celebration of our clients’ successes
Our comprehensive programs include prenatal
and accomplishments. Their stories are far more
case management and parenting programs for teen
compelling and illustrative than any description we
parents, Early Head Start for infants and toddlers
could provide of our work, and we will let them tell
and their parents, parent education and family
the El Nido story. We are so proud to have helped
development, child abuse prevention and treatment,
them on their journeys, and to have helped tens,
family counseling, and youth development and
even hundreds of thousands of individuals like
gang prevention and intervention programs.
them over our nine decades. Today, with 90 years
Celebrating our 90-year anniversary in 2015, El
Nido was founded on the simple principle that a
child cannot grow up twice, and that profound and
powerful idea is what continues to drive our family-
of providing critical social services under our belt,
El Nido Family Centers has established itself as a
beacon in Los Angeles, inextricably linked to the
fabric of our city. Thank you for reading our story.
oriented programs today. Throughout the decades,
El Nido has proven itself as an enduring resource
in the Los Angeles community: a constant guiding
and giving presence responding to and offering
solutions to the pressures and problems of the day.
Much like Los Angeles itself, a city of reinvention,
El Nido has deftly adapted to meet the needs of
different generations and changing demographics.
“WHAT A CHILD DOESN’T
RECEIVE HE CAN SELDOM
GIVE LATER.”
– P.D. JAMES
3
S U CC E S S STO RY
DIANE MORALES-KAWAKAMI
2005
Diane Morales-Kawakami lived the kind of
able to stay on the medication which ameliorated
life in which suicide was never far from her
her schizoaffective disorder, something she had
mind. A childhood victim of sexual abuse
been previously unable and unwilling to do.
by a grandfather, Diane was also afflicted
with schizoaffective disorder, a persistent
mental illness that includes severe and major
depressive episodes and may include delusions,
hallucinations and psychosis.
Diane knows that El Nido has transformed many
lives, but to her “El Nido was an agency that
saved my life,” creating a belief in herself and
what she could do as a positive force. She was
able to properly order her
She grew up in East L.A.,
mostly away from home,
as a drug addict and gang
member. The father of three
of her four children died from
gunshot wounds delivered by
the LAPD. She was in constant
trouble with Los Angeles’s
Department of Children
and Family Services (DCFS)
and her children were taken
away from her and placed
in different foster homes.
After bouts with numerous
social service agencies that
priorities and as a result,
TODAY DIANE IS A
HIGHLY-REGARDED
AND RESPECTED
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
COUNSELOR EMPLOYED
BY CALIFORNIA’S
DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL
HEALTH, WORKING WITH
INCARCERATED MEN,
WOMEN WHO HAVE
LOST CUSTODY OF THEIR
CHILDREN, HOMELESS
STREET PEOPLE WITH
MENTAL ILLNESS
AND DRUG ADDICTS.
produced no positive results
for her, and seven other
agencies which refused to
take her on as a client, she came to El Nido
Family Centers. She was immediately impressed
by the kind, sensitive and responsive reception
she received, and that she was able to see a
counselor immediately instead of having to
make an appointment to come back again. The
counselor she saw was Cynthia Arias, at that time
a Master of Social Work student intern. To Diane,
Cynthia was a beacon of hope, convincing her
that she was a special, unique person worthy of
being saved. Working with Cynthia, Diane was
4
YEAR:
within eight months after she
started working with El Nido,
her children were returned
to her by the same judge
who had earlier sent them
to separate foster homes.
Manuel and Barbara Morales,
her father and stepmother,
were instrumental in keeping
the children together for a
successful family reunification.
Today Diane is a highlyregarded and respected
substance abuse counselor
employed by California’s
Department of Mental Health,
working with incarcerated men, women who
have lost custody of their children, homeless
street people with mental illness and drug
addicts. Three of her children work for the
County of Los Angeles and the youngest
is still in school. Social work runs in Diane’s
family – her father retired from his job at
AT&T at age 50, went back to school to earn
his MSW degree and is now a mental health
rehabilitation specialist working with transitionalage youth. The Morales family is dedicated to
transforming the lives of individuals in need.
“El Nido was an agency
that saved my life,”
by creating a belief in
herself and what she could
do as a positive force.
5
“El Nido
saved my life.”
S U CC E S S STO RY
KATHY PEREZ
1970s
Last year, Kathy Perez, Director of ESPN’s hit
possible without El Nido Family Centers, which
show SportsNation, proudly added a fourth
helped her turn her life around four decades
Emmy – this one a National Sports Emmy – to
ago. “El Nido saved my life,” Kathy recalls.
her mantle. She won her first three Emmys as
well as a Peabody Award, a Columbia duPont
Award, and two Golden Mike Awards for her
6
YEAR:
Adopted at birth, Kathy had a typical childhood
until her mother became ill with heart disease
work directing local newscasts and high-profile
and spent more than three years in and out of
trials over the past three decades, including
hospitals. When Kathy was 13 years old, her
covering the Rodney King trial with the first-ever
mother died, unbelievably, on Mother’s Day.
gavel-to-gavel broadcast of a court case. Kathy’s
Her father was overwhelmed by the death of
remarkable accomplishments have come through
his wife and unable to cope with his new role
years of hard work, but they wouldn’t have been
as a single parent. He would leave his young
“Everything that happened to me almost killed me,
but everything they did for me – their structure,
their counseling – got me on the right track.”
daughter home alone for extended periods
Life at El Nido was extremely structured and just
of time. “When I lived with my father I really
what Kathy needed. The 13 girls in the house had
had no discipline. There was no structure.
chores, responsibilities, and curfews as well as
There were no rules. As much as that’s what
group counseling twice a week, and individual
teenagers say that’s what they want, they need
counseling once a week. Kathy attended Fairfax
discipline, because that really
High School where she
does translate into love.”
auditioned for, and was
An unsupervised teenager,
Kathy began down the
dangerous road of adolescent
experimentation for two
years. Recognizing that she
was on a perilous path, she
told a school counselor
what was going on, and the
school contacted a social
worker. With all other options
“THE BOTTOM LINE
AND SIMPLEST WAY TO
EXPLAIN IT IS THAT EL
NIDO SAVES LIVES. IT
SAVES LIVES THROUGH
INTERVENTION,
THROUGH THERAPY,
THROUGH HOME
SERVICES, IN SO MANY
DIFFERENT WAYS.
IT SAVED MY LIFE. ”
accepted into, a television
production program. Earning
a spot as a reporter covering
news stories for and by the
students, this was the start
of her broadcasting career.
Despite having earned many
of the most prestigious
awards in her field, Kathy
gleams proudly when she
exhausted, at the age of
says that her greatest
16, Kathy chose to move
accomplishment is her nine-
to El Nido Family Centers' residential home
year-old son, Jackson. The lessons she learned at
for girls in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles
El Nido about discipline and structure, as well as
in the summer of 1975 (the agency operated
the importance of expressing one’s feelings, are
three residential facilities for girls in the 1970s).
lessons that she has taught her son. Kathy says
she owes much of who she is today to three El
“I was a very angry, sad teenage girl because my
Nido case workers – Fritzie Davis, Helen Maxwell
life had fallen apart and, as teenagers tend to do,
and Stacy Banks – who helped her come to terms
I blamed myself,” recalls Kathy. Unaccustomed
with what had happened to her. “Everything
to discipline, rules, and structure, initially Kathy
that happened to me almost killed me, but
continued to push the limits and rebel at El
everything they did for me – their structure,
Nido. A few months after her arrival, she and
their counseling – got me on the right track.”
her roommate ran away from the home and
found themselves with several older men who
More than anything, what does Kathy want
sexually assaulted them. The teens returned
people to know about L.A.’s 90-year-old
to El Nido the next morning. “I remember this
social service agency? “The bottom line and
moment; it was so defining. I looked up the
simplest way to explain it is that El Nido
stairs at this houseparent who I was very fond
saves lives. It saves lives through intervention,
of, and I said, ‘I surrender. Game over.’ And
through therapy, through home services, in
from that point on, I changed everything.”
so many different ways. It saved my life.”
7
S U CC E S S STO RY
FELICIA GILES
YEAR:
1990s
Felicia Giles was first introduced to El Nido Family
She received her AA degree with a major in
Centers at the age of 16, shortly after she’d given
sociology at Southwest College and for the past
birth to her first child, when a woman she didn’t
eleven years has been employed by Cedars Sinai
know came to her bedside and left a pamphlet
Medical Center, achieving her certification as
describing El Nido and its services. With an ill
a Certified Professional Coder (CPC) six years
mother who died of cervical cancer three months
ago. Felicia’s long-term goals are to operate a
after Felicia gave birth, and a frequently absent
medical coding and consulting business, to travel
father, Felicia was looking for
(especially to Paris and
all the help she could get, and
to Italy) and to write her
El Nido was there for her.
Felicia’s case manager, Sandra
Seymour, came to visit her in the
hospital the next day and with
her joyful enthusiasm, big smile
and patient willingness to help,
she immediately got Felicia
moving in the right direction.
In the two years that Felicia
was an El Nido client, she was
able to go back to school and
WITH AN ILL MOTHER
WHO DIED OF
CERVICAL CANCER
THREE MONTHS AFTER
FELICIA GAVE BIRTH
AND A FREQUENTLY
ABSENT FATHER,
FELICIA WAS LOOKING
FOR ALL THE HELP
SHE COULD GET, AND
EL NIDO WAS THERE
FOR HER.
autobiography to help
girls to learn the things
they need to know, so
they can avoid one day
saying to themselves
“if I only knew.”
The life lesson Felicia
wants to impart to her
three children – Chris
(Age 26), Brandon (Age
23) and Lauren (Age 9)
get her GED, to learn from her
– is to stay focused on
parent education classes how to
your dreams. No matter
be a good parent, to broaden her horizons with
how bumpy the road, you have to get up and
numerous field trips to various places of interest,
keep trying because everyone has a purpose
and to gain both insight and confidence from the
in life; you just have to find out what it is and
counseling she received from El Nido counselors.
then pursue it. For anyone unfamiliar with El
From her experiences with El Nido, Felicia learned
Nido, Felicia wants them to know that El Nido
that there were people outside her family who
has a truly exceptional mentoring program
cared about her and wanted her to succeed in life.
which provides help to those who need it.
"No matter how bumpy the road, you have to get up and
keep trying because everyone has a purpose in life; you
just have to find out what it is and then pursue it"
8
From her experiences
with El Nido, Felicia
learned that there were
people outside her
family who cared about
her and wanted her to
succeed in life.
9
S U CC E S S STO RY
ROBERT LOPEZ
When Robert was
thirteen, a friend
who was in El Nido
Family Centers' Gang
Reduction Youth
Development (GRYD)
program sponsored
by the City of Los
Angeles brought him
to El Nido.
10
YEAR:
2010 – 2015
A native of Colima, Mexico, Robert arrived in the
His photography instructor with the GRYD program
U.S. at just nine months of age. His father was
was an El Nido volunteer, Richard Doran, a former
a construction worker, his mother a housewife.
LAUSD art teacher. Richard became Robert’s
Robert and his brother, who is three years
second father, counseling him and encouraging
younger, grew up in the Pacoima barrio where
him not only with photography, but also with his
drugs were everywhere and gangs were a
schoolwork, the college admission process and
constant threat. When Robert was thirteen,
even his personal life. The positive reinforcement
a friend who was in El Nido Family Centers'
offered by Richard and the atmosphere of the
Gang Reduction Youth
GRYD program gave Robert
Development (GRYD)
a sense of family, the feeling
program sponsored by
the City of Los Angeles
brought him to El Nido.
While Robert had managed
to stay out of trouble up
to that point, his life was
totally without direction.
What he saw was
spectacular. The wide variety
of GRYD program activities,
from drumming to muralmaking to photography
and soccer, presented
him with opportunities he
THE POSITIVE
REINFORCEMENT
OFFERED BY
RICHARD AND THE
ATMOSPHERE OF
THE GRYD PROGRAM
GAVE ROBERT A
SENSE OF FAMILY,
THE FEELING THAT
HE WAS NOT ALONE,
BUT HAD FRIENDS
AND CONFIDANTS,
AND THAT HE SHOULD
WORK HARD TO
PURSUE HIS DREAMS.
never knew existed. Coming
from a gang-infested
neighborhood, he was able
to qualify for the GRYD program and jumped
eagerly into every opportunity presented to him.
that he was not alone, but
had friends and confidants,
and that he should work
hard to pursue his dreams.
Nothing exemplifies that hard
work more than his senior
year at the San Fernando
High School Math / Science
/ Technology Magnet, where
he buckled down to get 85
credits in his senior year
(25 more than anyone had
previously accomplished
in LAUSD history), going
to school during the day,
at night, on weekends and
on the Internet in order to get a sufficient
number of credits to graduate with his class.
Robert is now attending Mission College and
As a soccer player, Robert was an outstanding
hopes to get his undergraduate degree from
goalkeeper on Pacoima’s GRYD soccer team,
Pepperdine in four years. His dream is to work
which won the all-city GRYD championship.
as a photographer for National Geographic, so
This gave him, for the first time in his life, a
that he can travel and capture the world with
sense of accomplishment, of overcoming
his lens. He’d like everyone to know that El Nido
obstacles to achieve a victory. It was the
can “change a person’s perspective, creating
first time but thankfully not his last.
positive images for a life that feels good.”
Robert's dream is to work as a photographer
for National Geographic, so that he can travel
and capture the world with his lens.
11
S U CC E S S STO RY
TESSA WARSCHAW
YEAR:
1940s
“I don’t remember
exactly how long I
stayed at El Nido,
but it saved my life,
and I’ve been healthy
ever since.”
12
Dr. Tessa Warschaw, a doctor of educational
and she stayed in the cabin with the cook and
psychology, has spent much of her professional
her husband, who were kind to her. By 13, Tessa
career empowering individuals, and women in
was healthy and able to go home to her family
particular. The author of four books including
in Boyle Heights. “I don’t remember exactly how
the best-selling and groundbreaking Winning
long I stayed at El Nido, but it saved my life,”
by Negotiation, published in 1980 by McGraw-
she adds, “and I’ve been healthy ever since.”
Hill, Tessa was teaching women how to “lean
in” long before Sheryl Sandberg. In addition to
When Tessa first moved to Los Angeles she had
her publishing career, Dr. Tess, as she is known
to be homeschooled. When she returned home
by her clients, has conducted hundreds of
after staying at the El Nido Lodge, she was able
professional seminars and workshops as well
to attend school with all the other children her
as corporate coaching for clients including
age. Eventually earning her PhD in Educational
American Express, General Electric and Estee
Psychology and Counseling from USC, Tessa was
Lauder. Her most recent book is on resiliency,
asked by the Secretary of State of California,
a topic that Tessa knows about firsthand.
March Fong Eu, and the Speaker of the California
State Assembly, Leo
McCarthy, to serve on the
Born in 1934, the youngest of
three children, Tessa contracted
rheumatic fever and suffered
lung damage when she was a
young girl. The family lived in
Cleveland and Tessa’s doctor
told her mother that if she
stayed in Ohio for another
year Tessa wouldn’t survive
the harsh winter. The family
moved west and eventually
landed in Los Angeles. Severely
“I DON’T KNOW HOW
SHE FOUND EL NIDO,
BUT MY MOTHER
WAS ALWAYS ON
THE FOREFRONT,
LIKE SHE WAS WHEN
SHE WAS WILLING
TO SEND ME TO EL
NIDO. IT SAVED MY
LIFE AND I THINK IT
PROBABLY SAVED MY
MOTHER’S LIFE TOO.”
Curriculum Commission
for the State of California
in the 1970s. Tessa made
history by rejecting dozens
of books that contained
outdated sexist and racist
stereotypes, demanding that
publishers revise the texts.
She explains her philosophy,
“If you don’t do it, who will?”
asthmatic, Tessa’s adoring
At 81, Tessa continues to
and resourceful mother left
live a life of resiliency and
no stone unturned to help her daughter. “I don’t
exuberance. Married 21 years to her husband,
know how she found El Nido, but my mother was
Sam Brown, a cantor at Temple Beth Hillel,
always on the forefront, like she was when she was
she was heartbroken when he passed away
willing to send me to El Nido. It saved my life and
in 2009, not long after both her mother and
I think it probably saved my mother’s life too.”
sister passed away. After mourning for more
than a year, she found herself with a choice to
At seven years of age Tessa went to live at the El
make – bitter or better – and Tessa chose better.
Nido Lodge in Laurel Canyon, a retreat for pre-
With the energy of someone decades younger
tubercular girls offering fresh air, healthy food,
and an unwavering desire to help people, she
and recreation, and where success was measured
continues to have a therapy/coaching practice,
in pounds. Tessa has memories of waking up
organize support groups and has two new
in the fresh air surrounded by yucca plants, of
projects, WIT, Widows in Transition, for women
attending school, and of taking her medications
grieving, and Quik-Fix, a 30-minute coaching
in the kitchen of the Lodge. She remembers
session via telephone. There’s no slowing
when she first arrived that the Lodge was full
down the indefatigable Tessa Warschaw.
13
S U CC E S S STO RY
ZULY QUEZADA
“All of my goals have
been accomplished,
because as a teen parent
El Nido Family Centers
taught me how to set
goals and boundaries for
myself, how to be a great
mother, how to apply for
a job, and how to give
back to my community.”
14
YEAR:
1990s
When Zuly was just 11 years old, her mother
She would also like to teach at a university.
escaped her abusive husband in Mexico and
moved to Los Angeles, but left her daughter
“I want to make a positive contribution to my
behind with her father in Guadalajara. Two
community,” Zuly explains. “All of my goals
years later, her mother returned for Zuly. It was
have been accomplished, because as a teen
1994, and at 13, Zuly found herself in a new
parent, El Nido Family Centers taught me how
country, speaking no English, and living in the
to set goals and boundaries for myself, how
Pacoima barrio with her mother and her mother’s
to be a great mother, how to apply for a job,
new boyfriend, who also became abusive.
and how to give back to my community.
With no one to turn to, Zuly found herself
“I learned that taking the
pregnant and alone at 14.
time to role-model and
“I can remember the day my
entire life changed. There was
a knock on my door. It was
a caseworker from El Nido,”
she recalls. “She was the first
person who ever believed in
me.” The caseworker enrolled
Zuly in school as an English
as a Second Language (ESL)
student, taught her time
management skills, and
connected the young mother
to vital resources for both
mentor an individual can be
“I CAN REMEMBER
THE DAY MY ENTIRE
LIFE CHANGED.
THERE WAS A
KNOCK ON MY
DOOR. IT WAS A
CASE WORKER
FROM EL NIDO,”
SHE RECALLS. “SHE
WAS THE FIRST
PERSON WHO EVER
BELIEVED IN ME.”
her and her infant daughter.
Through El Nido’s Adolescent
Family Life Program (AFLP)
teen-parent program, Zuly enrolled in parenting
classes and took job preparation classes.
a life-changing experience.
Mentoring is like polishing a
dirty diamond: the beautiful
diamond has always been
there, but as a mentor one
has to constantly be polishing
the diamond for its beauty
to shine! When you meet one
who apparently shows no
hope, don’t doubt of his or her
abilities, because he/she most
likely only needs a mentor to
show a different path to take
control of his or her life!”
Zuly is the proud mother of a 20-year-old
daughter majoring in psychology at CSUN,
With her caseworker’s unyielding personal
and an 11-year-old son who is in an advanced
guidance, Zuly graduated from high school at 19,
studies program at a local middle school. Her
then worked her way through college, earning a
children have grown up inspired by their mother’s
BA in psychology from California State University,
strong work ethic, integrity, and commitment
Northridge. Inspired by the help she received
to breaking unhealthy cycles. “Creating a stable
at El Nido, Zuly went on to earn her Master’s
life for my children has been my life’s ambition.
degree in social work (MSW) at CSUN in 2014
I am proud that my daughter and son are
and currently works for a foster care agency. She
excelling in school and are very well adjusted.”
also volunteers for El Nido and was a founding
Believing in the virtuous cycle of giving, she
member of the El Nido Alumni Association.
adds, “I hope to pass on to my children the
One day Zuly hopes to manage a social service
importance of believing in themselves, the
agency and raise millions of dollars to help
power within them, and the importance of
high-risk youth and families improve their lives.
gratitude and giving back to our community.”
15
S U CC E S S STO RY
EVELYN BATRES
Evelyn has proudly
earned straight A’s –
with only an occasional
A minus – ever since
she started at UCLA.
16
YEAR:
2000s
When Evelyn Batres became pregnant as a
bus ride each way from her home in Pacoima
teenager in 2002, her mother enrolled her in
to UCLA. Despite these obstacles, Evelyn is
McAlister High School, a school for pregnant
on track to graduate from UCLA next year.
and parenting teens. It was there that someone
from El Nido Family Centers came to talk to the
students about how the social service agency
could help these young mothers and mothersto-be. Evelyn decided to give El Nido a try.
Lillia Devora was assigned as Evelyn’s case
Evelyn gives credit for her successes to the
support she has received from three people
from El Nido: Lillia, her first case manager,
Sandra Torres of El Nido’s Mission Hills office,
and Liz Herrera, El Nido’s Executive Director. Her
parents have also provided her with tremendous
manager through the
help and support. Annual
CalLearn program, the state
scholarships awarded by El
of California’s program
for teen parents receiving
public assistance. El Nido
is the largest CalLearn
provider in the state. As a
case manager, Lillia was
there for Evelyn in every
way: she worked with
Evelyn to find daycare for
her infant daughter Ruby,
she helped Evelyn enroll at
Valley College and she even
drove Evelyn to take her
AS A CASE MANAGER,
LILLIA WAS THERE
FOR EVELYN IN EVERY
WAY: SHE WORKED
WITH EVELYN TO FIND
DAYCARE FOR HER
INFANT DAUGHTER RUBY,
SHE HELPED EVELYN
ENROLL AT VALLEY
COLLEGE, AND SHE
EVEN DROVE EVELYN
TO TAKE HER COLLEGE
ASSESSMENT TEST.
college assessment test.
Lillia was a graduate of
Nido have helped to pay for
her tuition and books. Evelyn
had never even envisioned
herself going to college
until her daughter was born
and she met Lillia, who
inspired her to want to set
a good example for Ruby.
Evelyn wants people
to know that El Nido is
extraordinary and enables
its clients to change
their lives in order to
live the way they want
to live, and for that she
UCLA and an inspiration to Evelyn, who also
is eternally grateful. Having grown up in
started at UCLA in 2014 with financial support
a low-income community, Evelyn plans to
from the El Nido scholarship program. Evelyn
stay in the Los Angeles area and give back
has proudly earned straight A’s – with only an
to her community to make other people’s
occasional A minus – ever since she started at
lives better, as hers was made better by
UCLA. It hasn’t been easy. Her daughter Ruby is
El Nido. She’s planning a career in health
now six years old and her parents have helped
care administration, perhaps as a public
significantly with childcare. Since she doesn’t
policy advocate. In addition to giving back
have her own car, her father drives her to the bus
through her career, she also wants to one
stop at 5:30 a.m. on the mornings when she has
day become an El Nido donor to help the
school, and every day she endures a two-hour
organization that helped her and her daughter.
El Nido is extraordinary and enables its clients
to change their lives in order to live the way they
want to live, and for that she is eternally grateful.
17
S U CC E S S STO RY
REGINA PALACIO-RAMIREZ
YEAR:
1980s
Regina Palacio-Ramirez has devoted her life to
Liz challenged Regina to become sober and
giving back to her community. She has worked
helped move her toward positive outlets like
for the City of Carson for more than three
running and writing, both passions of Regina's.
decades and has served on nonprofit boards
“As a result of my sessions with Liz, I was able
such as the South Bay Center for Community
to answer some of my own questions just from
Development. Passionate about community and
hearing them out loud. She never judged me.
youth, she has assisted with numerous projects
She also never allowed me to be manipulative
for the Boys and Girls Club
or fake... she was a huge
of Carson. She also advises
influence in my life.” Regina
families on how to manage
their finances, plan for
retirement and move toward
financial independence.
However, without El Nido
Family Centers entering her
life back in 1982, Regina
would likely have gone
down a very different
"HAD IT NOT BEEN
FOR EL NIDO, I THINK
I WOULD HAVE
DROPPED OUT OF
SCHOOL. I COULD
HAVE EASILY BECOME
A HEROIN ADDICT,
A PROSTITUTE,
PREGNANT, OR DEAD.”
not only graduated from
high school with Liz’s
guidance, but also went
on to earn a Bachelor’s in
global studies while working
for the City of Carson.
“El Nido is a lifeline. The
staff and volunteers of
El Nido have a sincere
path. Starting to drink,
concern and love for their
smoke marijuana, and snort
clients and they have a
cocaine in middle school, Regina was failing
academically by her junior year at Carson High
School. A guidance counselor referred Regina
to El Nido Family Centers and she was assigned
Liz Herrera as a counselor. “Had it not been
for El Nido, I think I would have dropped out
of school…I could have easily become a heroin
addict, a prostitute, pregnant, or dead.”
vested interest in their lives,” Regina explains.
A mother to four young adults, she wants to
instill in them strong morals and values in the
hopes “that they will be contributing members
to society: generous, kind and service-oriented.”
Looking back on her experiences, Regina adds,
“The most important thing that I took away from
El Nido was that seeking counsel/help is okay.
Regina’s counselor, Liz (who today is El Nido’s
You are not crazy or weak if you see a counselor.
Executive Director), listened to Regina and
Sometimes we need an outside perspective
allowed her to express her fears and insecurities.
to help kick-start us in the right direction.”
“El Nido is a lifeline. The staff and volunteers of El Nido
have a sincere concern and love for their clients and
they have a vested interest in their lives.”
18
S U CC E S S STO RY
ANDERNE KINNEY
YEAR:
2000s
Anderne Kinney found El Nido Family Centers
school majoring in liberal arts and my goal is to
through her husband, who spotted a sign for
become a teacher. El Nido allows me to come
El Nido’s Early Head Start program outside
and receive childcare while I quietly complete
Anderne’s doctor’s office. He signed up their third
my homework. They also made it possible for
daughter for the program on the spot. “My life has
me to go to the Early Head Start Conference.
never been the same since.” Anderne explains, “I
just want to thank El Nido for changing my life.”
“I love all the staff at El Nido! They all get gold stars
from me and I have never not liked anyone from
Anderne and her family have participated in a wide
El Nido.” Two of her favorite people there are
range of El Nido programs including the infant
her first Home Visitor, Stacy Wilson, and Patricia
health program for children
Bermeo, the current Director
ages 0-3, parent education
of the El Nido Early Head
and counseling and education
on the dietary needs of
children and their growth
processes. She has received
groceries for her family from
the “Nutrition in a Bag”
program and vital supplies
for her children through
El Nido’s partnership with
“IF YOU ARE TRULY IN
NEED OF AN AGENCY
THAT LOVES YOU,
AND CARES ABOUT
YOU AND YOUR
CHILDREN, EL NIDO’S
EARLY HEAD START
PROGRAM WILL BE A
BLESSING TO YOU.”
Baby2Baby. Anderne attends
biweekly play parties with
her children, participates in a toy loan program
weekly and receives childcare from the Café, which
allows Anderne to complete her homework while
her children play. She and her children have also
gone on nature walks and field trips to places
such as Long Beach Aquarium with El Nido.
Start program. “My favorite
person at El Nido was Stacy.
My family and I had grown so
attached to her that she was
like family to us. She would
help us in ways that you could
never imagine and she taught
me how to be a better parent.”
Patricia has also been
an instrumental figure in
Anderne’s life. “She has
made a tremendous impact on my life. She was
very supportive, especially when I was going
through a family emergency. She has given
me so many opportunities to learn,” Anderne
explains. She adds, “If you are truly in need
of an agency that loves you, and cares about
Anderne hopes to pass on the value of an
you and your children, El Nido’s Early Head
education to her children. “I am currently in
Start program will be a blessing to you.”
"I am currently in school majoring in Liberal Arts and
my goal is to become a teacher. El Nido allows me to
come and receive childcare while I complete my homework."
20
"My life has never been
the same since,” Anderne
explains, “I just want
to thank El Nido for
changing my life.”
21
"El Nido has
changed my life in
drastic ways."
S U CC E S S STO RY
XIOMARA PEÑA
22
YEAR:
2007 – 2010
Xiomara Pena discovered El Nido Family
services for her and her son, such as Women,
Centers at a critical time in her life. “I was
Infants and Children (WIC), which helped them
16 years old, still in high school, and three
obtain food. “At sixteen and a single parent coming
months pregnant. When I notified the school
from a low-income household, I needed all of the
nurse that I was pregnant, she referred me to
resources I could get. Jennifer was also there for
El Nido.” A couple of days later, Xiomara’s case
me when I needed to vent about the hardships
manager, Jennifer Encarnacion, came knocking
I was faced with being a single parent and a
at her front door. “El Nido, or as I like to call it,
student. Jennifer always assured me everything
my second home, gave me faith in myself. El
was going to be okay and that I would flourish if
Nido has changed my life in drastic ways.”
I continued to work hard and believe in myself.”
The first program Xiomara participated in was El
Xiomara graduated from Chatsworth High School
Nido’s Adolescent and Family Life Program (AFLP),
with Honors and graduated California State
which included parenting classes, youth workforce
University, Northridge (CSUN) at the age 21 with
development and case management. Jennifer
a Bachelor's of Science in Business Management.
also connected Xiomara with vital resources and
She funded her college education through
“El Nido offers you hope and faith even when
you may not be able to have it on your own. I am
grateful. I am blessed to be an El Nido alumnus.”
various scholarships, including scholarships
the Leading the Way Award in 2009 and the
from El Nido. While a college student, Xiomara
Champions Award in 2014. “One has to wonder,
interned at both the Los Angeles Sixth Council
how is it that a community organization like El
District Office and two years later with the
Nido has been around for 90 years? Well it is
Office of the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles.
because the leadership is passed on to clients.
Not only do programs offer case management,
Today she works for a national, nonpartisan,
but they also offer the opportunity to make a
nonprofit organization, Small Business Majority,
difference in your life, the community and even
where she serves as the Southern California
the world. El Nido taught me to believe in myself
Outreach Coordinator.
when I was a timid 16-year-old
“The work I do involves
girl. I need to give back to the
communicating the needs
of America’s entrepreneurs
through the media and other
channels, advocating for
smart public policy to ensure
small business success,
and making a special effort
to focus on the growth of
entrepreneurship among
women and in communities
of color,” Xiomara explains.
She is also the proud mother
of two boys, seven-year-old
Derrick and seven-month-old
Dominic. “I want to embody
success. I don’t want them to
see me struggle, like I saw my
parents struggle financially.
"JENNIFER ALWAYS
ASSURED ME THAT
EVERYTHING WAS
GOING TO BE OKAY
AND THAT I WOULD
FLOURISH IF I
CONTINUED TO WORK
HARD AND BELIEVE
IN MYSELF. NOT
ONLY DO PROGRAMS
OFFER CASE
MANAGEMENT, BUT
THEY ALSO OFFER
THE OPPORTUNITY TO
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
IN YOUR LIFE, THE
COMMUNITY AND
EVEN THE WORLD."
community that I was once a
part of in order to empower
other young women and young
men to change their lives for
the better. I am only one of
the living examples of how
programs like this positively
impact society. I didn’t become
a burden on the welfare system,
I was able to obtain help and
resources temporarily when I
truly did need them and they
provided value. I learned to
survive, and to give back.
“I will always be indebted to the
organization for everything they
have done for me. Many of the
I want them to give back to
values I carry derive from El Nido.
the community, never to only
When I was a young student,
take and take. I also want them to understand
timid and frightened at times, and thought about
the value of education and how important it is to
giving up simply because of all the pressure,
continue with your post-secondary education.”
I thought about all of my mentors at El Nido
who would be disappointed if I didn’t continue
Xiomara was one of the founding members of
with my education — and that is what El Nido
the El Nido Alumni Association and is the chair
does, it offers you hope and faith even when
for the Alumni Executive Committee. She has
you may not be able to have it on your own. I am
received two awards from El Nido Family Centers:
grateful. I am blessed to be an El Nido alumnus.”
23
Ruth was a resident
of El Nido Lodge in
the late 1930’s and
spent her mornings
in classes and her
afternoon doing arts
and crafts, hiking and
enjoying nature.
S U CC E S S STO RY
RUTH ZEITZEW
24
YEAR:
1930s
Ruth Zeitzew, 87 years old, remembers hearing
“The El Nido Lodge was an oasis nestled in
children shouting, “Here come the Lodge girls,”
the hills of Laurel Canyon surrounded by
as the wood-paneled station wagon came up
tall pine trees and fragrant eucalyptus. It
Laurel Canyon and stopped at Wonderland
was home to the carefree warbling of song
Avenue Elementary School. Ruth was a resident
birds celebrating life in a pollution-free
of El Nido Lodge in the late 1930s and spent her
environment. Sponsored by the National
mornings in classes and her afternoons doing
Council of Jewish Women at the time, the
arts and crafts, hiking and enjoying nature. She
El Nido Lodge housed two dozen girls from
lived at El Nido Lodge for one year starting
underprivileged homes whose families lived
in 6th grade, at a time during the depression
in the asphalt city of Los Angeles. The Lodge
era when her parents moved around a lot, and
was the most fun and greatest opportunity
she was a self-described “skinny street kid.”
a kid could have,” Ruth explained.
Ruth believes that El Nido’s philosophy of giving
back stuck with her and influenced her deeply:
“I owe them that. I was just a street kid!”
Ruth grew up in East Los Angeles, her mother
area. Teaching in the days before there were
a garment worker and her father a writer. She
teachers’ aides, and in overcrowded, gang-
was thrilled to have the opportunity to live at
ridden schools where sometimes there was no
the Lodge. “I met people from everywhere. It
money for books, Ruth had to be creative and
was a very warm and welcoming place. The
resourceful. She developed unique teaching
El Nido Lodge was very health-based. You
strategies to inspire and engage kids, and
ate well and learned about taking care of
let each of them know she cared for them by
yourself. That stuff stays with you,” Ruth said.
recognizing and nurturing the good in each one.
According to Ruth, her
Ruth and the other girls
would go on field trips in the
old station wagon and she
fondly remembers one trip
in particular. “We were taken
to the Ambassador Hotel in
downtown Los Angeles. I had
never been to a restaurant
before and it was a world I
couldn’t even imagine, with
its magnificent lobby and
Coconut Grove nightclub.”
"THE EL NIDO LODGE
HOUSED TWO
DOZEN GIRLS FROM
UNDERPRIVILEGED
HOMES WHOSE FAMILIES
LIVED IN THE ASPHALT
CITY OF LOS ANGELES.
THE LODGE WAS THE
MOST FUN AND GREATEST
OPPORTUNITY
A KID COULD HAVE."
involvement with El Nido
and other service-oriented
organizations in her early
years taught her that “You
learn that you pay back.”
In addition to her lengthy
teaching career, and a break
to have a family of her own
(she has four children and
four grandchildren), Ruth
has spent most of her life
“El Nido was an unforgettable
doing just that: giving back
opportunity and left each of us with a lifetime
to others. For two decades Ruth was an active
of happy memories. For many years I cherished
member of the women’s advocacy groups
the pine needle sachet that we made. I kept it
“Women For” and “Another Mother for Peace,”
in a dresser drawer, taking it out now and then
she spent 25 years on LACMA’s Museum Service
to inhale its pungent scent and remembering
Council, and for the past nine years has served
a wonderful year of lingering happiness.”
in leadership roles at the National Council of
Jewish Women, where she recently organized
Through a combination of scholarships and
its ambitious program celebrating the 50th
on-campus jobs, Ruth put herself through
anniversary of the historic 1965 Voting Rights Act.
UCLA, where she earned a B.A. and a teaching
certification. For almost 25 years, Ruth taught
“I like working with groups, giving back
elementary school in Title 1 schools in high
and volunteering.” Ruth believes that El
poverty areas, including schools in her old
Nido’s philosophy of giving back stuck
neighborhood, like 28th Street School by USC
with her and influenced her deeply: “I
and the 39th Street School in the Crenshaw
owe them that. I was just a street kid!”
25
S U CC E S S STO RY
JOE CELGUERA
YEAR:
2009
Joe Celguera is a native Californian, born in
and nonprofits to enhance their position in
Torrance and raised in the San Fernando Valley
the marketplace through the use of branding,
along with a younger brother and two sisters.
websites and social media, and providing advice
Growing up, Joe was not a troubled kid, but he
on general matters. Joe has been instrumental
was a graffiti artist, and in high school he was put
in organizing El Nido’s Alumni Association and in
on probation for practicing his art in the wrong
updating El Nido’s website. Joe someday would
place at the wrong time. When
like to spend some time
Joe became a teen parent
living in San Francisco or New
with a young daughter, he
needed a job. El Nido had just
received funding from the
Harold Edelstein Foundation
to conduct the “Harold
Cares” Job Preparation
Program, and Joe was in the
first “Harold Cares” class.
Joe was fortunate to have
Elizabeth Canup, daughter of
current El Nido Board Vice
President Bill Canup, as his
case manager. With Elizabeth,
Joe was able to acquire
JOE WAS ABLE TO
ACQUIRE PERSPECTIVE
AND A SENSE OF SELFWORTH; HE LEARNED
HOW TO MAKE
CHOICES CAREFULLY
INSTEAD OF QUICKLY,
AND TO PUT HIMSELF
IN THE SHOES OF
OTHERS SO HE COULD
BETTER DETERMINE
HOW TO MAKE
INTELLIGENT, HELPFUL
COMPROMISES.
perspective and a sense of
self-worth; he learned how
York, and grow new chapters
of his business. His daughter
Rosemary is now a teenager.
Joe and Susana, Rosemary’s
mother, are no longer together
as a couple, but are active “coparents” in the best sense of
the word. Both are intelligent,
protective yet sensible
parents, wise enough to give
Rosemary the freedom she
needs to gain a sense of selfworth, to have her own voice,
to be comfortable with the
choices she makes, and to be
a happy and caring person.
to make choices carefully instead of quickly, and
Joe would like those unfamiliar with El Nido
to put himself in the shoes of others so he could
to know that El Nido provides a place for
better determine how to make intelligent, helpful
growth, does great work for needy communities
compromises. The program, formally known
and fulfills the mission of its name, which is
as the Teen Parent at Work Program, enabled
Spanish for “the nest.” From Joe’s experience
Joe to get his first job working for Kinko’s.
with El Nido, he has learned that “The best
Joe is now in the world of advertising and
marketing, working with small businesses
thing I can do, as Ghandi said, is to be the
change you want to see in the world.”
From Joe’s experience with El Nido, he has learned that
“The best thing I can do, as Ghandi said, is to be
the change you want to see in the world.”
26
S U CC E S S STO RY
RITA BAER
YEAR:
1960s
In 1964 Rita was not yet 14 years old. She had
to my son and I became a therapist because
run away from home and was given a choice:
of Edna and Nina and El Nido.” Rita has been a
to live with an aunt or to live at El Nido. She
licensed marriage and family therapist for three
chose El Nido. At that time, El Nido was a girls’
years and has a private practice in Northridge.
home located on the corner of Normandie and
“I went to college at age 47
4th Street in the Fairfax
and got my Master's. El Nido
District of Los Angeles. Girls
from ages 13 to 18 stayed
in the two-story house and
often shared a room. "It
was a big old house and
felt very homey. El Nido
was a wonderful place. Two
House Mothers were always
there. The Council of Jewish
Women's counseling office
was located right across
“I LEARNED THINGS
THAT HAPPENED TO
ME IN MY YOUNGER
LIFE WERE NOT MY
FAULT AND I COULD
MAKE BETTER
CHOICES. I BECAME A
THERAPIST BECAUSE
OF EDNA AND NINA
AND EL NIDO.”
from Fairfax High School. I
went from high school to the
showed me what counseling
and therapy were all about.
In five years’ time I hope to
be right where I am now,
doing my private practice.
I worked at a nonprofit for
many years and started
volunteering in 1996. Now it’s
more about helping others
learn to improve their lives no
matter what they are going
through,” declares Rita.
counseling office then back to the house on an
As a mother of three children and a
almost daily basis” Rita explains. “I learned things
grandmother to eight, Rita understands and
that happened to me in my younger life were
has experienced life’s challenges but says,
not my fault and I could make better choices.”
“There’s always adversity and you can always
Rita stayed at El Nido until she was 18 years old.
She remembers two people from her stay who
overcome it. My mission in life is to give back,
plus I’m a strong believer in education.”
had a big impact on her life. Nina Kaplan was her
Of the evolution of El Nido over the years,
therapist from when she first moved in and Edna
Rita explains, “It’s very different today, but
Parker was the Clinical Director at the time. “Nina
they are still helping teenagers that need
left when I was 17 and Edna then became my
help. I think it’s a wonderful mission and they
therapist. Edna had a huge influence on my life,"
are doing a great job. I am sure sometime I
says Rita. "Edna actually became a godmother
will work with them again in the future.”
“There’s always adversity and you can always
overcome it. My mission in life is to give back,
plus I’m a strong believer in education.”
28
S U CC E S S STO RY
KENIA PECH
YEAR:
2009 – 2015
Kenia Pech was just a junior in high school in
a laptop. “El Nido has made it possible to stick
2009 when she got pregnant. Her high school
to my goals due to the constant support they
guidance counselor referred her to El Nido Family
provide to women like me,” she adds. “El Nido
Centers where she was assigned a case manager,
believed in my ability to succeed and has always
Meiina Llamas. Kenia had her son in the first week
supported me throughout my academic life.”
of September and started
Kenia sees herself in graduate
her senior year less than
school five years from now,
two weeks later. The young
mother and AP student
managed to graduate near
the top of her class and was
accepted to Cal State Long
Beach in the fall of 2010.
“My El Nido case worker,
“EL NIDO HAS MADE
THIS JOURNEY
POSSIBLE AND HAS
ENCOURAGED ME
TO NEVER GIVE UP
ON MY DREAMS,”
pursuing a Master's degree
in molecular cell biology.
For now she hopes to use
her research background
to work in a laboratory for
a couple of years and save
money. Once again El Nido
Meiina, gave me helpful
is helping Kenia on her path:
advice,” recalls Kenia,
this time Liz Herrera, El Nido’s
“and she also told me about the Payson Wolff
Executive Director, is working to help connect
Memorial Scholarship.” Kenia has been an El Nido
her with a major healthcare research employer.
scholarship recipient for six consecutive years;
her scholarship is just one of many scholarships
El Nido awards each year to clients and former
clients pursing higher education. She received
her Bachelor's degree in biology in 2015.
“El Nido is an organization that believes in
young people. I have learned a lot from all
the inspirational stories of other El Nido
participants and how their desire for success
inspired them to work towards their goals.”
“El Nido has made this journey possible and has
Kenia reflects, “I have a six-year-old son and
encouraged me to never give up on my dreams,”
in the future I will teach him to never give up
Kenia explains. The financial aid that Kenia has
on his dreams. No matter how impossible it
received since her freshman year has helped to
might seem, he has to fight for success.”
pay for tuition, books and even the purchase of
“El Nido believed in my ability to succeed and has always
supported me throughout my academic life.”
30
“El Nido is an
organization
that believes in
young people.”
31