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EL NIDO FAMILY CENTERSCelebrating 90 years of transforming lives

El Nido Family Centers, one of Los Angeles’s

oldest social service agencies, has come a long

way from our modest beginnings in 1925 as

a camp in Laurel Canyon for undernourished,

neglected and sick children. El Nido, which means

“the nest” in Spanish, was originally founded by

the National Council of Jewish Women. Today

an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency, we

help to transform the lives of more than 10,000

children, youth, and family members in some of Los

Angeles’s most disadvantaged neighborhoods.

Our comprehensive programs include prenatal

case management and parenting programs for teen

parents, Early Head Start for infants and toddlers

and their parents, parent education and family

development, child abuse prevention and treatment,

family counseling, and youth development and

gang prevention and intervention programs.

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-

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 o�ering

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

di�erent generations and changing demographics.

The success stories and individuals on the

following pages span generations, ethnicities and

backgrounds but all share one thing in common:

they personify the transformative power of El

Nido Family Centers’ work. Their stories tell the

story of El Nido’s dedication to create stronger

families and brighter futures for 90 years in Los

Angeles. As you read their stories, you will find a

consistent theme throughout, which is both simple

and yet exceedingly powerful: El Nido saves lives.

This book is a celebration of our clients’ successes

and accomplishments. Their stories are far more

compelling and illustrative than any description we

could provide of our work, and we will let them tell

the El Nido story. We are so proud to have helped

them on their journeys, and to have helped tens,

even hundreds of thousands of individuals like

them over our nine decades. Today, with 90 years

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.

“WHAT A CHILD DOESN’T RECEIVE HE CAN SELDOM GIVE LATER.”

– P.D. JAMES

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S U CC E SS STO RY

DIANE MORALES-KAWAKAMI Y E A R :

2005

Diane Morales-Kawakami lived the kind of

life in which suicide was never far from her

mind. A childhood victim of sexual abuse

by a grandfather, Diane was also a�icted

with schizoa�ective disorder, a persistent

mental illness that includes severe and major

depressive episodes and may include delusions,

hallucinations and psychosis.

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 di�erent foster homes.

After bouts with numerous

social service agencies that

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

able to stay on the medication which ameliorated

her schizoa�ective disorder, something she had

been previously unable and unwilling to do.

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

priorities and as a result,

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 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. 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 transitional-

age youth. The Morales family is dedicated to

transforming the lives of individuals in need.

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.

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“El Nido was an agency that saved my life,” by creating a belief in

herself and what she could do as a positive force.

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S U CC E SS STO RY

KATHY PEREZY E A R :

1970s

Last year, Kathy Perez, Director of ESPN’s hit

show SportsNation, proudly added a fourth

Emmy – this one a National Sports Emmy – to

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

work directing local newscasts and high-profile

trials over the past three decades, including

covering the Rodney King trial with the first-ever

gavel-to-gavel broadcast of a court case. Kathy’s

remarkable accomplishments have come through

years of hard work, but they wouldn’t have been

possible without El Nido Family Centers, which

helped her turn her life around four decades

ago. “El Nido saved my life,” Kathy recalls.

Adopted at birth, Kathy had a typical childhood

until her mother became ill with heart disease

and spent more than three years in and out of

hospitals. When Kathy was 13 years old, her

mother died, unbelievably, on Mother’s Day.

Her father was overwhelmed by the death of

his wife and unable to cope with his new role

as a single parent. He would leave his young

“El Nido saved my life.”

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daughter home alone for extended periods

of time. “When I lived with my father I really

had no discipline. There was no structure.

There were no rules. As much as that’s what

teenagers say that’s what they want, they need

discipline, because that really

does translate into love.”

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

exhausted, at the age of

16, Kathy chose to move

to El Nido Family Centers' residential home

for girls in the Fairfax District of Los Angeles

in the summer of 1975 (the agency operated

three residential facilities for girls in the 1970s).

“I was a very angry, sad teenage girl because my

life had fallen apart and, as teenagers tend to do,

I blamed myself,” recalls Kathy. Unaccustomed

to discipline, rules, and structure, initially Kathy

continued to push the limits and rebel at El

Nido. A few months after her arrival, she and

her roommate ran away from the home and

found themselves with several older men who

sexually assaulted them. The teens returned

to El Nido the next morning. “I remember this

moment; it was so defining. I looked up the

stairs at this houseparent who I was very fond

of, and I said, ‘I surrender. Game over.’ And

from that point on, I changed everything.”

Life at El Nido was extremely structured and just

what Kathy needed. The 13 girls in the house had

chores, responsibilities, and curfews as well as

group counseling twice a week, and individual

counseling once a week. Kathy attended Fairfax

High School where she

auditioned for, and was

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

says that her greatest

accomplishment is her nine-

year-old son, Jackson. The lessons she learned at

El Nido about discipline and structure, as well as

the importance of expressing one’s feelings, are

lessons that she has taught her son. Kathy says

she owes much of who she is today to three El

Nido case workers – Fritzie Davis, Helen Maxwell

and Stacy Banks – who helped her come to terms

with what had happened to her. “Everything

that happened to me almost killed me, but

everything they did for me – their structure,

their counseling – got me on the right track.”

More than anything, what does Kathy want

people to know about L.A.’s 90-year-old

social service agency? “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 di�erent ways. It saved my life.”

“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. ”

“Everything that happened to me almost killed me, but everything they did for me – their structure,

their counseling – got me on the right track.”

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Felicia Giles was first introduced to El Nido Family

Centers at the age of 16, shortly after she’d given

birth to her first child, when a woman she didn’t

know came to her bedside and left a pamphlet

describing El Nido and its services. 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.

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

get her GED, to learn from her

parent education classes how to

be a good parent, to broaden her horizons with

numerous field trips to various places of interest,

and to gain both insight and confidence from the

counseling she received from El Nido counselors.

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.

"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"

She received her AA degree with a major in

sociology at Southwest College and for the past

eleven years has been employed by Cedars Sinai

Medical Center, achieving her certification as

a Certified Professional Coder (CPC) six years

ago. Felicia’s long-term goals are to operate a

medical coding and consulting business, to travel

(especially to Paris and

to Italy) and to write 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)

– is to stay focused on

your dreams. 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. For anyone unfamiliar with El

Nido, Felicia wants them to know that El Nido

has a truly exceptional mentoring program

which provides help to those who need it.

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.

S U CC E SS STO RY

FELICIA GILESY E A R :

1990s

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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.

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S U CC E SS STO RY

ROBERT LOPEZY E A R :

2010 – 2015

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.

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A native of Colima, Mexico, Robert arrived in the

U.S. at just nine months of age. His father was

a construction worker, his mother a housewife.

Robert and his brother, who is three years

younger, grew up in the Pacoima barrio where

drugs were everywhere and gangs were a

constant threat. 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.

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 mural-

making to photography

and soccer, presented

him with opportunities he

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.

As a soccer player, Robert was an outstanding

goalkeeper on Pacoima’s GRYD soccer team,

which won the all-city GRYD championship.

This gave him, for the first time in his life, a

sense of accomplishment, of overcoming

obstacles to achieve a victory. It was the

first time but thankfully not his last.

His photography instructor with the GRYD program

was an El Nido volunteer, Richard Doran, a former

LAUSD art teacher. Richard became Robert’s

second father, counseling him and encouraging

him not only with photography, but also with his

schoolwork, the college admission process and

even his personal life. The positive reinforcement

o�ered 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.

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

hopes to get his undergraduate degree from

Pepperdine in four years. His dream is to work

as a photographer for National Geographic, so

that he can travel and capture the world with

his lens. He’d like everyone to know that El Nido

can “change a person’s perspective, creating

positive images for a life that feels good.”

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.

Robert's dream is to work as a photographer for National Geographic, so that he can travel and capture the world with his lens.

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S U CC E SS STO RY

TESSA WARSCHAWY E A R :

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.”

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Dr. Tessa Warschaw, a doctor of educational

psychology, has spent much of her professional

career empowering individuals, and women in

particular. The author of four books including

the best-selling and groundbreaking Winning

by Negotiation, published in 1980 by McGraw-

Hill, Tessa was teaching women how to “lean

in” long before Sheryl Sandberg. In addition to

her publishing career, Dr. Tess, as she is known

by her clients, has conducted hundreds of

professional seminars and workshops as well

as corporate coaching for clients including

American Express, General Electric and Estee

Lauder. Her most recent book is on resiliency,

a topic that Tessa knows about firsthand.

Born in 1934, the youngest of

three children, Tessa contracted

rheumatic fever and su�ered

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

asthmatic, Tessa’s adoring

and resourceful mother left

no stone unturned to help her daughter. “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.”

At seven years of age Tessa went to live at the El

Nido Lodge in Laurel Canyon, a retreat for pre-

tubercular girls o�ering fresh air, healthy food,

and recreation, and where success was measured

in pounds. Tessa has memories of waking up

in the fresh air surrounded by yucca plants, of

attending school, and of taking her medications

in the kitchen of the Lodge. She remembers

when she first arrived that the Lodge was full

and she stayed in the cabin with the cook and

her husband, who were kind to her. By 13, Tessa

was healthy and able to go home to her family

in Boyle Heights. “I don’t remember exactly how

long I stayed at El Nido, but it saved my life,”

she adds, “and I’ve been healthy ever since.”

When Tessa first moved to Los Angeles she had

to be homeschooled. When she returned home

after staying at the El Nido Lodge, she was able

to attend school with all the other children her

age. Eventually earning her PhD in Educational

Psychology and Counseling from USC, Tessa was

asked by the Secretary of State of California,

March Fong Eu, and the Speaker of the California

State Assembly, Leo

McCarthy, to serve on the

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?”

At 81, Tessa continues to

live a life of resiliency and

exuberance. Married 21 years to her husband,

Sam Brown, a cantor at Temple Beth Hillel,

she was heartbroken when he passed away

in 2009, not long after both her mother and

sister passed away. After mourning for more

than a year, she found herself with a choice to

make – bitter or better – and Tessa chose better.

With the energy of someone decades younger

and an unwavering desire to help people, she

continues to have a therapy/coaching practice,

organize support groups and has two new

projects, WIT, Widows in Transition, for women

grieving, and Quik-Fix, a 30-minute coaching

session via telephone. There’s no slowing

down the indefatigable Tessa Warschaw.

“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.”

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S U CC E SS STO RY

ZULY QUEZADAY E A R :

1990s

“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.”

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When Zuly was just 11 years old, her mother

escaped her abusive husband in Mexico and

moved to Los Angeles, but left her daughter

behind with her father in Guadalajara. Two

years later, her mother returned for Zuly. It was

1994, and at 13, Zuly found herself in a new

country, speaking no English, and living in the

Pacoima barrio with her mother and her mother’s

new boyfriend, who also became abusive.

With no one to turn to, Zuly found herself

pregnant and alone at 14.

“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

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.

With her caseworker’s unyielding personal

guidance, Zuly graduated from high school at 19,

then worked her way through college, earning a

BA in psychology from California State University,

Northridge. Inspired by the help she received

at El Nido, Zuly went on to earn her Master’s

degree in social work (MSW) at CSUN in 2014

and currently works for a foster care agency. She

also volunteers for El Nido and was a founding

member of the El Nido Alumni Association.

One day Zuly hopes to manage a social service

agency and raise millions of dollars to help

high-risk youth and families improve their lives.

She would also like to teach at a university.

“I want to make a positive contribution to my

community,” Zuly explains. “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.

“I learned that taking the

time to role-model and

mentor an individual can be

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 di�erent 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,

and an 11-year-old son who is in an advanced

studies program at a local middle school. Her

children have grown up inspired by their mother’s

strong work ethic, integrity, and commitment

to breaking unhealthy cycles. “Creating a stable

life for my children has been my life’s ambition.

I am proud that my daughter and son are

excelling in school and are very well adjusted.”

Believing in the virtuous cycle of giving, she

adds, “I hope to pass on to my children the

importance of believing in themselves, the

power within them, and the importance of

gratitude and giving back to our community.”

“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.”

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S U CC E SS STO RY

EVELYN BATRESY E A R :

2000s

Evelyn has proudly earned straight A’s –

with only an occasional A minus – ever since she started at UCLA.

17

When Evelyn Batres became pregnant as a

teenager in 2002, her mother enrolled her in

McAlister High School, a school for pregnant

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 mothers-

to-be. Evelyn decided to give El Nido a try.

Lillia Devora was assigned as Evelyn’s case

manager through the

CalLearn program, the state

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

college assessment test.

Lillia was a graduate of

UCLA and an inspiration to Evelyn, who also

started at UCLA in 2014 with financial support

from the El Nido scholarship program. Evelyn

has proudly earned straight A’s – with only an

occasional A minus – ever since she started at

UCLA. It hasn’t been easy. Her daughter Ruby is

now six years old and her parents have helped

significantly with childcare. Since she doesn’t

have her own car, her father drives her to the bus

stop at 5:30 a.m. on the mornings when she has

school, and every day she endures a two-hour

bus ride each way from her home in Pacoima

to UCLA. Despite these obstacles, Evelyn is

on track to graduate from UCLA next year.

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 o³ce,

and Liz Herrera, El Nido’s Executive Director. Her

parents have also provided her with tremendous

help and support. Annual

scholarships awarded by El

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

is eternally grateful. Having grown up in

a low-income community, Evelyn plans to

stay in the Los Angeles area and give back

to her community to make other people’s

lives better, as hers was made better by

El Nido. She’s planning a career in health

care administration, perhaps as a public

policy advocate. In addition to giving back

through her career, she also wants to one

day become an El Nido donor to help the

organization that helped her and her daughter.

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.

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.

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S U CC E SS STO RY

REGINA PALACIO-RAMIREZ Y E A R :

1980s

Regina Palacio-Ramirez has devoted her life to

giving back to her community. She has worked

for the City of Carson for more than three

decades and has served on nonprofit boards

such as the South Bay Center for Community

Development. Passionate about community and

youth, she has assisted with numerous projects

for the Boys and Girls Club

of Carson. She also advises

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 di�erent

path. Starting to drink,

smoke marijuana, and snort

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.”

Regina’s counselor, Liz (who today is El Nido’s

Executive Director), listened to Regina and

allowed her to express her fears and insecurities.

“El Nido is a lifeline. The sta� and volunteers of El Nido have a sincere concern and love for their clients and they have a vested interest in their lives.”

Liz challenged Regina to become sober and

helped move her toward positive outlets like

running and writing, both passions of Regina's.

“As a result of my sessions with Liz, I was able

to answer some of my own questions just from

hearing them out loud. She never judged me.

She also never allowed me to be manipulative

or fake... she was a huge

influence in my life.” Regina

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

sta� and volunteers of

El Nido have a sincere

concern and love for their

clients and they have a

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.

You are not crazy or weak if you see a counselor.

Sometimes we need an outside perspective

to help kick-start us in the right direction.”

"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.”

20

Anderne Kinney found El Nido Family Centers

through her husband, who spotted a sign for

El Nido’s Early Head Start program outside

Anderne’s doctor’s o³ce. He signed up their third

daughter for the program on the spot. “My life has

never been the same since.” Anderne explains, “I

just want to thank El Nido for changing my life.”

Anderne and her family have participated in a wide

range of El Nido programs including the infant

health program for children

ages 0-3, parent education

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

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.

Anderne hopes to pass on the value of an

education to her children. “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 quietly complete

my homework. They also made it possible for

me to go to the Early Head Start Conference.

“I love all the sta� at El Nido! They all get gold stars

from me and I have never not liked anyone from

El Nido.” Two of her favorite people there are

her first Home Visitor, Stacy Wilson, and Patricia

Bermeo, the current Director

of the El Nido Early Head

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

you and your children, El Nido’s Early Head

Start program will be a blessing to you.”

“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.”

S U CC E SS STO RY

ANDERNE KINNEYY E A R :

2000s

"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."

21

"My life has never been the same since,” Anderne

explains, “I just want to thank El Nido for changing my life.”

22

S U CC E SS STO RY

XIOMARA PEÑA Y E A R :

2007 – 2010

Xiomara Pena discovered El Nido Family

Centers at a critical time in her life. “I was

16 years old, still in high school, and three

months pregnant. When I notified the school

nurse that I was pregnant, she referred me to

El Nido.” A couple of days later, Xiomara’s case

manager, Jennifer Encarnacion, came knocking

at her front door. “El Nido, or as I like to call it,

my second home, gave me faith in myself. El

Nido has changed my life in drastic ways.”

The first program Xiomara participated in was El

Nido’s Adolescent and Family Life Program (AFLP),

which included parenting classes, youth workforce

development and case management. Jennifer

also connected Xiomara with vital resources and

services for her and her son, such as Women,

Infants and Children (WIC), which helped them

obtain food. “At sixteen and a single parent coming

from a low-income household, I needed all of the

resources I could get. Jennifer was also there for

me when I needed to vent about the hardships

I was faced with being a single parent and a

student. Jennifer always assured me everything

was going to be okay and that I would flourish if

I continued to work hard and believe in myself.”

Xiomara graduated from Chatsworth High School

with Honors and graduated California State

University, Northridge (CSUN) at the age 21 with

a Bachelor's of Science in Business Management.

She funded her college education through

"El Nido has changed my life in

drastic ways."

23

various scholarships, including scholarships

from El Nido. While a college student, Xiomara

interned at both the Los Angeles Sixth Council

District O³ce and two years later with the

O³ce of the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles.

Today she works for a national, nonpartisan,

nonprofit organization, Small Business Majority,

where she serves as the Southern California

Outreach Coordinator.

“The work I do involves

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 e�ort

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.

I want them to give back to

the community, never to only

take and take. I also want them to understand

the value of education and how important it is to

continue with your post-secondary education.”

Xiomara was one of the founding members of

the El Nido Alumni Association and is the chair

for the Alumni Executive Committee. She has

received two awards from El Nido Family Centers:

the Leading the Way Award in 2009 and the

Champions Award in 2014. “One has to wonder,

how is it that a community organization like El

Nido has been around for 90 years? Well it is

because the leadership is passed on to clients.

Not only do programs o�er case management,

but they also o�er the opportunity to make a

di�erence in your life, the community and even

the world. El Nido taught me to believe in myself

when I was a timid 16-year-old

girl. I need to give back to the

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

values I carry derive from El Nido.

When I was a young student,

timid and frightened at times, and thought about

giving up simply because of all the pressure,

I thought about all of my mentors at El Nido

who would be disappointed if I didn’t continue

with my education — and that is what El Nido

does, it 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.”

"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."

“El Nido o�ers 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.”

24

S U CC E SS STO RY

RUTH ZEITZEWY E A R :

1930s

Ruth Zeitzew, 87 years old, remembers hearing

children shouting, “Here come the Lodge girls,”

as the wood-paneled station wagon came up

Laurel Canyon and stopped at Wonderland

Avenue Elementary School. Ruth was a resident

of El Nido Lodge in the late 1930s and spent her

mornings in classes and her afternoons doing

arts and crafts, hiking and enjoying nature. She

lived at El Nido Lodge for one year starting

in 6th grade, at a time during the depression

era when her parents moved around a lot, and

she was a self-described “skinny street kid.”

“The El Nido Lodge was an oasis nestled in

the hills of Laurel Canyon surrounded by

tall pine trees and fragrant eucalyptus. It

was home to the carefree warbling of song

birds celebrating life in a pollution-free

environment. Sponsored by the National

Council of Jewish Women at the time, 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,” Ruth explained.

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.

25

Ruth grew up in East Los Angeles, her mother

a garment worker and her father a writer. She

was thrilled to have the opportunity to live at

the Lodge. “I met people from everywhere. It

was a very warm and welcoming place. The

El Nido Lodge was very health-based. You

ate well and learned about taking care of

yourself. That stu� stays with you,” Ruth said.

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.”

“El Nido was an unforgettable

opportunity and left each of us with a lifetime

of happy memories. For many years I cherished

the pine needle sachet that we made. I kept it

in a dresser drawer, taking it out now and then

to inhale its pungent scent and remembering

a wonderful year of lingering happiness.”

Through a combination of scholarships and

on-campus jobs, Ruth put herself through

UCLA, where she earned a B.A. and a teaching

certification. For almost 25 years, Ruth taught

elementary school in Title 1 schools in high

poverty areas, including schools in her old

neighborhood, like 28th Street School by USC

and the 39th Street School in the Crenshaw

area. Teaching in the days before there were

teachers’ aides, and in overcrowded, gang-

ridden schools where sometimes there was no

money for books, Ruth had to be creative and

resourceful. She developed unique teaching

strategies to inspire and engage kids, and

let each of them know she cared for them by

recognizing and nurturing the good in each one.

According to Ruth, her

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

doing just that: giving back

to others. For two decades Ruth was an active

member of the women’s advocacy groups

“Women For” and “Another Mother for Peace,”

she spent 25 years on LACMA’s Museum Service

Council, and for the past nine years has served

in leadership roles at the National Council of

Jewish Women, where she recently organized

its ambitious program celebrating the 50th

anniversary of the historic 1965 Voting Rights Act.

“I like working with groups, giving back

and volunteering.” 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!”

"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."

Ruth believes that El Nido’s philosophy of givingback stuck with her and influenced her deeply:

“I owe them that. I was just a street kid!”

26

S U CC E SS STO RY

JOE CELGUERAY E A R :

2009

Joe Celguera is a native Californian, born in

Torrance and raised in the San Fernando Valley

along with a younger brother and two sisters.

Growing up, Joe was not a troubled kid, but he

was a gra³ti artist, and in high school he was put

on probation for practicing his art in the wrong

place at the wrong time. When

Joe became a teen parent

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

perspective and a sense of

self-worth; 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. The program, formally known

as the Teen Parent at Work Program, enabled

Joe to get his first job working for Kinko’s.

Joe is now in the world of advertising and

marketing, working with small businesses

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.”

and nonprofits to enhance their position in

the marketplace through the use of branding,

websites and social media, and providing advice

on general matters. Joe has been instrumental

in organizing El Nido’s Alumni Association and in

updating El Nido’s website. Joe someday would

like to spend some time

living in San Francisco or New

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 “co-

parents” 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 self-

worth, to have her own voice,

to be comfortable with the

choices she makes, and to be

a happy and caring person.

Joe would like those unfamiliar with El Nido

to know that El Nido provides a place for

growth, does great work for needy communities

and fulfills the mission of its name, which is

Spanish for “the nest.” 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.”

JOE WAS ABLE TO ACQUIRE PERSPECTIVE AND A SENSE OF SELF-WORTH; 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.

28

S U CC E SS STO RY

RITA BAER Y E A R :

1960s

In 1964 Rita was not yet 14 years old. She had

run away from home and was given a choice:

to live with an aunt or to live at El Nido. She

chose El Nido. At that time, El Nido was a girls’

home located on the corner of Normandie and

4th Street in the Fairfax

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 o³ce

was located right across

from Fairfax High School. I

went from high school to the

counseling o³ce then back to the house on an

almost daily basis” Rita explains. “I learned things

that happened to me in my younger life were

not my fault and I could make better choices.”

Rita stayed at El Nido until she was 18 years old.

She remembers two people from her stay who

had a big impact on her life. Nina Kaplan was her

therapist from when she first moved in and Edna

Parker was the Clinical Director at the time. “Nina

left when I was 17 and Edna then became my

therapist. Edna had a huge influence on my life,"

says Rita. "Edna actually became a godmother

“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.”

to my son and I became a therapist because

of Edna and Nina and El Nido.” Rita has been a

licensed marriage and family therapist for three

years and has a private practice in Northridge.

“I went to college at age 47

and got my Master's. El Nido

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.

As a mother of three children and a

grandmother to eight, Rita understands and

has experienced life’s challenges but says,

“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.”

Of the evolution of El Nido over the years,

Rita explains, “It’s very di�erent today, but

they are still helping teenagers that need

help. I think it’s a wonderful mission and they

are doing a great job. I am sure sometime I

will work with them again in the future.”

“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.”

30

Kenia Pech was just a junior in high school in

2009 when she got pregnant. Her high school

guidance counselor referred her to El Nido Family

Centers where she was assigned a case manager,

Meiina Llamas. Kenia had her son in the first week

of September and started

her senior year less than

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,

Meiina, gave me helpful

advice,” recalls Kenia,

“and she also told me about the Payson Wol�

Memorial Scholarship.” Kenia has been an El Nido

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 has made this journey possible and has

encouraged me to never give up on my dreams,”

Kenia explains. The financial aid that Kenia has

received since her freshman year has helped to

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.”

a laptop. “El Nido has made it possible to stick

to my goals due to the constant support they

provide to women like me,” she adds. “El Nido

believed in my ability to succeed and has always

supported me throughout my academic life.”

Kenia sees herself in graduate

school five years from now,

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

is helping Kenia on her path:

this time Liz Herrera, El Nido’s

Executive Director, is working to help connect

her with a major healthcare research employer.

“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.”

Kenia reflects, “I have a six-year-old son and

in the future I will teach him to never give up

on his dreams. No matter how impossible it

might seem, he has to fight for success.”

“EL NIDO HAS MADE THIS JOURNEY

POSSIBLE AND HAS ENCOURAGED ME

TO NEVER GIVE UP ON MY DREAMS,”

S U CC E SS STO RY

KENIA PECHY E A R :

2009 – 2015

31

“El Nido is an organization

that believes in young people.”