STORIES

Success
Stories
Transforming
Lives in
Los Angeles
since 1925
READ THESE
STORIES
of lives saved & dreams fulfilled by
1

10,284
individuals
served
last year
98%
OF THE
YOUTH
in our gang reduction
program were prevented
from joining a gang
86¢
of every dollar
received is spent on
program services
97%
of families
receiving
treatment for child abuse
did not have subsequent
incidents of abuse or neglect
1 ST 1ST IN CA
as the state’s largest provider of
parenting and family services for
teen moms, dads, and their babies
80%
of our clients
LIVE AT OR
BELOW THE
poverty line
5,124
228
INFANTS &
TODDLERS
prepared to succeed in
school through our Early
Head Start program
hours
of CHILD ABUSE
PREVENTION and
treatment provided
ONLY
4%
FYI
repeat births
among teen
mothers we
are serving;
nationwide, nearly 25%
of teen mothers have
another baby before
the age of 20
25
of our highest achieving youth awarded
college scholarships funded by El Nido partners
2

EL NIDO FAMILY CENTERS
Celebrating 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 familyoriented
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.
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
3

SUCCESS STORY
DIANE MORALES-KAWAKAMI
YEAR:
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 afflicted
with schizoaffective 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 different 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 schizoaffective 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,
TODAY DIANE IS A
within eight months after she
HIGHLY-REGARDED
started working with El Nido,
AND RESPECTED
her children were returned
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
to her by the same judge
COUNSELOR EMPLOYED who had earlier sent them
BY CALIFORNIA’S
to separate foster homes.
DEPARTMENT OF MENTAL Manuel and Barbara Morales,
HEALTH, WORKING WITH
her father and stepmother,
INCARCERATED MEN,
were instrumental in keeping
WOMEN WHO HAVE
the children together for a
LOST CUSTODY OF THEIR
successful family reunification.
CHILDREN, HOMELESS
STREET PEOPLE WITH
Today Diane is a highlyregarded
and respected
MENTAL ILLNESS
AND DRUG ADDICTS.
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.
4

“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.”
SUCCESS STORY
KATHY PEREZ
YEAR:
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
6

“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
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.”
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
“THE BOTTOM LINE
An unsupervised teenager,
production program. Earning
AND SIMPLEST WAY TO
Kathy began down the
a spot as a reporter covering
EXPLAIN IT IS THAT EL
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
NIDO SAVES LIVES. IT
SAVES LIVES THROUGH
INTERVENTION,
THROUGH THERAPY,
THROUGH HOME
SERVICES, IN SO MANY
DIFFERENT WAYS.
IT SAVED MY LIFE. ”
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 nineyear-old
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).
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
“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
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.”
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.”
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 different ways. It saved my life.”
7

SUCCESS STORY
FELICIA GILES
YEAR:
1990s
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
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
El Nido was there for her.
WITH AN ILL MOTHER
autobiography to help
WHO DIED OF
girls to learn the things
Felicia’s case manager, Sandra
CERVICAL CANCER
they need to know, so
Seymour, came to visit her in the
THREE MONTHS AFTER
they can avoid one day
hospital the next day and with
FELICIA GAVE BIRTH
saying to themselves
her joyful enthusiasm, big smile
AND A FREQUENTLY
“if I only knew.”
and patient willingness to help,
ABSENT FATHER,
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
FELICIA WAS LOOKING
FOR ALL THE HELP
SHE COULD GET, AND
EL NIDO WAS THERE
FOR HER.
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
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.
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.
"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

SUCCESS STORY
ROBERT LOPEZ
YEAR:
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.
10

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
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.
that he was not alone, but
THE POSITIVE
had friends and confidants,
REINFORCEMENT
and that he should work
OFFERED BY
hard to pursue his dreams.
RICHARD AND THE
ATMOSPHERE OF
THE GRYD PROGRAM
Nothing exemplifies that hard
GAVE ROBERT A
work more than his senior
SENSE OF FAMILY,
year at the San Fernando
THE FEELING THAT
High School Math / Science
HE WAS NOT ALONE,
/ Technology Magnet, where
BUT HAD FRIENDS
he buckled down to get 85
AND CONFIDANTS,
credits in his senior year
AND THAT HE SHOULD
(25 more than anyone had
WORK HARD TO
previously accomplished
PURSUE HIS DREAMS.
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.”
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

SUCCESS STORY
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
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 McGrawand
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.”
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.
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
Born in 1934, the youngest of
three children, Tessa contracted
rheumatic fever and suffered
“I DON’T KNOW HOW
SHE FOUND EL NIDO,
McCarthy, to serve on the
Curriculum Commission
for the State of California
BUT MY MOTHER
lung damage when she was a
in the 1970s. Tessa made
WAS ALWAYS ON
young girl. The family lived in
history by rejecting dozens
THE FOREFRONT,
Cleveland and Tessa’s doctor
of books that contained
LIKE SHE WAS WHEN
told her mother that if she
outdated sexist and racist
SHE WAS WILLING
stayed in Ohio for another
stereotypes, demanding that
TO SEND ME TO EL
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
NIDO. IT SAVED MY
LIFE AND I THINK IT
PROBABLY SAVED MY
MOTHER’S LIFE TOO.”
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
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.”
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
At seven years of age Tessa went to live at the El
Nido Lodge in Laurel Canyon, a retreat for pretubercular
girls offering 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
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.
13

SUCCESS STORY
ZULY QUEZADA
YEAR:
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.”
14

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)
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
“I CAN REMEMBER
a life-changing experience.
THE DAY MY ENTIRE
Mentoring is like polishing a
LIFE CHANGED.
dirty diamond: the beautiful
THERE WAS A
diamond has always been
KNOCK ON MY
there, but as a mentor one
DOOR. IT WAS A
has to constantly be polishing
CASE WORKER
the diamond for its beauty
FROM EL NIDO,”
to shine! When you meet one
SHE RECALLS. “SHE
who apparently shows no
WAS THE FIRST
hope, don’t doubt of his or her
PERSON WHO EVER
abilities, because he/she most
BELIEVED IN ME.”
likely only needs a mentor to
show a different path to take
control of his or her life!”
teen-parent program, Zuly enrolled in parenting
Zuly is the proud mother of a 20-year-old
classes and took job preparation classes.
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

SUCCESS STORY
EVELYN BATRES
YEAR:
2000s
Evelyn has proudly
earned straight A’s –
with only an occasional
A minus – ever since
she started at UCLA.
16

When Evelyn Batres became pregnant as a
teenager in 2002, her mother enrolled her in
McAlister High School, a school for pregnant
bus ride each way from her home in Pacoima
to UCLA. Despite these obstacles, Evelyn is
on track to graduate from UCLA next year.
and parenting teens. It was there that someone
Evelyn gives credit for her successes to the
from El Nido Family Centers came to talk to the
support she has received from three people
students about how the social service agency
from El Nido: Lillia, her first case manager,
could help these young mothers and mothersto-be.
Evelyn decided to give El Nido a try.
Sandra Torres of El Nido’s Mission Hills office,
and Liz Herrera, El Nido’s Executive Director. Her
Lillia Devora was assigned as Evelyn’s case
manager through the
CalLearn program, the state
of California’s program
parents have also provided her with tremendous
help and support. Annual
scholarships awarded by El
Nido have helped to pay for
for teen parents receiving
public assistance. El Nido
AS A CASE MANAGER,
LILLIA WAS THERE
her tuition and books. Evelyn
had never even envisioned
FOR EVELYN IN EVERY
is the largest CalLearn
herself going to college
WAY: SHE WORKED
provider in the state. As a
until her daughter was born
WITH EVELYN TO FIND
case manager, Lillia was
and she met Lillia, who
DAYCARE FOR HER
there for Evelyn in every
inspired her to want to set
INFANT DAUGHTER RUBY,
way: she worked with
SHE HELPED EVELYN
a good example for Ruby.
Evelyn to find daycare for
ENROLL AT VALLEY
Evelyn wants people
her infant daughter Ruby,
COLLEGE, AND SHE
to know that El Nido is
she helped Evelyn enroll at
EVEN DROVE EVELYN
extraordinary and enables
Valley College and she even
TO TAKE HER COLLEGE
its clients to change
drove Evelyn to take her
ASSESSMENT TEST.
their lives in order to
college assessment test.
live the way they want
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
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.
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

SUCCESS STORY
REGINA PALACIO-RAMIREZ
YEAR:
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
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
"HAD IT NOT BEEN
their finances, plan for
high school with Liz’s
FOR EL NIDO, I THINK
retirement and move toward
guidance, but also went
I WOULD HAVE
financial independence.
on to earn a Bachelor’s in
DROPPED OUT OF
global studies while working
However, without El Nido
SCHOOL. I COULD
for the City of Carson.
Family Centers entering her
HAVE EASILY BECOME
life back in 1982, Regina
would likely have gone
down a very different
path. Starting to drink,
smoke marijuana, and snort
A HEROIN ADDICT,
A PROSTITUTE,
PREGNANT, OR DEAD.”
“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
cocaine in middle school, Regina was failing
vested interest in their lives,” Regina explains.
academically by her junior year at Carson High
A mother to four young adults, she wants to
School. A guidance counselor referred Regina
instill in them strong morals and values in the
to El Nido Family Centers and she was assigned
hopes “that they will be contributing members
Liz Herrera as a counselor. “Had it not been
to society: generous, kind and service-oriented.”
for El Nido, I think I would have dropped out
Looking back on her experiences, Regina adds,
of school…I could have easily become a heroin
“The most important thing that I took away from
addict, a prostitute, pregnant, or dead.”
El Nido was that seeking counsel/help is okay.
Regina’s counselor, Liz (who today is El Nido’s
Executive Director), listened to Regina and
allowed her to express her fears and insecurities.
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.”
“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

19

SUCCESS STORY
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
“I love all the staff at El Nido! They all get gold stars
just want to thank El Nido for changing my life.”
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
“IF YOU ARE TRULY IN
on the dietary needs of
NEED OF AN AGENCY
children and their growth
THAT LOVES YOU,
processes. She has received
AND CARES ABOUT
groceries for her family from
YOU AND YOUR
the “Nutrition in a Bag”
CHILDREN, EL NIDO’S
program and vital supplies
EARLY HEAD START
for her children through
PROGRAM WILL BE A
El Nido’s partnership with
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.
Anderne hopes to pass on the value of an
education to her children. “I am currently in
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.”
"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."
SUCCESS STORY
XIOMARA PEÑA
YEAR:
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.”
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.”
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
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
22

“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
from El Nido. While a college student, Xiomara
interned at both the Los Angeles Sixth Council
District Office and two years later with the
Office of the Mayor of the City of Los Angeles.
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 offer case management,
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
but they also offer the opportunity to make a
difference 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
communicating the needs
community that I was once a
"JENNIFER ALWAYS
of America’s entrepreneurs
part of in order to empower
ASSURED ME THAT
through the media and other
other young women and young
EVERYTHING WAS
channels, advocating for
men to change their lives for
GOING TO BE OKAY
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
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
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.
Dominic. “I want to embody
MAKE A DIFFERENCE
IN YOUR LIFE, THE
success. I don’t want them to
“I will always be indebted to the
COMMUNITY AND
see me struggle, like I saw my
organization for everything they
EVEN THE WORLD."
parents struggle financially.
have done for me. Many of the
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.”
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
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:
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.”
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.
SUCCESS STORY
RUTH ZEITZEW
YEAR:
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.
24

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
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 stuff stays with you,” Ruth said.
area. Teaching in the days before there were
teachers’ aides, and in overcrowded, gangridden
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.
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."
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
“El Nido was an unforgettable
doing just that: giving back
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.”
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
Through a combination of scholarships and
on-campus jobs, Ruth put herself through
its ambitious program celebrating the 50th
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
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
“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!”
25

SUCCESS STORY
JOE CELGUERA
YEAR:
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 graffiti 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
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
JOE WAS ABLE TO
needed a job. El Nido had just
of his business. His daughter
ACQUIRE PERSPECTIVE
received funding from the
Rosemary is now a teenager.
AND A SENSE OF SELF-
Harold Edelstein Foundation
Joe and Susana, Rosemary’s
WORTH; HE LEARNED
to conduct the “Harold
mother, are no longer together
HOW TO MAKE
Cares” Job Preparation
Program, and Joe was in the
first “Harold Cares” class.
CHOICES CAREFULLY
INSTEAD OF QUICKLY,
AND TO PUT HIMSELF
as a couple, but are active “coparents”
in the best sense of
the word. Both are intelligent,
IN THE SHOES OF
protective yet sensible
Joe was fortunate to have
OTHERS SO HE COULD
parents, wise enough to give
Elizabeth Canup, daughter of
BETTER DETERMINE
Rosemary the freedom she
current El Nido Board Vice
HOW TO MAKE
needs to gain a sense of selfworth,
to have her own voice,
President Bill Canup, as his
INTELLIGENT, HELPFUL
case manager. With Elizabeth,
COMPROMISES.
to be comfortable with the
Joe was able to acquire
choices she makes, and to be
perspective and a sense of
a happy and caring person.
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 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
Joe is now in the world of advertising and
change you want to see in the world.”
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.”
26

27

SUCCESS STORY
RITA BAER
YEAR:
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
“I LEARNED THINGS
in the two-story house and
THAT HAPPENED TO
often shared a room. "It
ME IN MY YOUNGER
was a big old house and
LIFE WERE NOT MY
felt very homey. El Nido
FAULT AND I COULD
was a wonderful place. Two
MAKE BETTER
House Mothers were always
CHOICES. I BECAME A
there. The Council of Jewish
THERAPIST BECAUSE
OF EDNA AND NINA
Women's counseling office
AND EL NIDO.”
was located right across
from Fairfax High School. I
went from high school to the
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.
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
overcome it. My mission in life is to give back,
Rita stayed at El Nido until she was 18 years old.
plus I’m a strong believer in education.”
She remembers two people from her stay who
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

29

SUCCESS STORY
KENIA PECH
YEAR:
2009 – 2015
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
“EL NIDO HAS MADE
managed to graduate near
THIS JOURNEY
the top of her class and was
POSSIBLE AND HAS
accepted to Cal State Long
ENCOURAGED ME
Beach in the fall of 2010.
TO NEVER GIVE UP
ON MY DREAMS,”
“My El Nido case worker,
Meiina, gave me helpful
advice,” recalls Kenia,
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
“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;
“El Nido is an organization that believes in
her scholarship is just one of many scholarships
young people. I have learned a lot from all
El Nido awards each year to clients and former
the inspirational stories of other El Nido
clients pursing higher education. She received
participants and how their desire for success
her Bachelor's degree in biology in 2015.
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

I JUST WANT TO THANK EL NIDO FOR
"I can remember the day
my entire life changed"
"EL NIDO IS A LIFELINE"
HAVE BEEN
ACCOMPLISHED
" El Nido has made this
journey possible and
has encouraged me to
NEVER GIVE UP
ON MY DREAMS"
EL NIDO IS
"El Nido
offers you
EL NIDO HAS
CHANGED MY LIFE
IN DRASTIC WAYS
even when you
may not be able
to have it on
your own"
"EL NIDO ENABLES
ITS CLIENTS TO
CHANGE THEIR
LIVES IN ORDER TO
LIVE THE WAY THEY
WANT TO LIVE"
"El Nido is an
organization
that believes in
young people"
"
EL NIDO SAVES LIVES
It saves lives through intervention, through therapy,
through home services, in so many different ways
IT SAVED MY LIFE "
EL NIDO
BELIEVED IN
MY ABILITY TO
32