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
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