STORIES

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.
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