 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
True Life Stories
I wish you could meet . . . Lalo
Just a few months ago, Eduardo, or Lalo as his family calls him, was born to a family full of love, but was getting a shaky start on life. Lalo’s family worked hard, but had little money. Lack of funds forced them into renting living space in a garage, where it was agreed they had access to the kitchen and bathroom in the adjoining house. Unfortunately, they had no privacy – their food would frequently be stolen and eventually, they were locked out of the house and could not use the stove or bathroom. The house flooded into the garage, forcing them to remove the rug and leaving them with a bare cement floor. They had little furniture and slept on the chairs and sofa, but they did have a crib for little Lalo.
Lalo’s mother, Esperanza, enrolled in our Creating Healthy Environments for Children (CHEC) program while pregnant. She speaks no English and was grateful to have a Spanish-speaking family support worker visit her every week. The visits, focusing on parent/child bonding, were very difficult at first. Since there was no floor covering in the garage, parent/child interaction and developmental assessments were conducted in the crib. Lalo was in and out of the hospital frequently with respiratory problems. Because Lalo’s father used the family car to go to work, all trips to the doctor were facilitated by CHEC and Health Access. Esperanza was passive and uneducated about Lalo’s illness – the weekly visits helped and encouraged her to be more aggressive about her baby’s health issues. Finally Lalo was seen by doctors at San Joaquin General Hospital and successfully diagnosed. Living in the garage was seriously endangering Lalo’s fragile health, and after many attempts, the CHEC worker convinced the family to move out of the garage and into Stockton Shelter for the Homeless, as a starting point to seek their own housing.
In addition to providing weekly home visits, CHEC referred the family to the Community Partnership for Families South Stockton CUFF Center. As Lalo’s family saved their money while in the family shelter, CUFF went to work looking for appropriate housing. They have recently relocated to a three-bedroom home with affordable rent. All during this time, Esperanza participated faithfully in the weekly CHEC visits, even while they were at the Shelter. She learned from the visits that it was important to give Lalo lots of love and attention, to aggressively protect his health, to keep his immunizations current and to learn of resources in the community that could help with food, clothing, housing and medical attention.
Lalo is now healthy and lively, thanks to a loving family and a myriad of services offered to them by agencies in their community. Both his parents are working and his brothers and sisters are doing well in school, in addition to helping out with Lalo at home.
It would be nice to give this story a happy ending, but Lalo’s family, like others, still faces many challenges. Recently involved in an automobile accident, they were without any transportation. Their former landlord is suing them for rent money. One of the other children has recently been admitted to the hospital. But they are all happy and grateful to be together in the same house. Lalo’s family expresses their gratitude to CHEC, Stockton Shelter for the Homeless, Greater Stockton Emergency Food Bank, Community Partnership for Family, Coalition United for Families (CUFF) and Health Access for making this last year happier and healthier.
Child Abuse Prevention Council of San Joaquin County
| CAPC San Joaquin County |
 |