Mothers Find Help in Esperanza Project

Three-year-old Jazzmin Sanchez is trying her mother’s patience, demanding a toy that just cannot be found. After three months of learning new methods to handle her child and figure herself out at the same time, Tina Sanchez has learned that Jazzmin’s behavior means she needs her mother’s attention.

Sanchez, who is enrolled in the Esperanza Project for mothers with drug and alcohol problems at the Plaza Community Center and has been in and out of Juvenile Hall and jail for many years, said she is learning new ways to treat her child and has started to understand her own troubled life.

The Esperanza Project provides private and group therapy, child care, medical treatment and support groups. The program is designed for low-income women and currently serves 25 women and their children. But with room for more than 90, organizers fear they will soon have to close the four-month-old program if more women do not sign up.

Some of the women are referred by the county Department of Children’s Services in order to keep their children. Others are fulfilling requirements set by the courts.

Sanchez, 22, said she used to hand off Jazzmin to her mother and go out with friends.

“I learned that they see that as abandonment,” she said. “I never thought of that.”

“If you come from a messed-up background, you don’t know no other way,” said Sanchez, who was referred to the program by her probation officer. “This place gives you a different way of living.”

Three days a week, women come to talk about their problems and get support from the other clients and guidance from their counselors. Many of them have suffered abusive boyfriends or husbands, childhood sexual abuse and alcohol and drug abuse. Because of the project, which is funded through the county, they are able to talk about those problems and how to solve them.

“Some would say we’re mixing apples with oranges but it’s working for them,” said counselor Esperanza Chavez.

“I think they feel that warmth and comfort here,” said Yvonne Moreno, another counselor.

“They’re getting the encouragement because they’re hearing the other women and what they’ve been through. We’re not here to police them. We’re here to give them support and guidance.”

Irma Razo, 38, is considered the “mom” of the program because she has taken on the role of mothering the younger women in the group. She was required by the courts to complete a 10-week parenting class after her 15-year-old son was caught tagging.

The 10 weeks have passed, but Razo hopes to stay in the program for the maximum allowed nine months and return as a volunteer.

“I wish there was something like this when I was a lot younger,” she said. “It’s very open, very honest. We cry together and we laugh together.”

A recovering addict, Razo has been in and out of recovery programs that she said focused only on drug addiction.

Unlike the Esperanza Project, the programs never talked about how to improve communication with her children or face other emotional problems.

“I’ve learned patience. . . . no one ever taught me to be patient, to sit down and look at your child and talk to your child,” Razo said.

“It’s opened my heart for love.”

Information: (213) 268-1107.