Helping Others Eases Volunteer’s Problems

There were days when Gloria Garcia sat in the bathroom crying because she could not understand a word her teachers were saying.

The South Whittier resident hasn’t had the easiest life. She watched as her husband almost died in a knife fight, her mother passed away after a stroke a few years ago and her family has struggled with money problems as far back as she can remember.

“It’s been tough,” said the 38-year-old mother of four. “I guess we always found a way to make it.”

Her secret: giving to others.

She doesn’t have much money, but she does have time and gives so much of it to help others that she doesn’t have time to worry about her own problems.

It began when Garcia was a young cook and helped her church feed the homeless in Mexico City. It has blossomed into volunteer work at a South Whittier community center, church and just about anywhere else that will let her.

“It must have been something I learned from my mother,” Garcia said. “It’s a blessing to be at the center. I feel like I owe them.”

Garcia came to the United States when she was 14, and despite those tearful moments at home, eventually learned English. She continues to take English classes at the Community Resource Center in South Whittier.

Carrying her books in a plastic supermarket bag, Garcia can be seen walking up Carmenita Road early in the morning to get to her 8 a.m. computer class and walking back about 5 p.m.

Classes, Volunteering, Family Fill Her Day

Long after her English as a second language and computer classes are finished, Garcia can be found working every afternoon in the community center’s kitchen.

The center, in its fourth year of operation, serves about 20,000 youths and adults a month in the low-income areas of South Whittier and Santa Fe Springs. Youths mainly come for help with homework or for counseling; adults come to be helped with English and job skills.

Many of the center’s adult visitors are typical of Garcia: middle-aged Latinas with young children just entering school. The free time allows these women the opportunity to take English classes. Many rush out of the center after class to pick up their children.

Although Garcia has suffered from fainting spells for the last year, she does not consider the daily mile walk and work at the center to be problems. She’s followed this routine for two years, and it gives her rosy cheeks and many admirers.

Maria Gonzalez, the coordinator for the center’s family learning center, and other staff members greet Garcia with big smiles when she walks through the center’s doors and vice versa.

“She is so nice to me,” Garcia said humbly. “They are so nice to me. Some days I don’t want to leave.”

Garcia would do anything for the center, said JoAnn Eros-Delgado, the center’s director.

“She’s always willing to help,” Eros-Delgado said. “She not only helps her children and herself, but she still manages time for others.”

At the center, Garcia does a little bit of everything: cooking, cleaning, shelving books, even tutoring fellow students.

Center Benefits Her Children Too

In the afternoon, Garcia walks another half mile to pick up her two youngest children, 5-year-old Denise and 8-year-old David, from Loma Vista Elementary; then it’s back to the center to get them help with their homework.

At least three times a week, and sometimes more often, Garcia and her family attend the Life Tabernacle Apostolic Church, said her 13-year-old son, Erik.

On Fridays, the Garcias gather in the living room of their three-bedroom apartment to discuss the Bible.

Hugo Garcia, Gloria’s husband, calls this “family night,” a night when the family can discuss problems and give thanks.

“Talking about the Bible with our children teaches them many positive lessons that they will be using until they are old,” said 41-year-old Hugo. “It has helped me and my wife through many hard times. And there have been quite a few [over] the years.”

About two years ago, he almost lost his right leg in a freak accident at his old warehouse job. His leg was pinned between a and the loading dock.

He collected worker’s compensation, but the bills kept coming. There was always enough money for the house payment, but sometimes not enough for food.

Hugo used a cane for more than a year and was unable to drive during that time. His oldest son, Edward, then a freshman at California High School, took a summer job to help make ends meet. The Garcias sometimes had to borrow money and clothes from family and friends.

Then, one day the lights went out--their bill had gone unpaid--and Gloria almost lost it. The stress was too much and her headaches and fainting spells worsened. But the next day, she could still be seen walking down Carmenita Road to the center.

During this time, Hugo was restless and could not stand being home alone.

“Since I graduated from high school, I have always been working,” said Hugo, a short man with a big love for his family.

It took two surgeries to repair damaged ligaments and nerves in Hugo’s right knee. When he was able to walk without as much pain, Hugo started joining Gloria at the center and eventually took courses in the medical field.

Hugo had grown up in East Los Angeles and began getting into trouble when he was about 11 years old, when he also joined a gang. He started dating Gloria after they met at Montebello High School, but he did not change.

About 20 years ago, Hugo made his first and almost last visit to Beverly Hospital in Montebello. His kidney had been punctured when he was stabbed in the back at a New Year’s Eve party. He lost so much blood he passed out; when he came to, he was in a hospital bed.

Three months ago he returned to the hospital as a radiology assistant. He learned of the courses that earned him his new job through the community center.

Gloria has no plans to stop volunteering at the center. But she does have big plans. She’s taking the computer class because she wants to enroll at Rio Hondo College and eventually become a social worker.

To her it’s the ideal job--another chance to help others.