‘Your community has your back:’ College, career support come to City Heights
Written by ABC Audio ALL RIGHTS RESERVED on May 22, 2022
San Diego organizations and leaders came together Saturday to provide City Heights residents with much-needed support at a college and career fair.
Held at Herbert Hoover High School, “The Village United” fair featured various college and career workshops and basic needs resources for high school students, as well as adults who were hardest hit by the pandemic.
“Although the pandemic has exacerbated a lot of inequalities, I do believe in the collective power when folks come together,” said Rocío Zamora, director of college enrollment at Avenues for Success, a college and career access program serving Hoover High. “This is all of us coming together to invest in our futures.”
The fair was a culmination of efforts by various community advocates, including Avenues for Success, County Supervisor Chair Nathan Fletcher and the San Diego Foundation, a nonprofit that helps fund community services and resources.
“To the students here today, I really hope that you feel, in all the organizations you connect to today, a feeling that your community has your back,” Michelle Jaramillo, director of education initiatives at the San Diego Foundation, said to those in attendance.
Representatives from local colleges, including Grossmont College, San Diego State University, Southwestern College and CSU San Marcos, spoke to participants about different pathways to college as well as health care services and public assistance programs.
Vivian Guerrero, left, with Jewish Family Service of San Diego, gives program information to Grace Hernandez, center, and her son, Jonathan Hernandez, who is a ninth-grader at Hoover High.
(Nancee E. Lewis/For The San Diego Union-Tribune)
Workshops ranged in topic from high school-to-college transition, financial aid, college and career planning, stock market investing, vocational training programs and low-cost computer programs.
There were also organizations supporting more basic needs, such as at-home COVID-19 test kits, books and snacks, while the county’s Live Well on Wheels bus was on-site to help attendees access health and community services, like CalFresh and MediCal.
“When supporting students in planning for their future, it is critical that we also address the basic needs they and their families have in the present moment,” Zamora added.
Mid-City CAN, a community-based advocacy organization, spoke with attendees about the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations and voting, as well as highlighted some of its youth programs, such as a summer “artivism” program.
“It’s an opportunity for young people to really dig deep into their communities, their identities and create beautiful art that is reflective of that,” said Yasmeen Obeid, a youth organizer.
The three-week program at Hoover High will be focused on learning about art and activism through completing art projects.
While many of the students in attendance were part of the Avenues for Success program, others say the fair provided them with invaluable information, like mother Sara Ortiz, who had brought her 15-year-old daughter, Julianna.
Ortiz currently works two jobs to support her kids and said she wants to learn how to better prepare herself to move up in the workforce, such as by learning resume-building tools and interview skills.
“I thought this would be more for her to learn about college,” Ortiz said after attending a work readiness workshop, “but I actually heard some great tips for myself, as well.”
