Followers

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Meet Cecilia Landeros!





Cecilia is one of the many parents who has benefited from the services offered by Apopka Family Learning Center (AFLC). From the time she first arrived to the United States, Cecilia has been a familiar face at AFLC. Curious to learn more about her experience with us as both a beneficiary and a volunteer we asked her to come in for an interview and true to her kind nature, she readily agreed to help.
“The first contact I had in the Unites States, fortunately, was with Apopka Family Learning Center,” Cecilia says confidently when asked to tell her story. “That’s when I realized that regardless of the fact I was in a foreign country, I still had people twho wanted to help me as if I were right at home.”
When Cecilia arrived from Mexico, she found herself at the center eager to start building a new life. While she was looking for work, she began to take care of students from the AFLC while other parents attended the classes. Cecilia had already benefitted from AFLC adult education classes. “I’ve taken all the courses,” she said enthusiastically. “Padres con cariƱo, English courses and on days when I wasn’t taking a course I was a volunteer.”
Flash forward a year later, and Cecilia had found a job. It was then that her girls, Pamela and Susy, began to attend the AFLC’s Kids in Motion program, something Cecilia is very thankful for.
“It’s a great feeling,” she says. “Coming out of work and knowing my girls are in a safe place, that they’ve done their homework, and that they are getting the help they need. It takes a huge load off of your shoulders as a parent.”
“I used to take care of kids, now I take care of plants.” She says with a laugh, as she makes a pause then continues. “Whatever the Apopka Family Learning Center can do to help families, they will do. Whatever problem there is, economic, mental health, any random challenge. They are there for you.”
Now, Cecilia works in a plant nursery. Her oldest daughter, Pamela, has already graduated from the AFLC’s Kids In Motion Program and she is now a successful High school student. Meanwhile, her younger sister, Susy is gearing up to enter the seventh grade, thus having two years left in the Kids In Motion Program. Both girls served as Counselors in Training (CIT’s) during our eight week summer program and looked after younger children, displaying a high sense of responsibilityand maintaining their ties with the Family Learning Center. The entire family has demonstrated how a helping hand can make a difference.