Turning obstacles into art

Toyota Family Literacy Program
Long Beach, Calif.

A move to a new country. The lack of a high school diploma. The scourge of domestic violence. Life in a temporary shelter.

Any one of those obstacles might deter someone from achieving her full potential and providing for her child. But not Celicia.

She was born the fourth of eight children in Mexicali. But her dream was to become an artist, writer and teacher. Her path was bumpy, and her route was winding, but she always picked herself up and moved forward.

Cecilia credits family literacy – specifically the Toyota Family Literacy Program in Long Beach – for being her guide. When life with her husband became unbearable, it was a counselor from the adult education program who drove her to a police station to help her leave a household of distress and fear.

During the 30 days in the temporary shelter, it was family literacy that taught her how to help her three-year-old daughter learn and stay entertained. They read books, sang songs and turned the shelter into their personal classroom.

Then, Cecilia and her daughter moved into a transitional shelter nearly 30 miles away from the family literacy program. They took the train to the family literacy program every single day for more than three months. For Cecilia, it was more important than ever for them to stay on their educational path.

After three months, they returned to Long Beach. Cecilia made extra money painting pictures for people that were interested in her art, and her persistence paid off. With the help of family literacy program, she received her high school diploma in the spring of 2008. She is now enrolled in Long Beach City College then will transfer to a four-year program. She dreams of teaching, using art as therapy with children and having her own exhibitions. She has written more than 100 poems and dreams of publishing my own book one day.

She pays tribute to family literacy and lifelong learning through a poem entitled “The Wise Tree,” which also has an accompanying oil painting. For Cecilia, her dreams have been firmly planted and taken root.