Jose and Angelina

Jose and Angelina came to the Family Center desperately looking to keep their five daughters safe, dry and warm.  Having come to this country over 20 years ago, Jose had been working for a ranch in a neighboring town since 2003 after he had been laid off from construction work.  He talked about working from sun-up to past sun-down, taking care of the ranch.  Angelina and Jose talked about how hard it was to do the job that he had by himself.  Often the girls, ranging in ages from 1½ to 17 years old, were helping Jose by feeding the horses or other ranch duties.  Jose spoke of the living quarters he and his family were given as his only income.  He talked of rats and large cracks in the house and recalled that they never could get warm.

 

It was a father’s cry to protect and provide for his girls.  Jose quit work at the ranch and thus they lost their housing.  When they arrived at COTS Family Center, the two oldest girls hadn’t been to school most of the school year.  This changed when they came to the Family Center.  They were enrolled in school and began attending.  Jose would drive every day to Sonoma and take the 12- and 8-year-old girls to school in Sonoma on his way to work in Calistoga.

 

Jose and Angelina didn’t stay long at the Family Center.  All they asked for was a safe, dry place for their daughters to be while Jose and Angelina worked hard for their family.  In just 26 days, Jose applied for and was accepted at a local apartment complex with a two-bedroom unit for the seven of them.  They were all excited.  The girls were happy about the apartment and, since Jose and Angelina had found an apartment in town, the oldest two girls were able to maintain their newly found schooling.  Jose was so appreciative of the chance to stay at COTS that he offered to volunteer and help with landscaping or any other maintenance concerns at the Family Center.

 

Jose and Angelina came to the Family Center desperate and needing time to work out their plans.  They left the Family Center with their plans accomplished and their five daughters safely and warmly housed just in time for the cold of winter.  Their daughters’ childhood was restored as they no longer needed to work instead of attend school.  Hope for the future is bright for this family and these girls.