HEAD START HEALTHY START STORIES

Personal stories are a very powerful way to educate and influence legislators. There are many stories that been published in local newspapers - check them out here. These videos were created during the Head Start Healthy Start Leadership Training in Boise on February 5, 2019. Thank you to all the story tellers.

Head Start Gave Our Family the Support We Needed

By Marcela Calderon, Alumni parent of Friends of Children and Families

It was very hot, and I was tired from picking cherries in the morning and sorting sugar beets in the afternoon. When I complained, my father told me I’d be working the fields my whole life if I didn’t learn English.  I was fourteen years old.

After graduating from high school, I washed dishes at a restaurant because my English was still bad. My husband lost his construction job in 2008 when I was pregnant with our second child.  We didn’t have any income when I took unpaid maternity leave.  We couldn’t afford diapers and food.  How would we provide for 2-year-old Bryan and the new baby?

We applied to Early Head Start at Friends of Children and Families (FOCAF) in Boise, even though there was a long waiting list. I was very happy when we were accepted.  Early Head Start is for pregnant moms and children zero to three years old. Our home visitor, Michelle, came weekly. She helped my husband and I start English classes. She helped us find a local doctor, so I didn’t have to take the kids to a doctor in Mountain Home.  Michelle helped us solve many problems, regain our hope and become better parents.

Head Start is for three and four-year-old children and their families. Bryan started when he was four, and he didn’t know English.  FOCAF serves many children who don’t speak English, and they gave Bryan one-on-one assistance. In a few months, Bryan knew English. By the end of the school year, Bryan was ready for kindergarten. Now Bryan is 12 years old and excels in school.

When our third child, Angelina, was a baby, she wouldn’t respond when I talked to her.  Angelina was in Early Head Start, and I told our family educator I was worried.  They gave her a hearing test that showed she couldn’t hear. She got tubes in her ears and started learning how to talk. She’s in first grade now and doing great. Head Start helps parents get problems diagnosed including vision and hearing problems, autism, and speech delays. If these conditions go undiagnosed until kindergarten, much more remedial help is necessary. Some children are never able to make up for the lost time.

Michelle continued to help us pursue our dreams. She helped me get a job at a bank. We got health insurance and, in 2015, we bought a house.  We are the first in our families to own our home. Now, I’m a Marketing Representative on my way to be a loan officer so I can help other people make their dream of home ownership come true.

Our family is one of millions of Head Start success stories. We were at risk of continuing to live in poverty and our children were at risk of under achieving at school and in life. Across Idaho, Early Head Start and Head Start staff are helping at-risk young children and their parents succeed.  But for every family served, many more are turned away for lack of room. More than 2,000 families are on Head Start waiting lists in Idaho.

The state of Idaho can help by providing funding to augment the federal funding.  This additional funding can open more slots for Idaho’s most vulnerable kids. I wish every kid could have the opportunity to go to Head Start like my children. I wish every parent could get the help I got making their dreams come true.

Head Start Has Helped Me Overcome My Mountains

By Elvira Sanchez, Family Service Advocate, Community Council of Idaho Migrant Seasonal Head Start

My story starts when I was a young child. My family was a migrant family from Texas. We migrated back and forth to Idaho until I was two years old. I was a Head Start student.

Growing up was fun until I reached high school. Then I wanted a car and I wanted name-brand clothes. I wanted all the things that other kids had, and I didn’t, so I dropped out in 10th grade to make $5.25 an hour. I worked at a burger joint for three years, then I moved on to be a housekeeper at the hospital. All this time I felt I wanted to be more. I knew I could achieve more.

I eventually went to CSI to get my GED and graduated in 1998. I was very proud of myself. I was the first in my family to graduate from high school. In April 2000 I started working with the Migrant Seasonal Head Start (MSHS) in Twin Falls. I started as a bus aid working split shift. Then I became a teacher aide. It was so rewarding knowing I was making a difference in children’s lives. I could see and feel the hunger they had to learn, be noticed and cared for.

In 2002 I became a mommy. Words cannot explain this feeling. I vowed to teach and implement everything I had learned through the trainings provided by MSHS. It was this same year that I started going to college. My goal was to obtain my AA in early childhood education and my Child Development Associate (CDA) certificate. I obtained my CDA and became a preschool teacher. I still attended college.

In 2005 I had my second child. I wanted to succeed and be even better for them. I stayed with MSHS until 2010. At that time my youngest child was enrolled College of Southern Idaho Head Start. My home visitor Ileta told me the Early Head Start home visiting program was hiring and encouraged me to apply. I applied and was hired. If it wasn’t for Ileta’s persistence and encouragement, I would have never applied.

That position was extremely rewarding for me. I visited families from all walks of the life. I visited refugee families. I learned so much from the trainings we had with the mental health specialist and the home visiting trainings. But what was most rewarding for me, was the bond created with the families I visited and my coworkers. These people are my family today.

They taught me to appreciate what I have, and they taught me to be humble. I saw how eager they were to learn and better their families, and that, in turn, gave me the strength to continue with my education and do the same with my little family. As they say, all good things must come to an end. In 2016 I took a new position with the MSHS as a Family Service Advocate. I work with families to help them make goals and achieve them. In 2017 I obtained my Family Development Credential, and this reinforced to me that as a Family Service Advocate I could teach families to be self-sufficient and confident enough to reach their goals.  

I am not going to lie. Life has not been easy, but thanks to the support I received from my family and the skills that I have learned, Head Start has helped me overcome my mountains. Everyone was so encouraging, and they made everything easier. I have yet to obtain my AA, but I can tell you with confidence I will get it. More than anything I want my children to see me walk and receive my degree. I want them to learn from me that persistence and perseverance does pay off. Head Start has provided me so many opportunities. These steppingstones allowed me to better myself professionally and with my own family.