Meet the Family: Yadira

It's Meet the Family Friday again! Yadira (left) quickly realized the importance of speaking English and getting an education when she immigrated to the U.S. With Upward Scholars' support, Yadira was one student who was able to keep herself and her seven family members in their home during the pandemic. "Learning and speaking English has made a difference in my life," Yadira affirms. "Before learning English, I was in the dark … and, now, it's like turning on the light."

But when the pandemic meant not one penny of family income, Yadira and her family experienced a different darkness. During the shelter-in-place ordinances, when her entire family of seven was stuck in their small apartment, Yadira and one of her daughters experienced a severe bout of depression. Everything was unknown, anxiety reigned… Worse, her landlord was less than understanding when Yadira's family could not pay the rent. Despite eviction protections, Yadira's worst nightmare was being evicted and becoming homeless with her kids. They contemplated moving out of the Bay Area, but even that wasn't an option. No matter where they moved or how affordable, they would still have to pay at least the initial deposits and month's rent. "But we had nothing!" Yadira remembers.

This was a wake-up call. Yadira's commitment to her education never wavered because she realized she needed to continue working toward a skilled, well-paying career. However, if her family hoped to have a stable financial future, they also required financial knowledge. She learned about keeping emergency funds—a new concept for her—and was excited about the possibility of one day creating one. 

As she expanded her financial knowledge, Yadira received "the most important email of her life": Upward Scholars was launching a Safety Net Fund to help students with basic needs and emergency expenses. "It was as if I could breathe again. Like the whole time I was drowning and you gave me your hand to pull me out from under the water," Yadira says emotionally. She used every last penny of her Safety Net funding to pay rent. Staying housed was her top priority.

Now that most of her family is back working, Yadira is adamant about setting aside every extra dollar to their newly established emergency fund so that she won't feel helpless again in an emergency. Yadira is eternally grateful to the generous Upward Scholars donors who helped her family stay housed, but she reiterates that our support did much more than that. "Every time someone called to check in or I got a check in the mail—every time—I felt a little lighter and could breathe a little easier. You gave me hope."