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People of Glassell Park: Luz Santos

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Mi nombre es Luz Santos. Esta es la área de la Fletcher y la 32. Es muy conocida sí, por la calle Drew. Muchos papás hablan de la calle Drew. En la calle Drew se oye que había mucho vandalismo, habían muchos cholos, drogas, peleas, todo lo que había malo en la calle Drew. Ahora, después de cinco años la calle Drew y en la 32 han estado mejorando.

Yo trabajo en esta área hace como unos 12 o 13 años. He visto cambio porque como maestra hemos venido hacer visitas acá en las casas y hemos visto droga adicción y todo eso y ahora después de cinco años se está mirando un cambio, la gente puede salir, la gente está contenta, hay niños en el parque, han habido muchos cambios, y buenos.

Es muy importante para el desarrollo de nuestros niños y las familias. Los papás traen a los niños para que los niños aprendan, pero ellos están aprendiendo también. Nosotros les enseñamos a los papás ser mejores papás, son buenos pero son mejores todavía cuando vienen a nuestros programas. Ahorita en esta área hay tres programas. Yo era maestra asistente y ahorita estoy trabajando en los "day cares." El año pasado estuvimos ayudando a encontrar papás, fuimos a los parques, y este, fuimos de casa en casa buscando niños y pasamos los "flyers" para que vinieran a nuestro programa y de milagro yo creo o será que hay mucha necesidad y se llenó la escuela, y había una lista de espera.

Translation:

My name is Luz Santos. This area here is Fletcher and Ave. 32. It's very well known, because of Drew St. You used to hear a lot about vandalism, gang members, drugs, fighting, and everything else that was bad on Drew St. Now, after about 5 years, Drew St. and Ave. 32 are much improved.

I've been working in this area for about 2 or 3 years. I've seen changes because as a teacher I've had to do home visits and seen drug addiction and all that stuff first hand and now, since the last five years, a change is visible, people go out, people are happy, there are kids in the park, there have been many good changes.

It's very important for the development of our kids and families. Parents bring their kids to learn but they too are learning in the process. We teach parents to be better parents; they're already good parents but we teach them to be even better parents through our programs. I was a teachers assistant before and now I work in Day Care. Last year we helped this school find parents, we went to local parks, we went from house to house, passing out flyers and trying to recruit new kids to our school, and miraculously, or maybe because the need is so great here, the school filled up. Now there's a waiting list.

The above interview is transcribed and edited from the following interview:

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