Stories of Impact

Julio and Adriana

Michoacán, México natives, Julio and Adriana immigrated to the Napa Valley in 1998. Julio is the father of three children, their youngest is 12 years old, middle child is 16 years old and the eldest is 20 years old. Adriana is a domestic worker and Julio works in construction. Like many families, their family experienced a reduction in work hours when COVID-19 Pandemic restrictions were imposed. Julio, his wife and two of his children tested positive for COVID and had to quarantine for four weeks. He said, “I felt very tired, had trouble breathing from doing simple tasks and lost my ability to smell and taste. But I feel thankful that my family and I did not get it as bad as others.” 

When asked how he learned about the Napa County Recovery Center (NCRC), he shared that in conversations with other parents who also tested positive for COVID from their son’s soccer team, their family learned about the emergency financial assistance program and decided see if they met the criteria for assistance. After working with case managers at NCRC, their family qualified for support, was connected to food drive opportunities and was awarded emergency financial assistance funds to support the families’ basic needs related to paying for rent and utility bills.  

Julio expressed his gratitude by saying,

“This program is so beneficial for people like me, working families who live paycheck to paycheck, who can not get unemployment and still need to provide for their families at the end of each month in the middle of a global pandemic. This program helped with my rent, bills, food and gas expenses. I am very thankful for everyone involved. If I could say something to other Dads or families in our community going through a hard time, it would be that, ‘When you need help, it's best not to stay quiet. Ask for help. There's no shame in that.”

Julio is focused on doing all he can to support his children so that they can pursue an education after high school and create a career for themselves. He said that is his main motivation and his ultimate goal for the upcoming years. And credits NCRC with supporting these goals while he and his family recovered from the Pandemic.

Jorge

From Oaxaca Mexico, Jorge is a production and bottling worker for a local winery. He lives in St. Helena with his wife and three children.  Jorge’s first journey to the United States was in 2003, when he received a work visa for four months out of the year. He explained that he enjoyed his experience of being a seasonal worker in the Napa Valley because it allowed him to earn a much higher wage than he would have been making in Oaxaca. After a few years of seasonal work, Jorge met his wife and decided to stay in the United States and start a family. 

Jorge came to Napa County Recovery Center (NCRC) due to the wildfires in St. Helena and Calistoga.  Jorge and his family were evacuated from their apartment complex due to the heavy smoke and uncertainty of how the direction of the wind would affect the wildfire. He shared he heard about emergency financial assistance program from Napa County Recovery Center through a friend, while they were sleeping in a church during the time they were evacuated. He said his friend told him he was going to see if he was eligible to receive some financial assistance and recommended that he do the same. Jorge shared his story with NCRC case managers:

The fire was right in front of our apartments. The only thing between us and the flames was Silverado Trail Road. We, among the majority of tenants left our homes with duffle bags full of essentials. It was a tough time, we had to be separated. My kids stayed with some family members and my wife stayed with other family members in Napa. We were evacuated for about a week. There was a lot of smoke in St. Helena and we had no power.  This all was happening at the same time as COVID-19 restrictions were imposed and limited his work hours because of increasing cases and deaths. So there was a lot going on and receiving financial assistance during that time made a huge difference for us.

When asked about his experience and takeaways from the start of the process to finish,  Jorge shared, “I learned about what essential documents to take with me in an emergency and what other community resources that are available. And I had no clue they were out there. When we were displaced, we were also able to receive food baskets and even some gift cards.”  He also highlighted the NCRC case managers’ compassionate spirit and ability to offer information in Spanish. When asked if he had anything to share with the community he said, 

“Thank you to the foundations and donors who provide the support to us. Without the donors, the staff running the program, the easy process to sign up and basically the whole team, my family and many others would have struggled even more during the hard time during the fires.  I would recommend this program to other families who were affected and qualify. I’d like to tell other families and community members to keep faith and patience. And also don't be afraid to seek help. Together we can all do our part to help each other. Como dice el dicho, ahora por el y mañana por nosotros (And how the Mexican proverb goes, today it’s for him and tomorrow for us).”  -  Jorge