Diana Lopez really enjoys her two childcare jobs within Puente’s Youth Leadership and Employment program. The 19-year-old likes working with small children. And this summer, her earnings are helping her family pay the rent. Both her parents recently lost their jobs at a Pescadero flower nursery. Now Puente’s entire youth program, is in jeopardy because it no longer qualifies for federal funding. “My parents are trying to find a job and work hard, but they need my help,” says Lopez, who helps staff an all-day pre-kindergarten program run by the La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District and provides activities for children while their parents attend Zumba classes and parenting programs like Abriendo Puertas. Lopez has been a part of Puente’s youth program since her sophomore year of high school. She readily admits the experience has changed her life. “I see myself as a more responsible person, more organized, more outgoing. Back then I was such a troublemaker,” she says jokingly. Lopez struggled as a student. She rarely did her homework and failed nearly all her tests. “I would always say I wanted to drop out of high school. People at Puente would say, ‘You’ve got to go to college.’ Puente helped me with tutors. The fact that I went to college, I have Puente to thank for that,” she says, Today, not only … Continue reading Puente Youth Leadership and Development Program in Peril