BUILDING PATHWAYS TO SUCCESS
Below you will find stories from some of the teens and young adults Sueños has helped build skills to compete, and thrive, in the labor market.
Jesus M.
Jesus’ career goal was to become a certificated pilot. He was placed at Ocean Aviation in Watsonville and paid for his flight lessons by washing planes and doing general maintenance work at the airport. Sueños and Santa Cruz County Office of Education staff assisted him with letters of recommendation and assistance in completing the Pajaro Valley Aviation Academy Scholarship Application. He received a $1,200 scholarship and has since completed his general aviation pilot’s license. He is currently employed at the Watsonville Airport and with further pilot training is looking forward to a career in aviation as a commercial pilot.
Maria A.
Maria completed her job shadowing at Watsonville City Hall with an administrative secretary. This evolved into a new work experience placement. After she completed her work experience hours, the City of Watsonville hired her part-time and she was inspired by her supervisor to return to school to obtain a degree in business management.
Beatriz Z.
Beatriz, a 17 year old with a four year old daughter, completed the Sueños Academy and Roadmap Series, then completed her work experience at Salud Para La Gente, finished her GED, and attended Cabrillo College classes. She was very inspired by two young Latina women career speakers. One is a local attorney and was a very young mother herself. The other works at Bay Federal Credit Union and mentored and inspired Beatriz to apply for work there. She is currently employed full time there. She also completed an informational interview with an experienced social worker and is seriously considering pursuing her education to join that field of work.
Ana R. and Juan M.
These two Sueños participants completed job shadowing at Graniterock. They were then offered new work experience placements at West Marine Human Resources in marketing and accounting jobs. Ana continued on at West Marine as a paid intern during the summer and was inspired by her supervisor to take a keyboarding class at Cabrillo. Both Ana and Juan are now enrolled in college.
Elena C.
Elena was interested in law enforcement when she enrolled in the Sueños Program. Sueños staff assisted her in enrolling her at Cabrillo College and placed her at the Watsonville Police Department to complete her work experience. The Watsonville PD then hired her as a permanent employee.