Crystal Flores became homeless, trying to pay for a motel room while taking two classes at Citrus College.
She lost her studio apartment and had to move in with family of the father of her children in the spring of 2016.
Due to an abusive relationship, she had to move out and cut ties with her children’s father.
Even though she had nowhere to go she wasn’t alone in her hardship.
Citrus faculty members were there to help.
Honors transfer program coordinator and history and social and behavioral sciences professor, Brian Waddington, and administrative clerk Olivia Canales bought Flores a gift card to a grocery store so she could buy diapers for her 4-month-old son.
“We’re told not to get involved with students, but I really felt a need there to help her,” Canales said.
She also received help from the Foster/Kinship Education and Resource Programs and Extended Opportunities Programs and Services.
They gave her food, helped her apply for scholarships and taught her about other resources.
Being a former foster youth, a single mom and a domestic violence survivor does not stop Flores from achieving her dreams and graduating from Citrus College.
Foster Care
Flores was in the foster care system from the day she was born to the day she emancipated out, August 21, 2011.
When she was born she was separated from her siblings.
She was sent to St. Francis Medical Center in Los Angeles and then transferred to Children’s Hospital for drug addiction and alcoholism for six months.
Flores bounced around from home to home until a family took her in and they became her guardians until she was 13.
She moved from a foster home to group home, and was abused in that situation.
At age 18 she was kicked out of her foster home for financial reasons.
The foster care system was “a rollercoaster,” Flores said.
In total, Flores went to about 18 foster homes.
Family
Flores said her kids are her family.
She considers her first foster care guardians her parents. Her sons call them “Nana” and “Tata.”
“They’re the example I want my kids to see,” Flores said.
Even though they had to renounce their guardianship because they didn’t want to be legally responsible for her they continued to call her and check on her.
They are family to her.
At age 15, she was reunited with her siblings and they told her she is Native American.
Flores was working three jobs, two part time jobs as a caregiver for adults with disabilities and one part-time job working as a cafeteria worker for Hacienda La Puente Unified School District, but she did not feel appreciated for her time or efforts so she decided to dedicate herself to school instead.
Her goal was to get a degree in social and behavioral sciences from Mt. San Antonio College to become a social worker.
Flores went to Mt. SAC because friends and family told her it was a good school.
Academic Success
Mt. SAC was not the school for her, however, as she did not feel a connection there.
When she attended Mt. SAC, she took classes she didn’t need and only two professors had a genuine interest in her education, she said.
She thought the rest only saw her as a number.
Flores came to Citrus to make up classes she had failed and planned to go back to Mt. SAC, but changed her mind.
At Citrus she felt she could excel because the campus was smaller, classes were easier to get into and her professors had helped her “tremendously.”
“I felt more support here (at Citrus) than I did at Mt. SAC,” Flores said.
Flores joined the Honors Transfer Program and found mentors.
“If it weren’t for Brian Waddington I wouldn’t be as successful as I am today,” Flores said.
Waddington spoke of Flores’ commitment to becoming successful.
“People of that background are the least likely to finish college,” Waddington said. “I’ve seen Crystal become more focused, confident, successful, have more of a sense of purpose and have clearer goals,”
Waddington was the person who recruited Flores into the Honors Transfer Program.
“She’s remained focused on her goals,” Waddington said. “Her goal was to transfer, to get a degree and to transfer.”
Flores also started to talk to Professor Eric Lopez and he soon became another mentor to her.
Lopez sees her becoming successful by getting good grades, transferring and becoming a social worker.
“She’s on the right path,” Lopez said.
Her mentors helped her succeed as Citrus.
“If it weren’t for the faculty here like Brian (Waddington), Eric and Olivia, I would not have finished school,” Flores said.
These mentors taught her about resources on campus like the Foster Kinship program. It is her go-to place to get food and take a nap.
Her life has become less of a rollercoaster. Now she is renting a room from her sons’ grandpa in Baldwin Park.
She took on a leadership role as the vice president for the Indigenous Student Association and works in Admissions and Records at Citrus College part-time.
Flores is also an artist. She paints, makes Native American beadwork and dreamcatchers.
“That’s my little side job,” Flores said.
Future
Her sons attend a head-start program and her oldest son will be going to kindergarten this year.
She will graduate Citrus College with degrees in political science, social and behavioral science, sociology and liberal arts, this semester.
Flores will be transferring in the fall to California State University, Los Angeles to become a social worker.
“I don’t want a desk job, I want to be out in the field,” Flores said.
Her goal is to reach out to as many kids as she can with a message.
Flores wants other students in her situation to know that she went through what they are going through and that there is a way out.
“You’re not alone. I went through this. Eventually it does get better,” Flores said.
