Celebrating Moms - Growing Up in Santa Cruz

Maria Cadenas Focuses on Love

growingupsc — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 17:42:37 +0000

From Chilaquiles to Community Development Maria Cadenas Focuses on Love by suki wessling Welcome back to our monthly feature of moms who have faced the task of pandemic parenting while also continuing their work in our community. Research has shown that women have suffered greater economic and personal fallout from the pandemic, losing jobs or having to work while also caring for children. Maria Cadenas’s 12-year-old daughter is “not a morning person,” so that’s Maria’s prime time for work. And work she does: On top of her primary job as Executive Director of Santa Cruz Community Ventures, Maria has run for office for Santa Cruz City Council and State Senate. And that’s not all. “Maria raised and distributed millions of dollars for undocumented families who were left out of federal relief programs,” says County Supervisor Ryan Coonerty. “This was essential in helping a vulnerable population survive.”During her campaigns, Maria ended up having to enlist her daughter’s help.“She became a trooper in helping put up yard signs and so patient as I took on phone calls and meetings in the evening”—the time that Maria usually sets aside for family time. “I hope it helped her see another side of civic engagement,” Maria says. “I remember there was a phone call—we were having meetings every evening. It was a tough call, and after it ended, my daughter looked at me and was like, ‘that was interesting.’ She was engaged even if she wasn’t directly part of the conversation.” Maria shares custody with her daughter’s other mom, and finds that she shares the frustrations common to most parents these days. “COVID has changed many things, but the most crucial one has been an adjustment of how to view ‘screen time,’ especially using it to keep my daughter connected to friends and using it for video playdates and staying in touch with family,” Maria says. She had to adjust her expectations further once school went online as well.“They are building their social identities and connecting with their peers,” Maria points out. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to deprive you of the connections you’re making via technology to stay connected to school friends,’ but it was a real shift for me to learn to let it go.” In her day job, Maria is focused on making our community a better place for everyone. Community Ventures is part think tank, part community development. Maria and her agency were instrumental in creating the new Santa Cruz Seeds program that will give every child born in the county a college savings account. (See article) Maria works to reimagine how people can alter the local economy to work better for everyone. “We put money on such a pedestal—it controls what we do,” Maria says. “But people created our economy, we created money, and we have the power to change it.”During the pandemic, Maria has made a strong focus on spending time in the kitchen with her daughter. “Her favorite dish is chilaquiles. It’s a pretty simple dish, but there’s a lot of prep, from making chips to shredding the cheese. She is my sous chef!” On Sundays, Maria says, the roles are reversed. “She wrote down the pancake recipe when she was five in this little family cookbook we have in the kitchen. On Sundays she gets out the recipe that she wrote when she was little and then I’m her sous chef!” “I feel blessed to work for an agency that nourishes my soul and helps so much in building the vision of a more equitable and welcoming tomorrow,” Maria explains. Her philosophy of life? “Everything begins from love of each other and our planet.” Read More About Moms Making a Difference If you know of a mom who has made a difference, please email us at editor@growingupsc.com

The post Maria Cadenas Focuses on Love first appeared on Growing Up in Santa Cruz.

Jasmine Alinder

growingupsc — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 21:22:59 +0000

Jasmine Alinder Dean of Humanities, UCSC BY suki wessling This monthly series from Growing Up will highlight some of the moms in our community who are out there making things happen while also caring for kids at home. We’ll feature teachers, healthcare workers, business owners, coaches, and more. If you know of a mom who has made a difference, please email suki@sukiwessling.com. This month’s mom, Jasmine Alinder, is a mid-pandemic transplant to Santa Cruz just before the start of the school year. A dean who can’t get to know her faculty is also a mom who had to uproot her children in the strangest year of their lives. Thank you, Jasmine, for speaking with us! Suki Wessling: How has your life as “mom” been in the last 9 months? Jasmine Alinder: In late spring, after the first stay-at-home order went into effect and schools shut their doors, I told my two daughters that we were going to move halfway across the country from Milwaukee to Santa Cruz so that I could start a new job. My 19-year old, unexpectedly home from college, was excited. My 12-year old had no interest at all in leaving her hometown. But I really believed that the move would be good for us, all of us, and not just my career. It would also bring us closer to my family in California, and the part of the world that I think of as home. We arrived in Santa Cruz at the beginning of August not long before the CZU fire ignited. Fortunately, our house was not under threat, but we still headed out of town, go-bags and birth certificates in the car trunk, in search of clearer, safer air. My daughter asked if this fire season was normal, and I was starting to wonder if someone had exchanged the Welcome to California sign at the state’s border with one that reads Welcome to Climate Crisis. Being a mom has been challenging for me over the past several months because the stability and routine that my husband and I are used to being able to provide for our kids was seriously disrupted. Partly, because of pandemic and wildfires, but also because of the move. We left familiar places, dear friends, and a sense of deep comfort behind. SW: What is it like to step into a new job at this time? JA: My new job should be on site, in an office, populated with coworkers, on the beautiful UCSC campus. I should be meeting my colleagues in person and getting to know the institution. While I am physically in Santa Cruz, I have barely stepped foot on the campus grounds. I work from home and the majority of my experience of my new job has been virtual. There is a strange sense of dislocation. SW: What do you feel that you’ve learned as a parent and at work during this time? JA: As a parent, I’ve learned how difficult change can be. Transitions are tough and particularly at this moment in history, marked by wildfires and pandemic. Despite her initial misgivings, my younger daughter has embraced our new lives here. She adapted remarkably well to remote learning, and her teachers at Mission Hill Middle School have been great. She has made new friends, who she has been able to meet in person outside, masked and socially distanced, of course. She is taking dance classes at Motion Pacific. And she is spending a lot of her free time crafting. I feel very lucky to be working with my new colleagues and am amazed at the level of care and thought that everyone is bringing to this virtual world of work. Online meetings and events are more challenging than I imagined they would be. All of the energy, eye contact, and body language that helps to inform and empower one leading a meeting, standing in front of a crowd, or teaching in a classroom is lost in the virtual world. On the upside, I’ve learned that relationships can be initiated and built in Zoom boxes, and I look forward to a time when it will be safe to take up those relationships face to face. I believe deeply that the work that we do in the Humanities matters. Lately, I’ve been ending every day by reading Tommy Orange’s novel There, There, which is featured in this year’s “Deep Read,” a series of public events co-sponsored by The Humanities Institute at UCSC. Reading is an example of how the humanities sustains me everyday and how important storytelling is for feeling connected, particularly during a time when we have to remain apart. Suki Wessling is a local writer and the mother of two adult children. You can read more at SukiWessling.com

The post Jasmine Alinder first appeared on Growing Up in Santa Cruz.

February Mom

growingupsc — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 23:53:46 +0000

by suki wessling Suki Wessling is a local writer and the mother of two adult children. You can read more at SukiWessling.com Welcome to a New Monthly Feature! Every study of gender roles in life-as-normal illustrates what most families know to be true: When it comes to childrearing, moms tend to do the bulk of the work. Moms spend more time driving children, miss more work because of children, and do the bulk of the housework, even when they are the primary breadwinner. What happens when you put a pandemic on top of what was already an inequitable situation? For a lot of moms, Covid has meant crisis. Lacking childcare, private space in their homes for work, and time to help with distance schooling, moms have borne the brunt of this pandemic. But what’s the old saying? When you need to get something done, find a mom to do it. Moms are not only taking care of our children; we’re also out there taking care of others. This monthly series from Growing Up will highlight some of the moms in our community who are out there making things happen while also caring for kids at home. We’ll feature teachers, healthcare workers, business owners, coaches, and more. If you know of a mom who has made a difference, please email suki@sukiwessling.com. February’s Mom Lisa Mendez Lisa has faced the test of her career. At home with her own son, who celebrated his fifth birthday recently with a drive-by party, Lisa had to restructure the program. “I met her when our sons were young, as they’re only several months apart,” says Heidi Olson. “I’m a career nanny, and cared for her son alongside mine, off and on for the past five years. I’m constantly impressed by Lisa’s work at Simcha. Between the fires, a plumbing catastrophe, and now Covid, she has stayed a strong director, taking it all in stride.” Since March, when preschools in the county were forced to shut down, Lisa has faced the test of her career. At home with her own son, who celebrated his fifth birthday recently with a drive-by party, Lisa had to restructure the program. The restructuring was physical—creating more outside spaces and systems for teachers. And it was also financial—knowing that families most in need of care might be the most strapped for cash. “The blessing of time was a thankful gift,” Lisa says of the initial shutdown, when she was home with her son. “My son and I started a thriving organic garden to include potatoes, carrots, corn, beans, and one pumpkin (before the gophers decimated the patch). I taught him how to ride a two-wheel pedal bike after his years on a balance bike.” But she knew that Simcha had to reopen, and she threw herself into the planning. “After about four months of trying to get Simcha Preschool back up and running while being mommy Monday through Friday, I decided to say a literal prayer for his health and safety and send my five-year-old to an outdoor camp with an amazing Black mama owned program, Santa Cruz Learning Center,” Lisa says. Sending her son to camp gave her the time to restructure her program so that she could give other parents the time they needed. Lisa has learned much in these nine months. For one, she says, “Accepting and receiving support, community, and assistance feels vulnerable, is necessary, and a form of self-care and love.” She says that she was also deeply affected by the anti-racism and Black liberation movement, and has worked to incorporate those values and ideals into her program in an age-appropriate way. She’s also thrilled that the preschool includes more outside time now, to help children connect with nature. Heidi Olsen says that her appreciation for Lisa deepened when she herself needed support and Lisa found a grant to help her get care for her own son. “As a community member, Lisa is quick to offer help and support,” Heidi says. “She is often fundraising to help a fellow mama, or finding them resources. Together we admin a Facebook group for local mamas, and I’m grateful to have her aboard.” Words of wisdom from Lisa: Children’s joy and laughter makes everything better The pandemic stretches our capacities to grow and be creative Trusting intuition and gut instincts and speaking them aloud even if it may ruffle feathers or cause waves is crucial in making positive change happen

The post February Mom first appeared on Growing Up in Santa Cruz.