Client Spotlight

Each month, a client at SFBFS is featured for success and growth. This month’s client spotligst is:

Christina Bordenave - May 2013


At the age of 16, Christina Bordenave moved from Seattle to Sacramento in 1998, pregnant with her first child, Luke. Shortly after relocating to Sacramento, Christina split from Luke's father, leaving her alone in the Oak Park area with a less-than-adequate living arrangement.

Using the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program to get by, Christina received a referral to the Parent Education program (then known as the Mother-Baby program) at Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services (SFBFS). With extremely limited resources, Christina visited the program for four months in 2000 until Luke's second birthday, when, as dictated by the program's previous regulations, she was no longer eligible for services. Settled for the time being, Christina would make do on her own for the next few years.

Fast forward to 2012. Christina is married, doing well financially, and is experiencing life again with a new born baby. Suddenly, Christina was laid off from her job of 12 years, forcing her to stretch her savings further and further each week.

Although Christina was out of work, her husband was still able to maintain a job. However, due to the amount of his monthly wages, they found they could not qualify for food stamps and other resources which would help them make ends meet. Faced with a mortgage payment every month, providing for her Luke and newborn son MJ, they found that one income simply would not cover their expenses. Remembering her experience at SFBFS, Christina looked into the organization's Web site to see if the service was still offered.

Pleasantly surprised, Christina discovered that much had changed since she had visited the program in 2000. Not only was she able to utilize Parent Education services until MJ would be five years old, but she also found that SFBFS had opened a second facility in North Sacramento, which also offered the program much closer to her home.Christina Bordenave web

"Parent Education has really helped my family out," Christina said. "It's so hard to budget because we can't qualify for the State programs. And I would say this helps us more because we're able to get so many things that those programs can't provide us with anyway."

Looking at the up side of things, Christina used her time in between job opportunities to be with her children and utilize as many resources offered by Parent Education as she could. Along the way, Christina also used her time to assist staff in the program.

"Every week, Christina attends classes, shops at our Baby Boutique, participates in our family mentor service and networks with many of the other parents in the program," said Mireya Estrella, Parent Education Program Manager. "Christina is uplifting, friendly and an all around positive example to others. She acts as a parent leader, helping to prepare snacks, assisting the class facilitators, helping clean up, and she's even led several of our arts and crafts classes."

"When I first started coming to Parent Education and met Mireya, I was a little intimidated because she seemed very strict," admitted Christina. "After getting to know her, I love her! She is so knowledgeable, has such a positive outlook and can always bring me back up when I'm frustrated. Her firm attitude is a blessing as it helps keep everyone on track."

In addition to contributing time to her children and the Parent Education program, Christina has also been successful in finding a new job. Recently, Christina landed a position with Esurance working in the sales department of their call center. Relieved to go back to work, Christina began her new job on March 4 of this year.

Though she enjoys learning from Mireya and utilizing the resources in Parent Education, Christina is hoping to achieve another goal: returning as a volunteer in the Parent Education program.

"Once everything with my job is going well, I really want to come back as a volunteer," said Christina. "I feel like I've been given a lot of help and you can't forget to give back."

"Parent Education empowered Christina, helped her realize her goals and, provided her with tools to leverage her expenses month to month," Mireya explained. "Christina has always expressed a desire to one day discontinue our services in hopes of returning later as a volunteer so she can give back to other moms what she's learned. She will be missed by staff, volunteers and clients alike, but we are so proud of her."

In the future, Christina hopes to one day return to school to pursue a career in the field of social work in order to help teenage mothers finding themselves in the situation she was once in.

"My ultimate dream job is social work," Christina admitted. "I was a teen mom once and I really want to be able to help other teen moms. I want to support them and let them know that you don't have to be where all of the statistics tell you that you're going to end up."

Click on a link below to read archived Client Spotlights:

May 2013 - Christina Bordenave (Parent Ed)
April 2013 - Gertrude Byrd (Senior)
April 2013 - Cynthia Ryan (Food)
March 2013 - Diana Licon (Youth Education)
March 2013 - Alicia Brown (Food)
February 2013 - Gabriela Enriquez (Parent Ed)
January 2013 - Evelyn McGraw (Senior)

December 2012 - Cynthia Robertson (Clothing)
November 2012 - Naomi Fox (SMUD)
October 2012 - Gayle and Calith (Food)
September 2012 - Veronica Lopez (Adult Ed)
August 2012 - Ossie Townsend (Food)
July 2012 - Moria Osario (Adult Education)
June 2012 - Gigi Winther (Senior)
May 2012 - Joyce & Christian (Parent Ed)
April 2012 - Yuvonda McNeal (Adult Education)
March 2012 - April Hewlett (Adult Education)
February 2012 - Diego Aguilar (Youth Ed)
January 2012 - Oleksandr and Olga (Parent Ed)
November 2011 - Maria Delgado (Mother-Baby)
October 2011 - Carl & Collette (Clothing)

Volunteer Spotlight – October 2011
Yolanda Moore

yolanda.jpgYolanda Moore originally came to Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services (SFBFS) about five years ago when she was taking art classes at a local community college. She heard, by word of mouth, about a free art program for women in Sacramento, offered at a local non-profit organization. She became intrigued with the idea decided to check it out. What she found was the Women’s Wisdom Art program at SFBFS, a free art group for women from diverse backgrounds, who come together to support one another, learn new skills, and gain self-confidence and creativity. Yolanda felt very at home and started to gain confidence in her artistic abilities.

yolanda_1.jpgAfter attending classes, she decided to pursue her degree in Art at Sacramento State University. Her classes began to take up the majority of her time. Eventually she approached Helen Plenert, Women’s Wisdom Art Program Manager, to inform her that she no longer had time to participate in the program and needed to commit full time to her Sac State classes. Although Helen and the other students were sad to see Yolanda leave, it made them happy that she was pursuing a lifelong goal. By setting such a goal and steadfastly working toward it, Yolanda was unknowingly inspiring others in the program. “Even as a student, she was always a huge help in the classroom,” says Helen. “I asked her to consider coming back as a volunteer someday. It was just over a year ago when she walked back in to begin volunteer work for us. “

In 2010, Yolanda returned to SFBFS after receiving her degree as a volunteer for the Women’s Wisdom Art program.  As a volunteer, Yolanda offers support to the students in the program. “Every day is different,” says Yolanda. She typically arrives before any classes start, working with the instructors and pulling out all the necessary materials. The women often ask for help finding a certain item or ask for Yolanda’s opinion on a project. “Every woman has her own style when it comes to art,” she comments. “I try to give my opinion to them while at the same time making sure it doesn’t interfere with their own ideas.” Yolanda’s favorite part of volunteering is seeing students progress. Oftentimes students arrive unsure and afraid that they can’t create something worthwhile. The nature of the program allows them to freely express themselves and develop creatively. Once a student sees their work displayed on a gallery wall, they feel accomplished and self-confident. “The quality of the artwork created by these women is truly impressive,” says Yolanda.

Helen and the other instructors in the program value each and every day that Yolanda volunteers in the classroom. According to Helen, Yolanda is one of those rare jewels who see what needs to be done and just jumps headfirst in to do it. A new student may need some comforting and Yolanda just sits down next to her as if that was the last seat in the room and strikes up a conversation. Another minute she is up to her elbows in dirty dishes and paint brushes. “It's really a rare moment when I have to ask her to help with something specific because she usually thinks of it before I do. In fact, she may have already done it before I finish asking!” says Helen.

In addition to volunteering, Yolanda can be found painting or drawing on her own time, spending time with her friends, or visiting her family, including her grown children and five grandchildren.

If you are interested in volunteering your time to help someone in need in our community, click here for more information.