I came to San Francisco to help people change their lives. I work for a local union, SEIU 247, which is for security officers. I came out to San Francisco and I found out that the people did not have all the opportunities as we had in New York. So I worked with them for three months as a union organizer, and I went back to New York because I missed my friends and co-workers.
     After the World Trade Center, I felt I had to come to make a difference in people’s lives.
     I worked at the World Trade Center for twenty-six years and was very active in the union, helping people know the power they had from being in the union. Before 9/11, I was the mouthpiece for all of my co-workers. We were family. We laughed together. We cried together. We went to parties together.
     On 9/11, I went out to work for the union to campaign for the mayor of New York, so I was not at work. I watched it on television. So many people were calling me on the phone, wondering if I was at work. When the first plane hit that day, I would have been standing there. I lost so many friends, people I knew and my bosses. It was hard for so many of us because we were family and we lost something that we know would never be the same again.
     I will never forget the World Trade Center, but I need to move on with my life. In January, I came back to San Francisco to help security again. It is hard work trying to make people believe that they deserve better. But I feel that I was put on this earth to help people fulfill their dreams.
     And I am trying to complete my life. I came to Project Read to get help. I want to become a lawyer so that I can help people make a difference in their lives. Project Read has given me a great tutor and the feeling that I can be anything that I put my mind to being.
     It is hard being away from my husband of thirty years, my children, grandchildren and friends; but everyone is happy for me. They say I’m a born leader, so I want to tell everybody we are put on this earth for a reason. And we should all satisfy our dreams and reach for the stars. “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and love, and of a sound mind.”