Silvia Quevedo and her son, Josua Argeta, who is a student at the newly opened Gloria Molina Child Development Center in East Los Angeles.
Silvia Quevedo was surprised when she walked through the newly opened Gloria Molina Child Development Center in East Los Angeles — and not just because the woman whose name in on the facility was there to greet visitors.
“I’m so surprised, because I have never seen such a center, and I like it very much here,” said Quevedo, who attended the August 1 dedication ceremony with her son, 3-year-old Josua Argeta, who will is enrolled at the center. “I’m very happy because my son will come here.”
Quevedo’s son recently started attending the center daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The place is operated by non-profit social service provider Para Los Niños as a place where working parents can count on quality childcare — at no charge. The facility features age-appropriate furnishings and educational lessons as well as organic food and free medical services.
Molina has long served East Los Angeles as a community activist, Los Angeles City Councilmember, and now as the 1st District representative on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. She told the crowd gathered for the opening of the facility that’s named in her honor that the community has come a long way.
“I am very proud,” Molina said. “We didn’t have the opportunity of education that we have now, with everything they have here for the children of East Los Angeles, who deserve the best of the best.”
Molina noted that facilities such as those operated by Para Los Niños provide help for hard-pressed families when both parents must work each day.
“That’s why this place is so necessary, so that the children learn everything they need to learn before going to kindergarten, but not only that, so that the parents have somewhere to turn when they need help, too,” said Molina.
Quevedo said the new center is crucial to her and her son. She said that she leaves her home at 5:30 a.m. to get to her janitorial job by 7:00 a.m. She works a full day, and faces a long commute back to East Los Angeles each evening.
“Thank God there are these types of centers, because they benefit us parents who work eight hours,” Quevedo said. “I used to pay $100 a week for childcare, and this is going to help me a lot because I won’t have to pay that anymore.”
Famed actor Wilmer Valderrama joined Para Los Ninos President and Executive Director Gisselle Acevedo in welcoming Molina and the families to the opening ceremony.
“Gloria is a great community leader and a visionary,” said Acevedo, who invited parents to bring their children to the center and to tell their friends about the program.
At the end of the event, the children printed their little painted hands on a mural and toured the new children’s center with their parents. The Gloria Molina Child Development Center is located at 4824 E. Civic Center Way in East Los Angeles. For more information, call (323) 796-0125 ext. 221.
Mireya Olivera is editor of Impulso.
Photos by Impulso
