LIVE YOUR DREAM

Vanessa Moreno

Vanessa plans on finishing her credit hours at Los Angeles City College and then wants to transfer to Cal-State Los Angeles. She is on a Business Administration degree track. Vanessa is very interested in employee retention and property management. She was a foster child and homeless for many years. She has also served in the Army and, while deployed in Desert Storm, was sexually assaulted. Her goal is to work with a program or start a program to assist low-income people to find and retain employment. She knows that low-income people in their quest for housing do not know how to locate, apply, and manage rent payments. She wants to start an organization that will assist with the rental process. She is a single mother with a son. Vanessa states “I want to live a better dream for my child”.

Carla Smith

Carla is attending Los Angeles Trade Tech where she is enrolled in their Culinary Arts program. She wants to own and operate a small bakery with an inside café. She wants to cater to folks who are diabetics. In addition to Culinary Arts, she wants to pursue Professional Baking while learning about Restaurant Hotel Management. Carla is a single mom with a 17-year-old daughter and she also has her mother living with her while she is working on her educational goals. She takes care of them, they take care of her, and they a are a close-knit unit. Her focus on diabetic food preparation is because her mother is a diabetic. She calls her family her harshest critics and her most supportive fans.

Govanna Franklin

Govanna wants to become a social worker. Upon completion of her studies at West Los Angeles College, she is planning on transferring to USC where she knows that there is an outstanding program for those who want to become social workers. She has a background of homelessness and domestic abuse. In addition to herself, Govanna is responsible for her mother, who has suffered a stroke, her three-year-old, and a foster child. Her goal, after she completes her studies, is to help former and current foster children. She wants to be an advocate for both the parents and the children. Govanna wants to be able to change the narrative for foster children so that the ball is in their court from the start. Being a social worker is the path that she will take to accomplish this.