“Health. Hunger. Homelessness. Immigration issues. I work with both residents and undocumented people, who don’t have many resources. Leadership Fellows discussions on these topics were really interesting, and it turns out that a lot of people aren’t as aware of the diversity and basic human needs in our community.”
As a recent participant in Leadership Fellows Boulder County – a joint leadership development and networking program of the Community Foundation and the Boulder Chamber – Gisela Hernandez was pleased to encounter diversity.
“What really stands out to me about the program is its wonderful representation of our Latino community,” says Gisela, Bilingual Independent Living Advisor with the Center for People With Disabilities, a grantee of the foundation’s Community Trust. “Most of the people I work with are Latino, or otherwise Spanish-speaking. So it was really good that – at every session of the Leadership Fellows program – someone who’s Latino or representing the Latino population was part of the conversation.
“Usually, there’s no one representing the Latino community.”
In her work to help community members navigate systems and overcome barriers to independent living, Gisela was particularly tuned in to Leadership Fellows discussions that explore and emphasize countywide critical human needs.
“Health. Hunger. Homelessness. Immigration issues. I work with both residents and undocumented people, who don’t have many resources,” she explains. “Leadership Fellows discussions on these topics were really interesting, and it turns out that a lot of people aren’t as aware of the diversity and basic human needs in our community.
“It was really important to discuss these topics – especially for me, because I work with these populations. For my English-speaking clients, their needs are more around housing. For my Spanish-speaking clients, their needs are more along the lines of resources and referrals, and navigating systems.”
Indeed, in her current position for the past two years, Gisela does double duty as someone who’s both bilingual and bicultural. “That’s useful, since our approach is to meet everyone wherever they’re at, and to look at each case – each person – as someone on their own path. We asses their needs and help them where they need to go.”
And that’s no simple task. According to Gisela, the Center for People With Disabilities is one of only nine such living centers in Colorado, and the only one in Boulder County.
