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Local Hero Myra Curiel Helps Aging Out Foster Youth with Move-in Kits

Myra Curiel, 2014 Hispanic Heritage Month Local Hero Honoree.
Ronald Stein
Myra Curiel, 2014 Hispanic Heritage Month Local Hero Honoree.

Hispanic Heritage Month 2014 Honoree

When Myra Curiel aged out of the foster care system and enrolled in Casa de Amparo’s New Directions transitional housing program in Oceanside, she received a welcome basket.

"I wasn't really expecting anything at all," says the 2014 Hispanic Heritage Month honoree. "I had a small apartment with a roommate, and I arrived with very little--some clothes and books, two towels, a blanket and a little bit of gas in my car. One of the staff, showing me around said, 'Here's a basket for you to help you out.' It was filled with shampoo, dishes and utensils, toiletries, laundry detergent, a comforter, everything I needed. That was very nice."

Curiel, who is 22, assumed every foster youth moving into transitional housing receives such a basket. Not so. She soon learned just how fortunate she was.

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"I lived off of my basket for four months while I was out of a job, and didn't have to worry about going to the store to buy body wash or other necessities,” she says. “I assumed other THP's (Transitional Housing Programs) would do the same, but I would often hear from my peers the struggle they had when first moving in. Getting the basic essentials such as shampoo or dish soap, or even something as simple as toilet paper, can be impossible for others.”

A year later, while doing an internship as a peer mentor for Extended Foster Care at the San Diego County Foster Youth Mentor Program, she shared her idea for creating a move-in kit with Omar Mikhail, co-founder of Power of Change (POC), a non-profit dedicated to improving the lives of underprivileged children.

“Omar Mikhail came to one of our meetings to speak to the social workers,” she remembers. “He wanted to see what foster youth needed and what he could do. To me, that was very impressive. He talked with such enthusiasm. I didn’t speak up, but the next day I emailed him and said, ‘If you really want to help the youth, a basket of necessities would be essential.’ The next day, I got this response that said, ‘That's such a great idea. I want to support you, I'm willing to give you 100 baskets.’”

Curiel spent the next four months working with Mikhail to achieve the goal of 100 move-in kits, which are provided free to qualifying youth.

Curiel and co-founder of Power of Change, Omar Mikhail, distributing "move-in kits."
Myra Curiel
Curiel and co-founder of Power of Change, Omar Mikhail, distributing "move-in kits."

“I never really thought the idea would become reality,” notes Curiel. “But with the support of several volunteers, what was going to be 100 turned into 260 boxes. We filled them with essential toiletries and distributed them to emancipated youth moving for the first time into their very own home and also to those struggling to get by.”

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Most of the move-in kits have been distributed to youth that are aging out of the foster system, via the County of San Diego social workers. Some have been distributed through organizations such as, the Transition Age Youth (TAY) Academy and Casa de Amparo.

Adds Mikhail, “Power of Change aspires to make the ‘move-in kit’ program a yearly event to help not only local foster youth in San Diego, but to expand the program to foster youth in other cities and counties. This is a vision that both POC and Myra share, and she is definitely on board with the future of the move-in kit program. The very reason I started Power of Change was with the hope that one day POC could help make a difference in a person’s life in a way shown to me by Myra. Myra’s story only motivates me to work harder at POC to make a positive change in others.”

Curiel, who describes herself as respectful, giving and humble, was 14 when she entered the foster care system.

“My life as I knew it came crumbling down in front of my own eyes,” she says. “I came to experience foster care for the first time, a concept to which I was previously oblivious. I was the only child in my family to be removed, due to physical, verbal, and sexual abuse. I finally had the courage to speak up about the abuse, thanks to my tutors who encouraged me to take a stand. As a result, I was taken to the hospital and went through something I wish no other child has to ever experience. Yet, if I had never gone through these circumstances, I would have not have met two very important people.”

The two people Curiel refers to are Omar and Bithiah Perez, who were her tutors in Bible Study and who later became her first foster parents, after spending a month at the Polinsky Children’s Center.

“It is thanks to them that I am who I am today,” she says. “I learned patience, forgiveness, and what love is for a child. With them, I never felt judged or that I had to hide my feelings. They allowed me to express myself freely and without fear.”

Curiel with her foster family, Omar and Bithiah Perez and their three sons.
Myra Curiel
Curiel with her foster family, Omar and Bithiah Perez and their three sons.

A year later, Curiel was moved to another foster home. She resented being removed from the stability she had found with Omar and Bithiah, and felt as though her new foster parent was trying to “push her buttons.” But when she was assigned to a new social worker who realized she was unhappy, Curiel was transferred to San Pasqual Academy in Escondido. She spent the next two years there.

“I came across good people and good staff who I still keep in contact with,” she says. “They taught me a lot, to be more responsible, more thoughtful. The youth taught me not to judge so quickly. I guess that's where this idea of wanting to give back comes from. San Pascual Academy put so much effort into giving me a better life.”

Curiel sees one of the biggest challenges facing foster youth as not having a solid support system.

“Even though there are a lot of programs that help foster youth, it’s not the same as being able to have someone you feel safe and confident going to,” Curiel observes. “It’s sometimes hard to keep those connections because, if there's a problem that comes into the relationship, some of us were not taught to think it through and let it go. We tend to burn our bridges, cuss people out and show them how we feel by not returning phone calls. That's when we start losing the support system, and without it, we sometimes fail to succeed because we don't have someone guiding us.”

Curiel hopes to one day open a group home where everyone will be welcome. A home that won’t be limited by gender or age, and where everyone can have their own bed, food and, most of all, feel comfortable.

Curiel with one of her younger sisters, Francisca.
Myra Curiel
Curiel with one of her younger sisters, Francisca.

“I want to be like Mama Myra,” she says. “Where they can come up to me for support and feel safe. I see myself giving a lot, not because I'm rich but because I know what it feels like to have nothing. To me, giving sort of nourishes me and keeps me going.”

This summer, Curiel became a job coach for Towards Maximum Independence, an organization that helps individuals with developmental, mental and physical disabilities be part of their community. She also is working on her Bachelor’s Degree at San Diego Mesa College, where she is majoring in Human Resources, and hopes to complete her degree at Cal State San Marcos.

Reflecting on her life thus far, she notes, “I know I will achieve my goals. To paraphrase Eleanor Roosevelt, I can tell you that I gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which I stop and look fear in the face and am able to say, I lived through this horror, I can take the next thing that comes along. It empowers me each and every time.”

Myra Curiel Local Heroes 2014