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 Marisa
SOL Precinct Walker,
San Jose, California
"We can make life better for immigrant Latinos."
Today, Marisa works at a loan company. She is a loving mother of two sons - Eduardo is 12 years old, Alex is 16. She is also a leader among Latino immigrants in San Jose. "Some immigrants have stopped dreaming. We can't let that happen."
In 1989, Marisa was a newly married missionary in Vera Cruz Mexico. When she and her husband learned she was pregnant they decided to come to California. "We came for a better life for our child. We didn't have a choice. We had to come."
Years before, Marisa's sister had married an American. Their family lived in San Jose. They took in Marisa, her husband and newborn son. Life at first was not easy. The families' new home was crowded. Neither Marisa nor her husband spoke English. Other than Marisa's family, they didn't know anyone.
One day, Marisa's husband asked a stranger in the street if he was documented. The man recoiled in fear. Then realizing Marisa's husband was only looking for work, the stranger explained that immigrants go in the morning to the parking lot at the Tropicana shopping center.
The next morning her husband took a job as a laborer. Later he would assure a foreman that he was a skilled carpenter. He wasn't. But he was determined. He worked hard. He learned quickly. His bosses came to respect him.
Life the first year was hard. Years later, Marisa would look back at her old house and think with astonishment, "I lived in that terrible apartment. We sacrificed so much, but life here in California was better." Marisa's family soon followed. Her little sister came, than her mom, and finally her aunt. Her family was now reunited.
To help her family make ends meet, Marisa went looking for work at Jack-In-The-Box. "The only word I knew was 'clean' so I thought I could become a janitor." She motioned to the store manager with her hands that she could scrub the tables and floor. He sensed her energy, he saw her optimistic smile. He hired her as a cashier.
She would learn English taking orders for hamburgers. Soon she had saved enough money to study English at a local college.
In 1994 after the birth of her second son, Marisa's marriage ended. Marisa was now on her own, but she was determined to succeed. She saw the prosperity in Silicon Valley.
She became convinced she could do better. "I knew that there had to be a way." She learned English. Now she wanted to get a real estate license. She would take the real estate license examine four times. She passed it on the fifth try.
Marisa eventually became active in the community organization ACORN. Through ACORN, she learned about SOL. "I love my community. There is so much here. We can make life better for immigrant Latinos, if we work together."
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