Mothers lead change in Merced communities

Some say that if you want to see change in a community, you leave it up to moms.

The power of moms, they say, is like no other.

Mothers around Merced County are proof of this.

Veronica Rodriguez, 30, and Bernadette Vargas, 36, for example, are two mothers who have taken on the duty of painting over graffiti in the streets of Winton.

On Friday afternoon, the two women brought along their families to paint a wall behind the Central Valley Opportunity Center on Bridget Court.

The large wall, visible to traffic at Santa Fe Avenue and California Street was covered in graffiti when they arrived. About an hour and several coats of paint later, the wall was spotless.

Rodriguez and Vargas work at Lifeline Community Center in Winton. Most of their workday consists of helping those in need.

Once a week, the women volunteer their time to restore walls plastered with graffiti. Vandalism, they said, is not a good look for the place they are raising their children.

A lot of the restoration happens near schools. “We try to keep it away from our children,” said Rodriguez, a mother of three. But in an area with a lot of gang activity, the work seems never-ending.

Vargas, a mother of six, said it is hard to explain to her youngest child why tagging walls is wrong when she sees it in so many places.

“My youngest daughter has tried coloring the walls at home because she thinks it’s OK,” Vargas said. “It’s hard to explain to her why some people do it, but she shouldn’t.”

The mothers said they do the work themselves because it gets done faster. They said that although Merced County’s graffiti abatement crew does some work to remove tagging in the area, many times walls are vandalized again just days after they’ve been cleaned.

“We’ve noticed that when we paint over the graffiti, (the walls) stay clean a little longer,” Rodriguez said. “I don’t know if that means people respect our work.”

Beautifying communities is one way Merced County mothers have shown leadership. Others, like Arlette Flores, 35, plan change in the community by empowering fellow parents.

Last year, Flores, a Merced resident and mother of four, took part in the Parent Leadership Training Institute, a 20-week course that aims to provide parents with tools to become advocates for their children.

Flores said that after completing the program, she felt equipped with the knowledge and confidence to start leading the changes she wanted to see in her community.

Just this week, Flores held the first meeting of her newly formed support group: Women Harvesting Hope. The group, Flores explained, was created for immigrant mothers like herself who may feel left behind in their children’s academic and social life because of language and cultural barriers.

The idea for the support group came from her own experience. Flores said there was a time when she faced depression and an eating disorder as a result of feeling isolated.

“I don’t have much family here, and I didn’t know where to turn,” she said. From the Parent Leadership Training Institute, Flores learned that a mother’s well-being is critical for the success of her children, and the success of youths are reflected in the community.

“Mothers are the pillar of a family,” Flores said. “We have to be OK for our families to be OK.”

Her support group will meet every first and third Thursday of the month at United Methodist Church of Merced. She hopes that the group can help provide guidance to mothers who need a little boost of self-esteem.

“We, as moms, overcome a lot of things,” Flores said, “but if we don’t push for change, who will?”

This story was originally published May 8, 2015 at 10:44 PM with the headline "Mothers lead change in Merced communities."