Chapter 3: We Are Here To Serve

Students of Project STEPS GEAR UP in 2015

After securing our 501(c)3 status from the IRS, The PLUS ME Project began with a single guest speaker program. Over a near decade of work, we now have seven workshop series to offer students, educators, and parents. Every program was created in response to a need within the educational communities we serve. Our work is powerful because it is attuned to the people it was created to support. 

That work began in 2014. Richard was working part time with a global educational camp and met Yolia Aguirre, then Program Director of the Project STEPS GEAR UP program. He was a facilitator for one of her classes when he mentioned starting PLUS ME and shared his story with her. She was inspired to try out the power of story with the students she served. At that time, Richard was the only staff member and workshop facilitator at PLUS ME. Bringing story into classrooms meant translating the process that he went through to develop his own. He worked closely with Yolia and other educators to create a story-driven workshop that engaged students in reflection, confidence-building, and connecting with peers through vulnerable sharing. Storytellers PLUS ME was born and piloted throughout 2015. This new work was certainly a challenge, but it was made sweeter by the fact that the launch of this program happened at Richard and Yolia’s alma mater, North Hollywood High School. When it became clear that others in the community could benefit from the emotional introspection built into Storytellers, Richard created a version just for educators. Yolia remembers Richard was “a wonderfully adaptable partner,” using story as a flexible tool to serve the needs of each group. 

The power of story even reached the Project STEPS GEAR UP staff. “After watching the students go through the process, the staff knew we had to do the same”, Yolia shared. After reflecting, building, and sharing their stories as a group many staff decided to update their life pathways. According to Yolia they had been “working so quickly, this was the first chance to stop and reflect for many of us.” Even Yolia made a career shift, deciding to leave her prestigious position administering a Federal program to return to the classroom where she could develop a closer relationship to her work and her students.

PLUS ME partnered with the Project STEPS GEAR UP program in the San Fernando Valley for the duration of their grant and this one connection led to many other partnerships with other GEAR UP programs and schools within Los Angeles Unified School District.