Elizabeth Lopez-Hernandez, new Community Health Worker and Climate Justice Advocate at Familias en Acción, describes her philosophy: “Life has no ‘class syllabus’ to tell you what to do…you have to try things to find out.”
That philosophy led Elizabeth into experiences that required balancing strong family ties with a passion to experience life and push herself to test, and find, independence and resilience. Growing up in Gresham, OR as a first generation Mexican American, Elizabeth helped her parents translate and navigate employment, community and legal systems—even worked as a legal assistant in a law firm to understand the workings of those systems. Going to college in Portland she was only a half hour away, but when offered the opportunity to study in France she saw it as a chance to fulfill a dream. Her parents were shocked—and worried—that she would face the same challenges they do as immigrants. She thought she had understood her parents’ immigration experience, but in France she lived through it firsthand –doing everything alone with only the most basic language skills: find an apartment, negotiate price, learn to shop, set up a bank account and work multiple jobs on top of studying. It is that understanding and resilience that she now brings to her work as a CHW, helping others take steps forward and find resources.
It was during the college years that her passion for the environment and working with youth came together. Through a new French friend she learned about the environmental impacts of a meat based diet. In political science classes she learned how underdeveloped countries were losing natural resources to richer countries. And that the resulting wars, poverty and migration would never be solved without addressing the underlying effects of climate change.
When working with youth programs she used environmental issues as the platform for tutoring English, developing curriculum around water management, organizing trail clean ups, etc….always planting seeds of information. She finds youth to be really interested in their environment and is certain that, if their creativity and positivity is recognized and given wrap around support, they have the potential to be leaders that will bring about change.
Her current role at Familias is holding Charlas to learn about how climate change is affecting lives in the Latino/x/e community….and getting ideas about how to approach it. She knows that Familias en Acción cannot do it alone, that we need the resources the community members bring. With encouragement and education they will become the strongest voice and best advocates for change. Because she feels supported in her new role, she will be able to bring that support and enthusiasm into tackling climate justice. She sums up her motivation this way: “You must try to do what you think is right. So you don’t look back and say What if…”
