When people find out that I don’t live with my parents they ask all kinds of questions: “Why are your parents in Mexico?” and “Why do you live with your uncle?”
About 15 or 20 years ago, I participated in a Affordable Housing Task Force with the city of Merced. There were people there with real estate interests, with construction interests, and a couple of us were from the perspective of community involvement. It was sad that it was dissolved.
Now that I’m back in Merced, I have been challenging myself to leave my comfort zone and I feel that I have matured a lot over these past couple of years. Being at home with the moral support of family and friends has made this easier for me.
Echoing statements by the Pope, Medrano pointed to the unbridled capitalism eroding our planet’s health and leaving millions of poor vulnerable to the effects of climate change. “Unless we change our economic system, we cannot care for the most vulnerable people in our communities. They are the ones who are being the most affected by climate change.”