Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/661708
8 SANTA CRUZ WOMAN | SPRING 2016 WATSONVILLE—Gina Castaneda is not just a juvenile probation officer, but the most famous one in Santa Cruz County for the impact she's had on local teens. For those who knew her as a teenager, that's something hard to believe. From the age of 11 to 15, she lived with her mother and sister in abandoned cars in Watsonville and behind the backstop of the E.A. Hall Middle School softball field. Her mother was an abusive alcoholic and her brothers were in gangs. At 16, she got a part-time job at Subway and rented a Watsonville apartment with her younger sister. "School was really difficult for me," says Castaneda, 41. She is married now and the mother of three girls. "Because of the kind of work I do now, I see my old principals who are now superintendents," she says. "And, every time they see me, they give me a hug and they tell me, 'I can't believe you made it.'" As a probation officer, she teaches gang education classes and when there's a homicide, she's part of a support team for the victim's family. She is most well known, however, for founding the Aztecas Youth Soccer Academy in 2008, a widely acclaimed afterschool program for 50 boys, many of them rival gang members. The program has received national attention and was featured in an ESPN documentary series in 2011. She won the annual UC Santa Cruz Tony Hill Memorial award and spoken internationally about her work. Her 2011 TEDxSantaCruz talk has more than 10,000 online views. Castaneda now runs the soccer academy as part of her full-time work at the county probation office, where she also manages a caseload of four at-risk boys, connecting them with services "before it's too late." Castaneda credits a middle school teacher and an athletic director for guiding her out of a cycle of poverty. She remembers when she hit rock bottom at the age of 13. She hadn't eaten for days and went into a breakfast diner to use the restroom. "People had left scraps on their plates and I'd go to the bathroom and stuff it in my face," Castaneda says. "And, then I'd take the paper towels and soap and wash my body." She returned for several days until a waitress stopped her, saying other diners complained. "I just remember going to the back of the pancake house and opening the garbage and looking for food," she says. "That's my drive. That's why I do what I do. I'll never forget that hurt and pain. I'll never forget that emptiness." Today Castaneda volunteers more than 30 hours per week. She is the head coach of her daughters' soccer teams and serves as a board member of two local service organizations. She teaches a high school class mentoring students how to stay out of trouble and, in the summer, she distributes free lunches for children at a Pájaro park. "With the right support, look at where I am today," Castaneda says. "If we give kids the right support, they can be amazing, inspiring leaders and that's what I'm trying to do." The Right Support Gina Castaneda builds young leaders from troubled youths "If we give kids the right support, they can be amazing, inspiring leaders and that's what I'm trying to do." By Kara Guzman Gina Castaneda Juvenile Probation Officer/ Founder of Youth Soccer Program Photo by Lexie Corfiatis