Program teaches young mothers to find the leader within

By Gracie Bonds Staples

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

In a way, Zindy Alatorre could not believe what she had done as she graduated Friday from the Parent Leadership Institute.

Alatorre, 38, who joined other women graduating in the annex across the parking lot from St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Norcross, can barely speak English. But one of the first things you learn at the institute is that you’re already a leader.

That much Amy Griffin-Vieira sensed almost from the moment she met Alatorre.

“Zindy was so quiet at first,” said Griffin-Vieira, a trainer and program manager. “What she has blossomed into and what she had done in her community, you would not believe it.”

What Alatorre and six of her cohorts did was rally a cadre of volunteers to transform their Norcross trailer park from a dark, scruffy place to bright and pleasant.

In what was billed as a painting party -- with a table spread with food, drinks and games to keep the children busy -- they spent two days painting each others' homes. They also met with management to get improvements, including two new bathrooms in the community clubhouse.

Could she have pulled if off without the training she received from the institute?

“No,” said Alatorre, a petite woman with curly hair pulled back in a ponytail.

The institute is part of a strategic plan launched in 2004 by the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta to give young mothers the tools they need to become better advocates for themselves, their children and their communities.

Alatorre was one of 30 women, mostly Hispanics, who graduated Friday from the program, a series of six workshops focused on such things as building participants’ self-esteem and helping them set goals and organize and promote change in their communities.

“We view leadership as a continuum, starting with I am a leader, then I’m a leader of my family, a leader of my child’s academic success, and then of the community,” Griffin-Vieria said.

With that in mind, participants are required to work on a final community project, a culmination of the skills and practices they learned in the institute.

“Parents start off as a little bit shy, not seeing themselves as a leader, and then graduate from the institute having already made change in their community and informed other parents of how to do the same,” Griffin-Vieira said.

Speaking through an interpreter, Alatorre said she heard about the institute early this year from one of her children’s teachers. She said the program has helped build her confidence beyond what she had imagined.

“Here they teach us specific qualities that a leader has to have to be successful, like respecting each other and learning how to listen,” she said. “I thought it would be very difficult but it wasn’t. It was awesome.”

Alatorre said the beautification project at her trailer park was just the beginning of her advocacy work.

Her next goal, she said, is to add chairs and benches to the children’s play area and talk to the management about beefing up security in the neighborhood.