“I’m becoming the person I wish I had when I was young”: Meet Coral
When Coral talks about her future, she rarely starts with herself.
Instead, she talks about children.
She talks about creating safe spaces where young people can learn, grow, and feel supported. She talks about becoming a teacher. She talks about one day opening a childcare center where children can play outside, cultivate gardens, and simply be kids. And she talks about the importance of being present for others.
That commitment is deeply personal.
“Because I didn’t have people to really support me as a kid, I want to be that person for other kids,” Coral said. “I’m being the person I wish I had.”
Today, Coral works with children through a local school and a youth-centered nonprofit. She helps create safe, welcoming environments where young people can learn, play, and be themselves. But the path that brought her there was not an easy one.
As a child, Coral experienced instability, neglect, and abuse. At sixteen, she found herself on her own and eventually experienced homelessness. Yet even during those difficult years, one characteristic consistently shaped her decisions: a deep sense of care for other people.
While living on the streets, she found herself helping others whenever she could. She remembers assisting a young mother with her infant and offering support to people around her who were struggling. Looking back, she realizes that even when her circumstances were uncertain, her compassion remained constant.
“I always had that care and that heart in me,” she said. “I knew I wasn’t meant to be out there.”
For many years, Coral struggled with the message that her life did not matter. Eventually, she decided she would no longer define herself through the way others had treated her.
“Just because nobody cared about me doesn’t mean I’m not going to care about myself,” she said.
That decision became a turning point.
Coral began focusing on education, stability, and the future she wanted to build. Through connections with Safe Place for Youth (SPY) and Venice Community Housing, she enrolled in educational programs that helped her continue working toward her high school diploma. Even while living in a tent, she remained committed to school, waking up each morning and finding ways to stay connected and keep moving forward. Eventually, she graduated through Westside Youth Academy, Venice Community Housing’s educational program for young people.
Housing provided the stability she had been missing for years.
“When you don’t have housing, everything is temporary,” Coral explained. “You don’t know where you’ll sleep. You don’t know if your things will be safe. You have to carry everything with you.”
Having a home gave her the ability to think beyond immediate survival and focus on what came next.
Today, Coral lives at Rose Apartments, works two jobs supporting youth, and is pursuing her college education with the goal of becoming an elementary school teacher. She hopes to complete her bachelor’s degree and eventually open her own childcare center.
Along the way, she has also become an advocate. She has participated in homeless youth advocacy efforts, volunteered in community programs, and regularly shares her experiences to help others understand what is possible when people receive support, opportunity, and stability.
What makes Coral’s story remarkable is not simply where she started or where she is today. It is the intentional way she has transformed difficult experiences into a sense of purpose.
Rather than allowing her past to define her future, she has chosen to use it as a guide for helping others.
When asked what accomplishment she is most proud of, she doesn’t mention any single milestone. Instead, she reflects on the strength it took to keep moving forward.
“I’m proud that I pulled myself out,” she said. “And because I know I can do that, I want to keep pushing myself now.”