Outdoor Explorers

Since 2024, I have held several roles at La Clinica Fenix in Highwood, IL, a non-profit healthcare center serving primarily Spanish-speaking immigrant families with low-cost medical services. I live three blocks away, and watching the divide between Highwood and Highland Park up close is what drew me in. What started as volunteering grew into something I didn't expect.

Alongside Bertha Chavez, the community outreach coordinator, I co-created Outdoor Explorers Camp, a weekly outdoor program for children and families intended to get people off of screens and active outside. We designed hands-on, screen-free activities every Saturday, scavenger hunts, kickball and soccer games, beach trips with sand-hole digging competitions and ravine explorations. On our second week, Bertha's Facebook livestream went mini-viral within the community, doubling our expected turnout to over 30 participants.

During the school year, my work at Fenix continues through a weekly tutoring clinic where I work one-on-one with students in Spanish, math, and English. Fenix is the place where I've learned that showing up consistently is how you build trust.

September 2024 – Present