Gregoria "La Abuelita"

Gregoria is our resident grandma and tortilla maker. She comes to the project each day to make tortillas for the snacks and lunch in our nutrition program. She is 77 years-young and shows up every. single. day. She’s only missed work to have her knees replaced and when there was a death in her family. She’s one of the hardest working women we have ever met and working is her life. She is not fond of time off and this past Christmas’ month long break was too long for her. Tears welled up in her eyes on our first day back because she missed the people here and her work.

Gregoria and one of her famous paches - a tamale made from potatoes instead of corn flower.

We’ve known her for years now. She is the sweetest lady anyone could ever meet! She always has a sweet smile and a warm hug ready for everybody. She’s a widow that we got to know from our days at 12x12 Love Project. With teams we were able to build her a kitchen and do other odd jobs/repairs she needed around her house and eventually we built her a new house. She lives with her adopted teenage daughter, Celeste. When we first met her, she had a little business where she sold flavored ice on the street to kids getting out of school to make ends meet, and she still does to this day. She won’t stop working! When we started Project for Hope, she was one of the ladies on our list but she would not be able to work in the same capacity as the other women. Having a part-time job, only about 2 hours a day, making tortillas was perfect for her. She’s a precious part of our family here!