Our Clients
Amanecer serves people of all ages, from toddlers to seniors. In addition to mental illness and behavioral disorders, our clients are challenged by poverty, food insecurity, neighborhood violence, immigration issues, domestic abuse, substance abuse, lack of education and employment opportunities, and language barriers. Many are monolingual Spanish-speakers.
We serve individuals and families living in neighborhoods throughout central and downtown Los Angeles, including Pico-Union, South Central, Hollywood, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, Lincoln Heights, Boyle Heights, Los Feliz, and Koreatown.
Client sessions last year.
Meet Sonia
At 6 years old, Sonia’s mother was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer and passed away within a matter of weeks. Sonia was so terrified and confused. She couldn’t make sense of what happened to her mother. She questioned if her mother stopped loving her and that’s why she was gone. Sonia lost interest in everything. Every day, she begged to just go where her mother lived.
Her family had no idea how to help Sonia nor did they have the resources to seek outside help. A neighbor recommended Amanecer and we were able to provide the help Sonia needed immediately through The Amanecer Children’s Fund, a private donation fund to help children in need.
Sonia’s therapist helped her understand death and loss and taught her how to keep her mother alive in her mind. On her last visit to Amanecer, she thanked her therapist for making her feel safe again.
Meet Becky
When Becky was 6, her mother developed a condition that caused her to be quite ill for a year. Her mother was able to get the condition under control, but that year scarred Becky. She formed an extreme anxiety about getting sick herself. By age 17, Becky was having near-daily anxiety attacks. She would often have to miss school because leaving the house was overwhelming for her. When she did make it to school, she would have anxiety attacks about being behind on the curriculum. Her grades began to suffer and she was on schedule to have to repeat her senior year.
The anxiety attacks were paralyzing Becky and her parents both. They felt helpless in the face of their daughter’s intensifying anxiety until they found Amanecer. Through therapy and case management, Becky was able to learn coping skills that would help her when her anxiety reared its head. In time, she stopped having anxiety attacks altogether. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Her Amanecer treatment team advocated for her at school and was able to arrange for Becky to attend continuation school, which allowed her to graduate on time. In the months since then, she has been able to rely on the coping skills she learned to keep her anxiety under control. She got a job and is looking to move up to a managerial role there. She is making friends and overcame her fear of learning how to drive. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
Meet Peter
Peter, 36, was all alone. He’d returned from military deployment with a severe knee injury. His boyfriend of six years had just broken up with him. Desperate for comfort, Peter turned to his family, but they shunned him for being gay and he fell into a deep, dark depression.
It started with isolation – he felt incredibly alone and upset, so he began to withdraw socially, preferring to stay in his apartment more and more. Peter started to experience what he described as “death nightmares” that would wake him nightly with severe panic attacks. Due to the lack of sleep and poor eating habits, his once stellar physical health began to deteriorate; his teeth started to decay. He soon lost his job. This depression and isolation progressively got worse over the next year. ⠀
When Peter was first referred to Amanecer, he was so embarrassed by his decaying teeth that he was reluctant to open his mouth to speak. But through weekly visits with his case manager and monthly visits with his psychiatrist, he began to make improvements. Visit after Visit, Peter’s depression became more manageable and he soon felt confident enough to return to work as a professional hairstylist.
His case manager connected him with resources that enabled him to get his teeth repaired and acquire the items he needed to resume work in the salon. What’s more, his nightmares diminished and he started to smile again.
Meet Rosa
Raped and abused as a child, Rosa found herself in a string of emotionally and physically abusive relationships. At twenty, Rosa was seven months pregnant with her youngest child. One night, her husband nearly killed her by repeatedly kicking her with his steel-tipped boots.
Before she had even recovered from the attack, she fled with her children to California. With a friend’s help, Rosa arrived at Amanecer with a limp from the beatings and a knife scar across her face.⠀
After a year of therapy, Rosa has learned to recognize the patterns of the abuse, to identify red flags, and avoid potentially dangerous relationships.
She now recognizes her self-worth and talents; and has developed a positive outlook on her future. Although building her self-confidence is a work in progress, Rosa is determined to build a life for herself and her four children. She is working on her GED and taking advantage of Amanecer’s employment and job-training resources.⠀⠀⠀⠀
