Olivia PerrettaOlivia Perretta, now 19, sang in the Glide Children’s Choir and attended after school programs at the Glide’s Janice Mirikitani Family, Youth and Childcare Center (FYCC) as a youngster.
“I wanted something I could be around every day. Glide felt like a family to me,” she says.
As she grew older, peer pressure called to her. She moved from school to school, doing well, then cutting classes, then dropping out.
“If I had stayed on that road I’d be doing bad things by now. But a voice in the back of my head kept saying ‘do the right thing’.”
When she was 17 Olivia enrolled in Glide’s Pre-YouthBuild, an academic program and prep program for construction skills training. She became one of the top students in the class, attended school every day and enrolled in the construction training program to learn a trade and become employable. As she built up her self-confidence, the staff recognized her leadership abilities and commitment to succeed and hired her as new addition to Glide’s Facilities team.
Olivia is set to graduate in May, 2010. She credits the YouthBuild staff and her boyfriend, Hector Barajas, for helping her succeed.
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