Putting the Heart in Heart Work: Victor Gutierrez Val Verde USD

Victor Gutierrez, a 23-year veteran at Val Verde School District, discusses his role in integrating community support within the school system. He emphasizes the importance of building trust and relationships with students, families, and community partners. The district offers various resources, including a laundromat, community store, on-site clinic, and adult ESL classes. Gutierrez highlights the impact of these services, such as providing clean clothes and healthcare, and the support from partners like Bordando Nuestras Raices and Neighborhood Healthcare. He stresses the significance of authenticity, patience, and humility in community engagement and advocates for a service-oriented mindset in education.

Transcript

SPEAKERS

Joanna Marrufo, Victor Gutierrez

Joanna Marrufo  00:08

Welcome to Beyond Academics, connecting classroom and community, the podcast where we dive deep into the world of community schools and explore how they're transforming education for students, families and communities. We are hearing from educators and community members who are at the forefront of creating change and meeting the needs of the community, be it basic needs, health care, social services support or social emotional learning. I'm Joanna Maruffo, your host, integrated supports outreach specialist with San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools. And in today's episode, we're thrilled to welcome Victor Gutierrez from Val Verde School District, who's going to share how he is putting the heart and heart work in schools. Victor Gutierrez has been the field supervisor at the family engagement, community resource and learning center at Val Verde school district located in Riverside County. He's been there for 23 years. The community holds a special place in his heart. He loves uplifting students, families, staff and his community in his role and has created positive changes in the community. Thank you so much for joining us. Victor, after visiting the family engagement, community resource and learning center, I was just so impressed to see how you've really incorporated integrated supports that are available for these families in the neighborhood. I want to open it up and ask you a couple questions on how you've been able to really start that. But first, can you share with us how you have been brought to the school district and how did you end up at your school site? 

Victor Gutierrez  01:55

I was a student at Valverde Unified School District. I lived I've  been in that community since I started school and preschool in 1986 and so holding a holding a position at us at a certain school site, you know, I was young, 19 years old, coming in, not really knowing how the school operates. And so I had the opportunity to learn from others, learn from great leaders, great administrators, and realize that this the sort of product that I'm in organization, is that building a relationship was going to be a key to my success. And so as I seen this opportunity come up, I was motivated to look at it right and figure out what was this going to look like. And it was a benefit, because it was not only next to the middle school that I went to, it was right in my community, and so I  began this position in February of 2023 a little bit over two years already, and super excited that I've had the opportunity to work with a lot of not just students, but parents and community partners, which is ongoing, you know, Part, Part of what I do and what we do in family engagement is we're constantly nurturing relationships with not just our community, but our community partners. 

Joanna Marrufo  03:10

Thank you so much for sharing. I love that you're a product of the community and now you are a public servant for the community, because that makes all the difference, right? Because, you know the things that are the students are facing, because you probably lived it as well, and are even more dedicated to  the initiative of community schools. I wanted to ask you, what are some of those unique challenges or needs that students are facing, or the families are facing at your school district, and how is what you're doing helping address them?

Victor Gutierrez  03:43

I think initially, when they whether they come to the center or come to the class, and they're new, is having that trust. What I try to do with our team is making sure that we have a welcoming spirit. We're engaging with them, we're following up with them, we're providing any type of our resources, and we're doing some good listening, right? And sometimes it's challenging for students as well to come in to our center, or come into one of our facilities and  be comfortable. And so those things take time building those relationships and building trust, and it becomes a little bit of challenging just because, you know, folks are folks might not be used to entering a school site or school district where they feel like, you know, like we're all on one team, we're all on one side, and so we try to help bring the attention down. And just like I said, concentrate on relationship building. 

Joanna Marrufo  04:31

I love that, yeah. So you're really nurturing those relationships, right, those contacts. And I saw that when I actually did a site visit, I was able to see how the care and affection that you have for all of the people that walked in through those doors,

Victor Gutierrez  04:48

I mean simple, small things of remembering folks names, our family's names, as they begin to build trust with you, they tell you stories, they offer they share ideas, and you just build a connection off when. Remembering those things, building off of it, hearing their suggestions, and having actions, right, and being authentic. And I think that's critical in in the entire team, that you, if you're not going to be authentic, folks are going to know you really don't care. And so that's important for me to know, that the families know that we care, and the kids also know as well. 

Joanna Marrufo  05:20

Yeah, that authenticity, that trust, you know, it all kind of snowballs. So that once you do offer support, they may want to take it, because they want to be a part of the work that you're doing. Do you mind sharing a little bit of what are some of the things that you offer at your space?

Victor Gutierrez  05:36

So our space currently offers a variety of resources and services from our laundromat. We have 10 commercial washers and 10 commercial dryers that run on a schedule Tuesday through Saturday that's usually a capacity weekly. We have a community store with a lot of new and gently used clothes that we distribute daily and monthly to our families, some of that. We have an on site clinic that is open the same hours, Tuesday through Saturday. They provide comprehensive health care with our PA. They have a mental behavioral health specialist, and they do vaccinations and physicals for our students and our community, and that's open to the entire public. That runs with our schedule. We also host the adult ESL classes twice a week. We do morning classes from eight to 11 o'clock, and that is a very popular class. We run a radio, computer workshops, art classes, anything that we can host with our community partners. We have that space available so I can go. We have a list go on and on and on what we offer, not only at our Community Resource Center, but also centrally at our district office.

Joanna Marrufo  06:41

Wonderful. Yeah, I feel like being at the center. I was just amazed at all the amenities that were available for not just the families but the community. I was especially impressed by the washing machines, like it was like a full service laundry mat. And I was just like, Wow, what an impact this is making for those children who you know can have that fresh pair of clothes like when they go to school. Maybe you could share a little bit about what are some of the impacts that you've seen.

Victor Gutierrez  07:12

We definitely, I personally, received emails from students that you whether it's on a weekend or on a weekday, saying, hey, I really need to come in and wash I have nothing clean but clothes to go to school. And usually, if it's urgent, we'll get them to go to the store, and we'll either have, you know, if there's anything that that fits or that they like, or we while they're doing their laundry, they can go shopping or volunteer to do community service hours. So sometimes our students are putting up clothes, and they're like, oh, you know, I like this outfit. Oh, my God, you know, I got to have it. And we're definitely like accommodating them, you know, as we've had students come with field trips through our continuation high school, and they've done shopping, they've gotten close, we registered them, and, like I said, there's a little bit of barrier than feeling a little nervous, a little shy. But as they get there, we let them kind of do their shopping. And so it's definitely a benefit of having that resource available and all the all the services and resources that we have. It's at no cost to any of our district families.

Joanna Marrufo  08:10

I love that you get that experience. Because I want to elevate the partnerships that you have with the distribution centers in Riverside County. Do you mind sharing, like, what partnerships you have going? 

Victor Gutierrez  08:22

So one of our big partners Miss Violeta Suazo She runs a non profit called Bordando Nuestras Raices. She has a direct partnership with forever 21 and we've gotten 1000s and 1000s of pieces of clothing, brand new clothing, directly for her organization. We also have a local business located right next to the district office. Is Hanes, the clothing for underwear, any type of clothing. We have a connection with the warehouse distribution directly. We can go there with our own district trucks and pick up pallets and pallets of brand new underwear, socks, T shirts, clothing. Those are some of our big contributors. We also have some individual donations that come in, or families and parents that come in and help and get these item items out on the store. I mean, we're going through we have 30 people a day visit the store that could be up to 300 hangers that have to be replaced back with clothing, back on stock. And so we have a lot of support. We can't do this work, and we can't do it without our community partners, so we're definitely blessed to have those folks contributing to our resource center.

Joanna Marrufo  09:27

That's amazing. I love how you know, for folks that you know have never even thought of these partnerships, I love elevating your story because it shows like The sky's the limit, right? Finding those people who are willing to build those partnerships with these organizations and really create that change, because it makes such a difference when the student doesn't have like, you know, brand new set of clothes like to work for the first day of school, or even throughout the year. I was just like, floored by seeing how it actually does look like a department store. 

Victor Gutierrez  09:58

Yeah and something I forgot to. We have a food pantry. So when we opened up the resource center part of our community store, we bought commercial refrigerator and a commercial freezer. And so even with the partnership with IHP, we're able to distribute over 100 Turkeys right before Thanksgiving. RCOE the county, they had some one time reimbursable grant money. We're able to purchase 20 to $6,000 worth of food and supplies for our needy families. And we did all those distributions right before Christmas break. And during Christmas break, our facility stayed open to get those items out.

Joanna Marrufo  10:30

Wow, I love that. That's like creating kind of like that relief for families during, like, a really hard time, which is the holiday season. But those, those commitments, right, even  staying open during the holiday season is what, how you're meeting families, right, where they're at,

Victor Gutierrez  10:49

yes, one thing our district, they are leadership. When they created these positions and created this facility, they made them 12 months. So either we're open year round, through the summer, through the breaks, we're  always staffed, and we're always and have availability for our families. 

Joanna Marrufo  11:07

Speaking of just those sustainability effort, you know how this lead, the leadership really believed in this work? Do you mind sharing a little bit of like, how that happened, or the history, or, you know that maybe how long it took to create where we're at today.

Victor Gutierrez  11:23

So me, you know, being in the district for, you know, some years I had, we had, everybody had been hearing like, Oh, they're going to open a laundromat. They're going to open a laundromat and  for, you know, from what I heard coming in, is that our assistant superintendent, our deputy assistant superintendent, Marco Nord, had a vision of bringing a laundromat. And so, along with the framework of community schools and the district applying for the implementation grant. It kind of came together to have this vision when I started in February, the laundromat was already there and we weren't open yet, but the machines are ready to go, and there are some facility and construction going on. Our facilities director, amazing partners he has with just getting stuff done quickly. And so by May, by May, we were in a soft launch, running the laundromat, having the community store open, and already having those building, those community partners, come and visit

Joanna Marrufo  12:12

wonderful. And I know you have a partnership with the organization that provides those preventative care services, like the clinic, and it just like was so amazing to see how it really does look like a community clinic, you know, and the work that it took to make it like effective. Can you share a little bit about that. 

Speaker 1  12:32

I'm Blessed to come in in the middle of this, there were some conversations going on between neighborhood healthcare and our district and about bringing the clinic to the site. Neighborhood had shared that they were going to apply for a grant and to see if they could get these wheels turning to get the clinic on site. Well, they weren't able to get the grant, but they went ahead and moved forward to open the facility on site. And so with the construction, and they've been open since June, believe, June 17 of 2024 they've been at capacity, and so there's already that are in review right now with our facilities department for an expansion already. And so we're super excited to have them on site. They're one of our partners, and they're one of our co workers, and we see them there daily. And we want to make sure that you know that if they need anything nurturing, fostering those relationships with our with that partner, and just having that that position and those services available to our students and our community.

Joanna Marrufo  13:32

yeah, those, those ideas of having a community based health center, making sure that that teens, families, Youth, have that access to healthcare is so critical now, because it really does help with their quality of life, right? Like, if a kid's able to get the help at school, you know, see a doctor right away, that's life changing for someone. So I'm just so happy that you have that for the families. Do you mind sharing a little bit of like, the neighborhood context of Riverside County, in that community specifically, and why that community clinic is so important.

Victor Gutierrez  14:08

Well, I know that they have a main office out of Riverside, but their vision is and I don't want to speak directly for them, but I do want to say that from what I've heard in the past, is that they want to put clinics in underserved communities. And so there's they were really interested in developing that, and especially at a school site. This is very new for them, and this was new for us to have a system health care right in our resource center. And so we were definitely excited. We're excited about the expansion. We're excited by any type of growth that we're going to continue to have with neighborhood healthcare.

Joanna Marrufo  14:44

Wonderful. Well, that's great to hear and see how people have that same vision, right, of making quality healthcare accessible to our family. So thank you so much for sharing that. Personally, I'm curious about what is one of the most rewarding things for. You in doing this work, this heart work for the families,

Victor Gutierrez  15:03

I think for me personally, I take the work very personal, because it's part of my community, as part of where I live. If I go to the store La Tienda Roja, you know, I see these, these families that we serve and with the students, but it's the building in Lasha we I remember when I started working at the center, we had an infant baby. He learned how to walk there, you know, he gets excited for us. His name's Sebastian we call him seabass. And so as you build those relationships and have those type of interactions with the families and the students, it's rewarding for me to see that in a positive outcome that our team can make a difference on impacting somebody's life. So that's super important for me. I value that. I value that as growing up in the same neighborhood, building those connections, the staff or the teachers that have those authentic relationships really cared about kids.

Joanna Marrufo  16:01

Yeah, it must be so beautiful to see those kids growing up, you know, as they go into the the TK, and maybe, you know, middle school like you get to see that growth. I'm so happy that you, you know, have been a product of that community, and can really just be a part of that growth in in positive health outcomes too, because you're contributing to their success. They're not just their academic success, but just emotionally right? Because you're a part of their lives, you're like an extension to like their family, because they see you so often. Do you feel likea role model as well?

Victor Gutierrez  16:37

Absolutely. I mean, if I think about like me being in the sixth grade, any type of motivation that I had. I mean, if I looked at, you know, my own personal family, I'm like, well, am I supposed to finish school and go get a job and, you know, be in the workforce, or what are these kids are able to do with a little bit of motivation, and they're able to do things that are beyond the scope of what they could see, whether what their living conditions are, and if they could have a mentor or somebody focused on on them and helping them and making sure that they're hearing the right things and they're motivated, I think that there's a lot of potential for our students to grow beyond what their means are.

Joanna Marrufo  17:18

I love that. Yeah, you're like planting that seed and being that trusted adult that they probably, you know, may or may not have all the time, but even having that one trusted adult can make all the difference, because they know that someone cares on campus or, you know, in that family resource center. So thank you so much for sharing that. What advice would you give to schools just starting a community school and are looking for connections?

Victor Gutierrez  17:46

Well, I would tell them to have a lot of patience. I would tell them to have a will to reach out to the community for especially for community partners, and also just to be humble in the work that they're doing and  the families that they serve. A lot of the work and a lot of interactions we have are extremely redundant, but for a family coming in not knowing what our processes our roles are, is that you just have to be gentle with them and be humble and have an understanding. So it takes patience to do that, and I would say, have be open minded. You know what the vision that can be beyond what your means may be? Because with growth and with those opportunities, the sky's the limit,

Joanna Marrufo  18:31

so be patient, be humble and really just build those authentic relationships, right?

Victor Gutierrez  18:37

And I really like what you said in the beginning, is when I talk about a position, or my position or somebody's position, is that when we're referencing ourselves, we are in position of serving. And instead of saying, people always know, like, who's the boss? Like, that's the principal, that's the superintendent, they already it's a title thing, and titles aren't important. It's what they're doing. Is the work behind the scenes, the work that they're doing for the community and for the students is super important, and I am a firm believer in that, leading by love and leaving without fear.

Joanna Marrufo  19:04

That's powerful. Yeah, that's a wonderful way to just close out our podcast and reminding us that the work we're doing is really serve others, seeing like the bigger picture. Why we're here, working at a school district, working in education, is really to watch kids thrive, watch their families thrive, and just make it a little bit easier for them, so that they're not stressing about things that you know, that often go unnoticed. For most people, right? But for them, it's a really big deal. So having clean clothes, having food, you know, for Christmas or during the week, those are little things that actually make such a big difference. So thank you so much for all the work. 

Victor Gutierrez  19:46

Absolutely thank you. You're welcome. 

Joanna Marrufo  19:49

Thank you. Thank you so much, Victor for joining us today and sharing your depth of knowledge and experience here at Beyond Academics, connecting classroom and community we love discuss. Seeing these real stories from the field innovative practices and challenges and triumphs of creating supportive environments for all learners. Whether you're an educator, a parent, or simply passionate about education, there's something here for everyone. Thank you for joining us at Beyond Academics, connecting classroom and community, where we dive deep into the stories from people who are making a difference in schools. They are the change makers who bring community schools to life by making an impact for families and children by meeting their needs. Don't forget to connect with us on social media accounts. You can find us on X at SI_RTAC, Instagram @sbcssiebranch at our website, CCSPPSIRTAC.ORG tune in for more episodes.