Student Rising Above Gives Back To Her Community

Katherine Kelleher ― (CBS5) ― Yecica Urena is known for her big heart at Eastside College Preparatory School in East Palo Alto.

"She's really kind. She's one of those people who would just want to support everyone," said Yecica's mentor and Residential Faculty at Eastside, Paulina Flores. "Yecica leads by example."

Locally, Yecica has organized tutors for the program Girls to Women, which works with girls grades K-8th. She additionally volunteers to clean up the environment with the community service group Step-by-Step.

But, on Thanksgiving of 2008 it was Yecica and her family who were the ones who needed support. Yecica's older brother was not a U.S. citizen and on his way to visit a former teacher in New Jersey for Thanksgiving he had been detained. Her brother was facing deportation to Mexico. As the oldest of five children, he was the only child without U.S. citizenship.

Yecica's brother had also been a top student at Eastside. After graduating he went off to the University of Rochester in New York.

Since her mother is not fluent in English, Yecica called her teacher for information on where her brother was being held.

The community of teachers at Eastside stepped up to help the Urena family and got Yecica's brother a lawyer, pro bono. While the legal issues are still currently being worked out, her brother is back in school attending Foothill College in Los Altos.

For Yecica, her brother's situation only highlighted the importance of education. She wrote, "This is another incentive for me to do well in school in hope of helping those who deserve to have better futures, regardless of their immigration status."

"I'm really proud of Yecica," said Flores. "She truly does exemplify an essence of sincerity and kindheartedness."

Yecica has a strong interest in psychology and hopes to attend a University on the East Coast.

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