Elideth is a palm tree.

Elideth Hernandez grew up in a small town outside of Mexico City, the eldest of seven children. She learned from her mother to make mole and tamales from scratch and from her father and grandfather to grow tomatoes and avocados. And yet by the age of fifteen she yearned to expand her horizons. Dubbed oveja negra (black sheep) by her family, she was the first to leave her hometown, San Andrés Tlalamac, to work and to study English and computer science in Mexico City. She moved to Chicago at age 16, with an infant daughter, to pursue educational opportunities that were out of reach in Mexico.

“IN THE BEGINNING, I FELT LIKE I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT, WITH NO FAMILY IN A NEW COUNTRY. I WAS LOST.”

Elideth received help from the parent mentors at her daughter's school in the Chicago Lawn neighborhood. She credits strong women of color—black and brown women—for encouraging her and believing in her when she didn’t believe in herself. Now, with an innate sense of leadership, she passes on the lessons, strength, and encouragement to other young mothers.

“MY PASSION IS TO GIVE BACK WHAT I RECEIVED.”

As a parent mentor organizer, Elideth works at four elementary schools on the southwest side of Chicago. She and her team help thousands of parents each year, providing support ranging from tutoring for their children, to helping with job searches, financial literacy, and assistance with immigration issues. She is recognized for the care she takes to get to know parents on a human level. One-on-one meetings are the corazón del trabajo—the heart of the work—that form a foundation of trust and mutual understanding. In turn, parents seek her out for advice and counsel. She urges them to take advantage of opportunities to better themselves including GED, ESL, and technology classes.

“AN EDUCATION IS SOMETHING NO ONE CAN TAKE AWAY FROM YOU.”

Elideth practices what she preaches. She is curious, constantly working to broaden her horizons. She is currently enrolled at Truman College studying early childhood education and taking three to five classes a quarter. She inquires with those around her about events and happenings in their lives, as a means of discovering more about her world. She is training for the Chicago Marathon this fall. She is relentless.

During the pandemic, Elideth was a problem solver in chief, always ready to find solutions for families in need. She was already essential to the parents she was mentoring, but her work took on new urgency and importance: rental assistance, food deliveries, mental health support, responding to the increase in domestic violence, vaccination appointments. The deep and intentional relationships she had built in her community prior to the pandemic helped make her work successful.

Elideth uses symbols to share the lessons she’s learned, often connected to her love of nature: she is the palm tree flexible enough to weather the battering winds. You are the curved bamboo plant, slowly being shaped by your experiences.  The water that fills the vase and feeds the plant is our tears, from challenges as well as joys. The bowl of pebbles on her desk represents the people in the community where she lives. Each is a different color and shape. Each is strong. 

These symbols are her way of encoding the insights from her journey, from San Andrés Tlalamac to Chicago Lawn. A journey she has traveled with grace and conviction.

“ONE FOOT IN FRONT OF THE OTHER, ALWAYS MOVING FORWARD.”