Blooming Through Concrete: Teen Mentor Elda Grows Kids’ Resilience

A rose won’t grow in concrete. This is often heard as good advice, implying that people can only thrive in a positive environment. But growing up in my neighborhood in San Francisco, all I saw was concrete:

• My mother doing the best she could to support three kids despite not having her high school diploma.
• Banners hanging from corner stores advertising discounted alcohol and junk food.
• Sirens blaring, either from police or ambulances, signaling yet another crisis.

These were constant reminders of how I saw my community: stuck in cycles of hardship.

Searching for a way forward, I enrolled in the best public schools in San Francisco. With better resources, I was able to push myself and thrive in the classroom.

Despite my efforts, I never truly fit in. Microaggressions were part of my daily reality, and whenever I achieved academically, it was met with surprise rather than belief from both peers and teachers.

No matter how different these schools seemed, I still felt stuck in the same cycle — unable to grow, because the environment still wouldn’t help me thrive.

Mentoring Kids in My Neighborhood

My outlook changed in the summer of 2022 when I started working at the Willie Mays Clubhouse at Hunters Point, just a few minutes from my house.

As a junior staff member, I noticed how stress and scarcity caused kids in my neighborhood to act out. By creating a safe space, I set out to give every child opportunities to learn, grow and break through the concrete.

I started by addressing the gaps I knew. With limited access to fresh food in our community, I helped expand our Club’s garden, using the vegetables grown in cooking classes to teach middle schoolers how to make healthy meals. I also led a girls’ group focused on self-worth, body image and relationships, fostering confidence and support through conversation.

Some of my most meaningful moments with kids came from simple conversations. I’ll never forget the day one child asked me to DoorDash him some food. I knew he had just come into some birthday money, but when I asked him what he’d spent it on, he told me that it had gone towards a Gucci belt.

That conversation made me realize how crucial financial literacy is. In low-income communities, understanding money is essential for breaking cycles of poverty.

To teach more kids about money management, I started a financial literacy class at the Club. Kids put these lessons into action by running concession stands at high school basketball games, providing a fun way to practice saving, spending and making smart financial decisions.

As I showed them how to budget, I realized something: our kids were full of dreams, ambition and potential. Despite the concrete around us, their roses were still blooming through the cracks.

The Skky is the Limit

The more I connected with other kids and heard their stories, the more fascinated I became by how our environments shape mental health. In my household, mental health was rarely discussed, and damaging stigmas made it difficult for youth, people of color and those from low-income communities to seek help or feel truly seen.

My curiosity eventually led me to Skky, our Club’s Behavioral Health Specialist. What started as simple interest in her work grew into a powerful mentorship. Skky taught me how to set meaningful goals, to believe in myself, and to unlock my potential in ways I never imagined.

Above all, Skky taught me that a good leader always shows empathy, a distinct superpower of my generation that I proudly advocate for as Boys & Girls Clubs of America’s 2025-2026 Pacific Youth of the Year.

I’ve seen firsthand how empathy can inspire better decisions and vital support systems. Now, I’m on my way to becoming a child psychiatrist, committed to creating a society where empathy becomes instinct, one child at a time.

Growth Can Happen Anywhere

I spent years trying to leave my neighborhood, believing that success would only come if I was somewhere else, somewhere better.

But now I know thriving isn’t about the setting — it’s about how you shape it. The encouragement from adults who believe in me, the joy of watching the kids I mentored learn and grow, and a community that feels like family are gifts that I’ll cherish forever from my Boys & Girls Club.

By choosing to stay in my neighborhood and work to make it better, I not only empowered the kids who came after me, but nurtured my own growth, too.

The concrete may still surround me, but with the right mindset, mentors and willpower, I know I can bloom anywhere.