When Lihi Danon, a participant in Tierra del Sol’s NEXUS Program, walked in the Pierce College graduation ceremony yesterday evening, she was just like everyone else.
The people attending didn’t see someone with a disability. Or someone who has faced obstacles in learning her entire life.
What they did see was a college graduate. They saw someone who was dedicated to achieving herdreams. They saw someone who was entering the world.
“Lihi never became discouraged from her dream to go to school and work as an early childhood education professional,” said Steve Miller, Executive Director of the Tierra del Sol Foundation. “It took Lihi nearly four years at Pierce College to complete all of the certificate requirements and earn her Associate of Arts in Liberal Studies degree. She received assistance from the Tierra del Sol Foundation and the college’s Special Services Team – but Lihi accomplished all of this herself.”
Lihi’s participation in Tierra’s NEXUS program empowered her to meet her personal objectives for becoming a productive contributor to the greater community. Tierra created NEXUS to help young adults with disabilities, like Lihi, realize their dreams to attend college and transition successfully from school to career. Now serving over 100 students between the ages of 18 and 25, NEXUS has established partnerships with many community colleges and other post-secondary schools in the Los Angeles area.
As part of the NEXUS curriculum, students also participate in enhancing their vocational capacities and help them understand their dreams and aspirations to becoming gainfullyemployed in the community. Even in this difficult economic period, Tierra continues to develop jobs and support their clients to succeed as productive employees for companies across Los Angeles County.
While attending to her studies at Pierce College, Lihi completed an internship with the Child Development Institute and received four distinct Early Childhood Education Certificates In fact, her hard work and accomplishments have already been noticed by employers.
“Lihi just accepted a new job at ONEGeneration and has begun work in her field of early childhood education,” said Steve Miller. “She will be working as a substitute teacher and in her role she will have the opportunity to engage with students of differentages in a variety of classrooms. Lihi exemplifies the many ways NEXUSparticipants and graduates achieve success, and we are very pleased to congratulate her on her new post!”
For more information about the Tierra del Sol Foundation, visit www.tierradelsol.org or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/tierradelsolfoundation
