Southeast L.A. student turned environmental racism and redlining in her community into hope for a future career in STEM

More Latinos are now enrolling at four-year colleges, but affordability still remains an obstacle. 

Among Latinos who do not have a bachelor’s degree and are not enrolled in school, about seven-in-ten Latinos (71%) say a major or minor reason is that they need to work to help support family, while 69% say they couldn’t afford a four-year degree, according to the Pew Research Center.

College affordability restrictions can include the cost of tuition, transportation issues, or a desire not to take on any debt. Latinos are more likely than other students to avoid taking on debt and have difficulties paying back student loans.

While many Latinos still struggle financially to pursue a higher education, the AltaMed Escalera Program is helping students from Southeast Los Angeles academically and financially. 

Montserrat Hidalgo, a native of South Gate and a past ambassador for the program at South Gate High School, was one of the 23 students to receive a scholarship this year from the AltaMed Escalera program.

“I joined the AltaMed Escalera program my junior year of high school because of the amazing career pathways, exposure and networking opportunities the program would provide. I also enjoyed how AltaMed has professionals who look just like myself,” Hidalgo said.

Rosa Velez, AltaMed’s Escalera Program Coordinator, said that students get selected for the scholarship based on their application, engagement, program participation and financial needs.

The Escalera program was first launched by AltaMed in 2002 at James A. Garfield High School and later expanded to SouthEast High School and South Gate High School. Currently, the program has helped more than 25, 000 high school students graduate, assisting them in pursuing post-secondary education and achieving a healthier and more successful future. It also has 100 more Escaleras affiliates.

Hidalgo said that growing up in Southeast Los Angeles made her realize how her and her sister's health issues were correlated with environmental racism and redlining in her community. “When I was smaller, I had asthma and my sister also had asthma when she was young. She went to the hospital for lung issues,” she said.

Her personal health issues and the way they impacted her led her to develop a passion  for advocating for environmental justice and decide to pursue environmental science and work on research to create and support policies. “I grew up with freeways and railroads next to my friend’s houses, schools on toxic soil sites and factories confining my city. The more I learned about these environmental issues that affect the people I love, the more I decided to not just stand around and watch my friends, family, and even myself struggle with asthma, migraines and even cancer,” Hidalgo said.

As the coordinator of the program, Velez said that she feels very rewarded knowing that the students are going to continue their career interests. “Whether it's in the healthcare field, in the STEM field or in any other career that they decide to pursue, they [will] be our future professionals who hopefully will come back to the community,” she said. “One day I will be seeing them as a doctor in the hospital, I will be seeing them as a nurse in the clinic, the lawyer, the teacher, the engineer and, you know, many more important careers that create our community and hopefully uplift our communities.”

Velez also believes that these high school programs are crucial for Latino students. “The people involved in these programs are experienced professionals that support these high school students because they have already navigated the journey. They already know how to apply to college and apply for financial aid and scholarships, which will allow them to become the best candidate to apply to these colleges,” she said. “And so I feel like that is what these high school programs do, which is provide the resources, the mentorship and, over all, the support as a young leader.”

Thanks to the guidance from the AltaMed Escalera Program and scholarship, Hidalgo can alleviate the financial burden off her parents. Hidalgo has also obtained the ELKS scholarship, the South Gate Youth Commission scholarship and the UWS Environmental scholarship. “The AltaMed Escalera program provided us with lots of resources and support we needed to apply, get in, and afford our next four years,” she said.

Hidalgo also told CALÓ News that she wants to give advice to first-generation Latino students who may be looking for resources to pursue a higher education. “Look for those different opportunities, whether it's inside a school, a club or a certain internship or organization. I feel like once you get into one area of passion, you know, all the other opportunities kind of just come flowing,” she said. “If those opportunities don't come, you go out and look for them. You can also Google literally anything you are passionate about and I’m sure a lot of organizations will come up and it's just a matter of putting yourself out there.”

Hidalgo has decided to major in environmental science and biology at Williams College with the help and mentorship of the AltaMed Escalera Program.

For more information on the program, contact Monica Talamantes: (323) 427-3725 or email MdlGarcia@AltaMed.org