Vicki Mendoza was born and raised right here in Craig. She’s lived here all her life. 

But for the daughter of Mexican immigrants, it hasn’t always been easy. Even though her father grew up in Craig, life was hard when she was young. Vicki’s mother died when Vicki was 2, leaving her father to figure out a way to care for three young children.

“He’d been a sheepherder for many years, and when my mom passed away, he had to move into town,” Mendoza said. “They used to live in Hamilton, the ranch provided housing, but when she died, he couldn’t take care of us out there anymore. We moved into town, and he was able to bring his sister, my aunt, over from Mexico to help raise us kids.”

Early challenges included language gaps — the kids spoke all Spanish at home, so when school started, English was a struggle — as well as a hard time finding resources and help for making ends meet. Though her father always worked hard, housing was hard to lock down in the early days. The family lived with other people sometimes.

“Now, seeing people coming from other countries going through that struggle, it reminds me of when I was little,” Mendoza said.

When Mendoza had children of her own, she still needed help. That’s how she became acquainted with the Northwest Colorado Health Safe Care Parent Support program.

“When I had my little boy, a Safe Care provider, Jessica, would do our home visits,” Mendoza said. “I learned so much. Even though I was born and raised here, there were so many things I needed to learn and resources I wasn’t connected with. She helped so much.”

Now, Mendoza is paying it forward. She’s a Safe Care Parent Support provider herself.

“I was looking for a job and saw they had an opening,” Mendoza recalled. “I thought, ‘Oh, boy, this is my dream job.’ But also I wondered if I was good enough to be able to do it. I went ahead and applied, and I got the job. I’m so grateful to be able to help parents like me.”

Mendoza jokes that she was raised “very Mexican.” Her father and aunt would take the kids home to Jalisco at least once a year when they were growing up, to show them the ranch where he was born and where his parents still lived. Part of that cultural upbringing included a deep understanding of the importance of family.

That cultural heritage drives much of what Mendoza is able to do for the parents she serves, which, as the service’s only bilingual provider, includes many newcomers from Latin American countries.

“I can communicate with these parents, but it’s not just the language,” she said. “It’s also understanding where they’re coming from, what they’re struggling with. It’s very hard, culturally, for someone to open up about their struggles. And so for them to hear that I’ve struggled too, in many of the same ways, it helps them open up and trust me. That makes it possible for me to help them so much more, and that means a great deal to me.”