East Bay Woman Pays It Forward After Getting Help Along Difficult Path To Success

(KPIX 5) -- Over the years, Brenda Paz Alvarez has seen her role at Students Rising Above grow from student to mentor and now advisor. Paz Alvarez has grown up, too.

Now at age 26, she relishes every moment she spends in the East Bay bungalow she purchased three years ago. The tidy home doubles as a work space for Paz Alvarez' fulltime position as virtual client relations coordinator at a global consulting firm.

"I just wanted a place that I could eventually make my home," explained Paz Alvarez. "When you love what you do, then it's not really work, you know? And I love what I do."

But since the pandemic it's also where she has connected with 18 very special students, helping them with everything from college advice to shopping for dorm room supplies.

Paz Alvarez relishes her role as an SRA advisor, while she cherishes her memories of being a scholar in the program. It was an opportunity that almost passed Paz Alvarez by when she was a student at Richmond High School.

"I remember like I did the application like a day before," said Paz Alvarez. "I can't believe how I even made it into the program. It had all kinds of spelling errors. You could tell it was a very last minute thing, but that last minute thing just completely changed my life."

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It was a big change for a young woman who's been through a lot. Paz Alvarez was born in small village in Mexico, and by the time she reached grade school her mother had left the family. From then on she and her dad Ernesto were on their own.

"She wasn't there anymore, and it was just my dad," said Paz Alvarez of that time. "And so I lived a very wonderful life with him, but it caused a lot of bullying. When you live in such a small town, the girl without a mom is the target. And I think my dad saw from the very early on, and that is why he decided that me coming over here to the US was a much better choice for me because I would have opportunity."

As Paz Alvarez settled into her new life in California, calls home to her dad kept the two close. Then came unspeakable heartbreak, Ernesto lost his life to violence.

"My dad was kidnapped a year after I came to the United States, [my dad] didn't make it," recalled Paz Alvarez. "So I carry that with me today."

It's her caring heart that drives Paz Alvarez towards non-profit work, and her role as an SRA advisor is the perfect fit. But it's Paz Alvarez' commitment to her dad Ernesto that keeps her going.

"Now that I come as an advisor, I am able to be vulnerable with my students. I am at a really good point in my life," said Paz Alvarez. "[But] I think [my dad's] spirit. I think the thought of him. I hold onto that very dearly, and near my heart...that's how I am able to continue, just keep going."