A true lady in every way, Franceska has been serving her
communities and lifting spirits throughout the county
from the very beginning. Her résume includes Casa Hogar
Las Memorias—a hospice for individuals in Tijuana living
with AIDS, The LGBT Center San Diego, San Diego American
Indian Health Center, Grupo Transgenero 2000, Bienestar
San Diego, Neighborhood House Association and Casa Ga-
briel—an orphanage in Ensenada where they take and care
for children living with HIV.
“I have always worked in the counseling field,” Franceska
told us. “I studied psychology for a few years but never got
my license. I moved to San Diego in 1981 from Stockton, CA
at the start of the GRID era, now known as HIV/AIDS. I started
to help doctors who worked in the HIV field as an interpreter
for monolingual patients (Spanish-speaking only) and today
I am still working in the field of HIV/AIDS.
In 1984 a group of Latinos and a wonderful American man
named Larry Lyons started to get together to discuss the
possibilities of starting a social support group for the Latino
community. That year we gave birth to Latinos Con Orgullo
(Latinos With Pride). Larry’s and my main concern were those
individuals living with GRID (HIV/AIDS) so I became the fund-
raiser leader, putting together the first ever Latino revue in
the Hillcrest area at BJ’s to raise money for Tijuana’s infected
population...and the rest is history!”
Franceska’s leisure time includes—but is not limited to—
trips outside of the United States at least once a year. “I love
going out to coffeehouses with a select group of friends to
enjoy a cup of coffee and a good conversation. I like to walk
on the beach alone! I drive out to the mountains by myself...I
love to spend time with me!”
We all need some alone-time now and then, but Franceska
always returns to her duties with a smile and a devotion be-
fitting a queen. “There’s no way I can explain the feeling, it is
something I cannot put into words. All I know is that a ‘thank
you’ from a child’s lips makes me cry and a ‘thank you’ from an
adult makes me stronger and eager to do more!” Franceska
When working for the San Joaquin Child Abuse Council in
Stockton’s Child Abuse Prevention Department many years
our lady of hoPe
ago, it was Franceska’s job to do presentations via theater
about the four forms of Child Abuse. Franceska recounts an
interesting turn of events. “One day while doing a presenta-
tion about physical abuse, a woman in the audience got up
screaming saying that this was the way she had been raised
and she was doing the same to her children! Two days later,
that same lady became a volunteer at the Council and her
children became her most precious gift in life. She became
my friend for life and her kids call me uncle Franko...or auntie
‘Ceska depending on what I am wearing.”
Lately Franceska has been as busy as ever lining up fund-
raisers. “I have one for December. I will be collecting winter
clothes (blankets, sweaters, jackets etc.) to take to North
County farm-working families and across the border to
Tijuana’s poor barrios.”
photography courtesy or Uri Photography
December 2009 | RAGE monthly 9
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