From left, Krystal Nachor, 4; mother Yolanda Garnica; Systina, 4; father Boyette Nachor; and Boyette Nachor Jr. The family has benefited from Friends Outside in Santa Clara County.

Wish Book Home

Thanks to Mercury News readers, all of the wishes in the 2002 Holiday Wish Book will be fulfilled. Links to details below:
Family
Food & Shelter
Education
Hope

Make an online donation

About Wish Book

Contact us

THE WISH: BICYCLES, TOYS, BOOKS AND EDUCATIONAL GAMES

Giving children a hand when parents are in prison

four-year-old Systina used to curl up in the same corner of the apartment behind the TV three or four times a week and sob. When her mom asked her what was wrong, all she'd say was, ``I want my daddy.''

``How do you explain to a little girl?'' asks her mother, Yolanda Garnica. Yolanda was left a single mother for seven months last year when Boyette Nachor, the father of their three young children, was sent to jail for a second DUI and resisting arrest. The girls, Systina and Krystal, also 4, saw the arrest from the bedroom window of their Sunnyvale apartment while the youngest child, Boyette Jr., 2, slept in his crib.

``I had to start working nine-hour days to make ends meet,'' says Yolanda, who works at a sporting goods store to pay the rent on a tiny apartment with one bed that they all share. ``He had always been the breadwinner. So not only did they miss their dad, their mom was gone too.''

Yolanda sought help from Friends Outside in Santa Clara County, an agency that assists children who have parents or other relatives in jail. Friends Outside has a home-visit program focused on the youngest children of incarcerated parents who who suffer from the trauma of a missing parent and often live at or below the poverty level.

These children usually enter school behind their peers both socially and developmentally -- and many never catch up. Home visitors work with mothers like Yolanda to teach early-education skills: playing games, singing songs, reading books. Families are encouraged to get library cards and use local libraries. The goal is to make sure kids are ready to learn when they start school and that there is support for learning at home, too.

Donations toward books ($12) (27A), educational toys ($20) (27B) and games ($20) (27C) will help Friends Outside reach out to 30 families with about 120 children.

And while reading is fun, Systina -- who is now an enthusiastic kindergartner -- and Crystal would love to wake up on Christmas morning to shiny new bicycles ($75 each) (27D). A few toys for the girls and the baby ($150) (27E) would give them all something to find under the tree.

The biggest gift is having their daddy back. Boyette, who has been home since April and working in construction, says he's determined to stay out of jail and turn his life around for his kids. He wants, he says, to be someone they ``can look up to.''
[ Review Your Wish Book Donation ]