Article by ada parnanen

Connecting Communities: Let Hope Rise in EPA

By Ada Parnanen

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M

oon shines in the sky. Silence surrounds the apartment and darkness behind the window. An alarm rings. Lisa Lewis, a single mother, rises before dawn “to take care of the baby’s needs.” Quickly shifting focus, she gets herself “out the door in a timely manner to get to work and them to childcare” (Lewis). After a long day at work, she comes home and takes care of her child. He is the one who she is doing all of the work for, for him and his future. She is “that stabilizing force” for him (Lewis). As the baby sleeps, she gets herself ready for the next day at work, does laundry, cleans, cooks, and pays the bills. All day and all night, she works to fill all positions, as she is his sole caretaker.

“It’s a start all over again, it’s a non-stop,” as she is the busy bee working tirelessly (Lewis).

The routines of Lewis and other single mothers get lost in shuffle, as tech companies glorify life in the Bay Area. In the midst of the nonstop, chaotic, bustling area known as Silicon Valley, there is a place that is often overlooked, experiencing the effects of the tech boom. While much of the Bay Area’s focus is on innovation from startups and well known companies, East Palo Alto is left to deal with the housing crisis and a lack of resources as “nearly a fifth of East Palo Alto residents live below the poverty line” (Kerr). Improving access to education or jobs could help decrease the amount of poverty, yet “for single parents who rely on public assistance, college classes do not count as ‘work’ in most states” (Freeman).

In other words, going back to school means losing benefits such as childcare vouchers, even though education should be encouraged since it helps create change and opportunities.

Gentrification is becoming more evident in places such as East Palo

Alto as rents are increasing and older residents are being forced to move out.

“Improving public housing is … about the spaces between the buildings, good local services and transport links, good maintenance, and responsive local management,” meaning that there are a variety of components needing to be addressed in order to create overall improvement and change (Glynn 325). EPA Made, located on the outskirts of East Palo Alto, creates a bridge between poverty and affluence, training and employing single mothers. Letting hope rise in East Palo Alto, EPA Made teaches empowerment instead of “freebies”, allowing more opportunities for single mothers who face countless obstacles every day (Lu).

Ayaka Lu, co-founder of EPA Made, works tirelessly to ensure a safe, supportive, and productive workplace at which single mothers can constantly learn, make progress, and be selfsufficient. She is the “f o u n d e r, janitor, creative m i n d b e h i n d [ h e r ] business,” as well as the designer (Lu).

Knowing that everyone deserves a chance to learn, she uses her past experience with being a single mother to help others, since she understands the struggles that these women face daily. Lu truly believes that “everyone is born with a gift,” meaning that everyone has something to contribute to the community. She created EPA Made to be the hive at which seemingly small worker bees come together, each one necessary for the community’s larger well-being. EPA Made is a nonprofit organization that helps create this levelled community. With this mindset, Lu hopes to give single-mothers more

opportunities, so that they can provide for their themselves and their children.

Inspired and encouraged by her grandparents, Lu was exposed to

art at a young age in Japan. Wanting to reconnect with her artistic side, she focused on her love for her child and design, to try and get through the hard times. Lu and her husband, Allen, were separated for two years, but later reconciled. Those two years were some of the hardest times in her life and she started wondering if she should and could use her design background while also helping others. After living

in Pennsylvania, she moved to the Bay Area, and being a single mother for two years made her realize that “it takes a village to raise kids,” so she wanted to be “one of the neighbors for EPA moms” (Lu). Her EPA hive would allow single mothers to come together for a common cause, to work with one another rather than compete. While searching for a way

to develop this tight-knit community, she kept thinking about how she could not only help to empower other single 3

mothers, but also to be a support system for them. Then, in 2012, she wrote in her journal about a “crazy” idea which she had: EPA Made (Lu). In 2013 in the living room for a non-profit fundraiser, EPA Made began, with a focus on candles and screen printing, successfully selling their products.

Slowly, the possibility of a larger and more established EPA Made s t a r t e d becoming more realistic, and Lu turned to the idea of a donationbased thrift store.

EPA Made started doing “street pop ups on Saturdays in East Palo Alto,” and Allen encouraged the idea of turning it into a real store so that it could become sustainable (Lu). Ayaka Lu

and the employees “were just living out of [their] trunk, living out of [their] living rooms, and a year and a half later, [they] got the lease, and renovated” a space on the outskirts of East Palo Alto (Lu). This location helped create a bridge between Menlo Park and East Palo Alto, as all three branches of EPAx (Made, Shop, and Ship) were now under one roof.

incredible a m o u n t of love for her two kids, Rios is motivated to work even harder for them and their futures ( R i o s ) .

C omparing work at EPA Made to her previous jobs, she explains how she used to work at a restaurant but that they lacked communication and community (Rios).

Coming to EPA Made, however, she noted the completely different atmosphere; here, they talk to each other and know that Ayaka and Allen Lu support them. Over time, she has realized that she loves screen printing, and that she can learn practical skills and make money while having a good time in a supportive and safe environment.

Unfortunately, not everyone has the opportunity to find a workplace like EPA Made. With increasing rents, many are feeling the pressure of the housing crisis, as it is difficult to find a suitable job

e g d i r “a b een betw o Menl and Park Palo East .”

Alto

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Lucero Rios, an employee at EPAx, is a singlemother who works and is being trained in all three branches of EPAx. With an

that will pay enough. Rios’ rent has increased significantly over the past few years. She says that it is unfair that older residents are forced to move out as new people are moving into the area due to tech jobs (Rios).

In hopes of increasing w o r k p l a c e opportunities for East Palo residents like Rios, Lisa Lewis now volunteers at E PA Made and uses her experience as a single-mother to help develop skills, with a focus on character traits. Outside of EPAx, Lewis is a life coach. She uses these skills at EPAx to find ways of teaching in understandable, memorable, and relatable ways. When Lewis was a single mother, she saw how draining being responsible for everything can be. It made her realize “how strong [she] was, and [she] doesn’t mean just physically strong--emotionally strong, character strong” (Lewis). By helping to build and develop character traits, she is trying to fill the gap since “we as a society don’t value the development of character, but we expect it, so there is a disconnect there” (Lewis).

In other words, certain traits are expected, yet there isn’t enough emphasis and time being devoted to developing those traits.

She

believes that it is very important for these single mothers to “realize that who they are and how they are matters” (Lewis). This helps to build community and create progress on a foundation of understanding and acknowledgement, which results in support (Lewis). Lewis’ “understanding is [that] truly i n most areas in o u r country and our world, there’s need, whether we ack now le dge it or not” (Lewis). She works hard to try and address these n e e d s , a s East Palo Alto is one of the most negatively i m p a c t e d communities by the tech boom.

Ayaka Lu’s optimistic hopes for EPAx are that one day they will be able to provide housing for their employees, even those with the lowest income. This would not only allow EPAx employees to spend more time together, but it could be a step toward solving a small part of the housing crisis and developing an even stronger community.

EPA Made is based on a

strong foundation of community. It is a place where everyone can contribute and share openly – a safe hive for bees to come together n o matter how l o n g their journey h a s been. With strong connections and communication between the employees and trainers, EPA Made employees share similar hopes and experiences; they are working to create an impact and better the community. Single parents are incredibly strong; they hold so much weight on their shoulders yet continue to push forward in order to ensure that their kids have more opportunities in the future. “You [single-mothers] are not in it alone,” Lewis encourages and emphasizes. “Don’t hide, share your story, develop c om mu n it y, and ask for help” (Lewis).

With a support system and opp or tunit ies for change, hope can rise in EPA.

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Works Cited Allen, and Ayaka. “Our Team.” EPAMade. N.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

Freeman, Amanda. “Single Moms and Welfare Woes: A Higher-Education Dilemma.” The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 18 Aug. 2015. Web. 14 Mar. 2016.

Glynn, Sarah, ed. Where the Other Half Lives : Lower Income Housing in a Neoliberal World.

London, GBR: Pluto Press, 2009. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 15 April 2016.

Kerr, Dara. “East Palo Alto: Life on the Other Side of Silicon Valley’s Tracks.” CNET. 31 Aug. 2015. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

Lu, Ayaka. Personal interview. 30 Mar. 2016.

---. Personal interview. 5 Mar. 2016.

Lewis, Lisa. Personal interview. 15 Mar. 2016.

“Our Story.” EPAMade. N.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2016.

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