On February 4th, the City of Oakland recognized a group of local heroes at a special ceremony. Among the 2012 Local Hero Awards recipients was Yessenia Saucedo, 17, a senior at ARISE High School. Already possessing a larger sense of the world, Yessenia has been an Oakland Community Organizations (OCO) leader for the last nine years.

Saucedo worked diligently with a group of youth leaders to create a car impoundment policy in Oakland, benefiting the undocumented immigrant community. By helping to end the impoundment of vehicles by tow companies, she helped many families avoid thousands of dollars in impound costs. As a youth leader with OCO, she has met with City officials and participates in community meetings that help local families improve their quality of life.

“In my community, in Fruitvale there are many Latinos who need help,” Saucedo stated. “So, we started asking people in my church what affected them the most and they start telling us about the big problem with the law of taking the cars away from them if they did not have a driver’s license.”

Saucedo started the process in 2007 and went to several meetings with the community and city officials until the policy was passed.

“Obviously it was a team work - we received a lot of support from the community and city officials,” says Saucedo.
“I may become a lawyer, but I am not sure yet.”

Emma Paulino, who works for Oakland Community Organizations, nominated Saucedo for the Local Hero award.

“Yessenia is a young leader,” Paulino said. “She has the spirit and she commits her time in helping others by making positive changes in the quality of life of the community.”

“Yessenia played a very important role when the policy was passed,” adds Paulino. “She was always in the meetings and she started a local youth committee in order to help. Yessenia always has shown leadership and dedication - she is a model of inspiration.”