ThePower

ofPomona

isPeople

Yesenia showed me the power of fighting for what you believe in

Yesenia has been in countless rallies to advocate for those that don’t have a voice. She inspires me everyday to always fight for what I believe in and to always lend a hand to those in need. She has done a lot of community work for the City of Pomona. She’s done park clean-ups and much more. If anyone deserves a place in the Pomona Gold Line “Hall of Gratitude,” it’s Yesenia. She continues to march and rally for good causes even though her limitations. She is my idol, my inspiration, my HERO! — Jocelyn Haro

Yesenia Miranda Meza has taught me about the power of bringing people together. She is a community leader and activist who loves Pomona. She is the head of Pomona United for Stable Housing. She is always looking for ways to improve her city and community and brings people together for that cause, whether it’s to protect tenants by marching for housing rights, or bringing a community garden to a local park. She has dedicated so much of her time and resources, and has devoted that time and resources for her city, with nothing expected in return. She is a champion for human rights, and she has shown me the power of community. –Sheila Rodriguez

Yesenia has inspired me in several positive ways. First and foremost, she has inspired me to stand by what I believe in. Even through the toughest days, she is able to remind me that I’m capable of accomplishing many goals. Additionally, she has inspired me to generate change in my life through the use of her dedication and determination of community service to the City of Pomona. She is a daily reminder of the simple goodness in people through the use of her kindness and willingness to always help her community and loved ones. –Ashley Garcia

Yesenia has given me the most inspiration compared to anyone else in our beautiful City of Pomona. She is a fellow first-generation college student as am I (we graduated from the same University, the California State Polytechnic University at Pomona), a hard-working parent, resilient activist and community organizer at the administrative and grassroots level (notably in @pushcoalition‘s important work in rent-control in Pomona), a dedicated Red Cross team member, and a disseminator and producer of knowledge related to her community and network. Through her longstanding commitment to each and every one of these community-changing roles, Yesenia has led the proven progress of the health, politics, democracy and education of all walks of life in our city. Without a doubt she has proven that being resilient in the roles you are needed in, or feel compelled to be in, can surely make a difference in anyone’s world – let alone a whole community’s. –Daniel Gomez

Yesenia is inspiring in so many ways. She’s inspiring in the way she’s persevered thru life, her resilience, her passion for advocating for those in need and those who need a voice. She inspires me to be more passionate for the unjust things I see and it truly warms up my heart and spirit. When I hear her speak, I hear and listen to words of a leader that inspires many more to fight for what’s right. –Victor Rivera

Yesenia Miranda Meza has been a friend, comrade, and aspiration of relentless perseverance. At the tender age of one, Yesenia’s parents pursued a better life in Pomona, California, because they firmly believed that this country could transform her life. As a first-generation American, her circumstances presented her with many of the blessings and hardships of the immigrant archetype. Her journey made her keenly aware of the inherent risks and sacrifices involved in settling into an environment that can be socio-linguistically confusing and often exploitative. As a mother of three, she pursued higher education to address systematic oppression that created the treacherous barriers she had to overcome. This, in part, accounts for why Yesenia inspires me. Yesenia’s selfless dedication to community organizing and empowerment is genuinely astonishing. From the creation of Pomona United for Stable Housing (P.U.S.H) to state advocacy with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, her activism, and inspirational journey captivate and empowers everyone around her. I respectfully request that you give her candidacy your most serious consideration. – Berny Orantes

She constantly seeks to help those who don’t have a voice and those who just don’t know how to fight the injustice. She proves that your voice does matter. – Brenda Chavez

Yesenia Miranda Meza is an example of a true trailblazer. She carries gifts within her of rareness and awareness. Not only for all communities, not only for all walks of life in the City of Pomona but in the whole world. I’m a witness to it all. She is a living example of God’s hidden treasures here on earth. Not only have you found a gold mine but you have struck gold. What was valued before our times, is now lost and decayed but is left partially in her soul. She is the generator when all else seems to fail that keeps the power of “light” on in some of the most darkest times. Her power of “service” to others in times of need are the pearls and gemstones she is laying around people’s necks to remind them that the best things in life are not seen but are within us all. Not only have you struck gold but there lay a treasure chest open for all in her. That she is willing to hand out and share those treasures to give humanity more hope, love, and faith that are the greatest gifts to receive. Her power of “voice” has brought me personally to not be afraid to speak up when things are not right or unfair. Yesenia’s acts within the world are extremely courageous, inspiring, and well deserved to receive such great recognition. It will only fuel her more and broaden her light to reach a wider range of individuals. So let the gold in Yesenia be the drive in the new transportation for all at the “Gold Line station”. Because she was my first responder to my life and death situation. “Power to the People of Pomona.” – Helena Whitney

“The Thin Gold Line had always been in a friend of mine”
by Helena Whitney

For every Gold there is an untold
Waiting in line to get in front of line
So I continue to wait at the Gold Line station waiting for an innovation to spark my evolution.
No words other than revelations
That steer my heart hoping for a new form of transportation.
I see the smoke that’s contaminating our population
Still here waiting for another form of transportation
head down spine curved no view ahead
but then I hear a loud sound
A horn that has arrived and reminded me I have never left your side
The horn was a sign of the new Gold Line of transportation
It was a horn that carried a voice that said I’m here by choice
only led by a human that carried the “Thin Gold Line” and I’m pleased to say she is a friend of mine.
It’s never laid in the trains that I wait for
but in the humans that I sit by waiting for a new transportation
To direct us all together are what the Gold Line is missing in every stormy weather.
Is a person like Yesenia Miranda Meza that has arrived with a new form of transportation. Willing to pick up all in need
feed all surviving with nothing but fuel for thriving in this world of nothing but people dying.
So I say this powerfully with my voice to reach our ancestors in the heavens up high “The Thin Gold Line has always been a friend of mine”

Yesenia is one of the most caring individuals I know. Yesenia is caring because she loves her community, city, and neighbors. Her love for the community has manifested itself in countless ways — she recently spearheaded efforts to install a community garden in a park at Pomona. This is the kind of care and love for the community that will push people forward. Yesenia is deeply embedded in Pomona and she is a model citizen. – Mario Guerrero