Meet Our Intern, Evelyn

Make It Happen for Yolo County has been proud to call UC Davis student Evelyn Aguilar our

intern since fall 2022. She has been an incredible advocate for her fellow transition age youth,

and we are excited that she will continue with us through her senior year that starts in the fall.

When Evelyn enrolled at UC Davis, she had no idea she was considered a former foster youth.

Raised by her grandparents in the San Diego area since she was 12 years old, Evelyn was under

legal guardianship and learned she qualified for the UC Davis Guardian Scholars Program for

students with experience in foster care.

“At first I was confused and wasn’t sure what to expect joining a program for foster youth,”

Evelyn said. “But it’s been really rewarding to be part of the Guardian Scholars Program, and it’s

been a big part of my UC Davis experience. I’m very grateful for this community.”

When Evelyn arrived on the UC Davis campus for her sophomore year after remote learning her

freshman year, the Guardian Scholars Program connected her to Make It Happen for Yolo

County to help furnish her new apartment. Her aunts were helping her move and were planning

to help purchase what she needed, but it was a financial strain.

“I’m not from this area, so I was pretty nervous moving here,” Evelyn said. “I walked into an

empty apartment and had no idea where to start. When I heard about Make It Happen and

everything they do for youth, I was really surprised and overwhelmed. It seemed too good to be

true that they were going to give me free items.”

Evelyn selected items on her wish list, and then met Make It Happen board members Jan

Judson and Joan Gerriets at our storage units, where they helped her pick out items, added

more items to her list, and moved everything into her apartment.

“Jan and Joan were some of the first people I met in Davis, and I was so grateful for the whole

experience,” Evelyn said. “I’m a low-income and first-generation student, and this saved so

much time and stress for me and my family. Plus, I believe a big part of someone’s learning

experience is the environment they live in. This showed that people cared about my

achievement in undergrad, and it made a big difference.”

Evelyn began working for the Guardian Scholars Program her sophomore year, and the

following summer she learned that Make It Happen for Yolo County was looking to hire an

Intern.

“I wanted to apply to be part of this nonprofit because I remembered how amazing the

experience was,” Evelyn said. “I felt like I could really share my experience with other youth

who might be hesitant like I was. I wanted to become an advocate since I could share how it

helped me transition into independent living.”

As our Intern, Evelyn has been facilitating follow-up surveys with our clients to determine initial

satisfaction, areas of improvement and to collect contact information for longer-term

outcomes. She also developed our long-term evaluation questionnaire to determine outcomes

such as housing satisfaction, housing stability and furniture retention, and she regularly attends

our board meetings.

During this past quarter of her junior year, Evelyn worked with one of our volunteers to expand

outreach to Yolo County groups and organizations that work with transition age youth to

increase awareness of our services. She spoke with leaders at local high schools, community

colleges and social services organizations, as well as dependency lawyers.

“It was really scary for me to do that,” Evelyn said. “I would get nervous talking to them, but

during those presentations, I would just explain how Make It Happen helped me and share the

process, and it was really rewarding. Many told me they usually don’t get to talk to youth who

have been helped. I’m happy I was able to bring that perspective and show that it really did

change my transition into college.”

Evelyn is entering her senior year at UC Davis as a double major in sociology and psychology,

and she hopes to attend graduate school in social work, counseling or advising. Though she

can’t go home as often as some of her peers due to distance, she says it’s all worth it.

“My grandparents are just so happy that I’ve had this experience,” Evelyn said.

In the meantime, she’ll continue into her third year working as a peer adviser with the UC Davis

Guardian Scholars Program and her second year as our Intern.

“All this work I’ve done has reassured me about the type of work and career I want in the

future,” Evelyn said. “I want to work with underserved populations, and I’m getting more

confident in what I want to pursue.

At Make It Happen, she plans to continue building relationships with the people and

organizations she has connected with and continue advocating for transition age youth in our

community. “I feel like I’ve gotten to see the behind-the-scenes perspective of working in a nonprofit,”

Evelyn said. “You never know what goes into it until you are part of it. I was helped so much by

this organization, and now I see how much work goes into helping each youth furnish their

home. I still reflect on the support I’ve received from Make It Happen and the Guardian

Scholars Program as an important part of my undergrad experience.”