Hours after her interview with the Mariposa Community Health Center, Elizalde was hired as a patient advocate. She completed her 40-hour training and began working with domestic violence survivors.

“I had no idea such a service existed,” Elizalde told NI earlier this month. “I was like, ‘No. Is there a lot of[domestic violence]going on?'”

Elizalde grew up in Nogales. She graduated from Nogales High School, where she planned school dances and performed in the marching band.Elizalde says it wasn’t until she started working for MCHC that she saw the community aspect of addressing domestic violence. He said he had never seen it.

“It was like always, ‘Keep quiet’ and ‘We don’t talk about it,'” she said.

Over the next eight years, Elizalde not only talked about it, but also developed safety plans with clients, found resources, and workshopped survivors on how to get out of the abusive relationships they endured. I worked to fight.

Elizalde, now the Mobile Advocacy Coordinator for the Children’s Advocacy Center in Southern Arizona, continues to pursue resources for residents in Santa Cruz County. This push resulted in the establishment of the county’s first Family Safety Center. This is a facility within the sheriff’s office that provides medical, forensic, and other resources to children who have faced abuse.

The facility opened in August last year. The rationale behind the center is simple, she says, Elizalde.

“Communities need safe places,” she said.

As an NHS student, Elizalde hoped to attend nursing school. But when she became pregnant with her first daughter, she decided to put her off.

Still, she didn’t stop pursuing her degree at UA. Instead, she studied public administration and policy. She commuted to Tucson and enrolled in her vocational study program.

“It was crazy when I was pregnant,” she laughed.

After graduating from college and joining MCHC, she faced a completely different work environment. The clinic’s patient advocacy program works one-on-one with survivors. Some survivors are on the verge of contacting someone at the clinic, Elizalde explained. Aside from facing abusive relationships, some may not have access to simple services such as doctor checkups and prenatal care.

Elizalde was 22 when she started this business.

“That first one, you’re like, ‘Oh my God.’ How are you going to help this guy? ‘ she recalled. “You just want to put the cloak on yourself and save them.”

Domestic violence in Santa Cruz County is somewhat difficult to quantify because not all survivors report their experiences to law enforcement.

But magistrate data shows a steady increase in protection order requests in the county from 2019 to 2022, one indicator of residents seeking protection against domestic violence.

When she worked with survivors, Elizalde said it was important not to coerce or coerce them into taking steps to end an abusive relationship.

“In many cases, the perpetrator controls everything,” says Elizalde. “We are not there to control them. …We want them to make the decisions.”

So she said, she became patient.

“Victims came in and we listened to them and met them where they were. We didn’t just automatically push them to resources,” says Elizalde. “We said, ‘How can we help you?'”

In some cases, I also brainstormed safety plans with clients. It could also mean connecting clients to rentals and legal assistance. And more often than not, Elizalde simply listened to her clients process and discuss the intimate partner violence they endured.

One client spent 6 hours doing just that.

“We are making plans for the safety of herself and her children,” added Elizalde.

Another client she recalled was unable to safely contact MCHC without fear of retaliation from an abusive partner. I got in touch with her through her mother.

Ultimately, working with Elizalde, the client was able to safely end the relationship. She took her little daughter with her.

“It’s incredible how creative victims can be,” Elizalde said. “Because they’re always in survivor mode.”

During Elizalde’s tenure at MCHC, one question arose at the clinic. How can sexual assault victims in Santa Cruz County access resources?

Survivors often have to travel out of county to meet with a sexual assault nurse inspector (more commonly known as a SANE service).

Plans to expand the resource rolled forward and stalled. The pandemic further complicated things, as MCHC became an active site for his COVID-19 testing and vaccination.

Then in 2021 Elizalde joined the Children’s Advocacy Center. Based in Tucson, the center serves children and families throughout rural southern Arizona county.

Working with the Children’s Advocacy Center came as a shock to Elizalde at first, even after years of working with survivors of domestic violence. She attended forensic interviews and medical examinations, which are important sources of evidence to testify against perpetrators in court.

“It was a whole other world,” she said. “Especially with minors. Especially since I have kids. My mind was blown.

Elizalde said seeing children go through such a difficult process after having already endured abuse will only increase the need for more services in Santa Cruz County.

“Children do not have to travel to receive these services,” added Elizalde. “I can only imagine having to go back and forth through that process?

By February 2022, plans to expand Santa Cruz County resources are in motion. Elizalde, along with her Marie Fordney, executive her director of the Children’s Advocacy Center, and her Yara Castro, who manages health and social services at MCHC, advocated setting up a family safety center in front of Nogales City Council. .

“We’re looking for space now,” Fordney told a then-council member.

A few months later, Elizalde discovered there was space in the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office that she would be happy to use as a family safety center.

The center opened in August, complete with a small examination room, an interview room, and an additional room for families to wait. The facility is decorated with soft furnishings, stuffed animals, and crayons. This is an effort to create a calming environment for children who have faced severe trauma.

Currently, children are sent to centers after any form of abuse is reported to law enforcement. But in the future, Elizalde would like to see even larger standalone locations that can accommodate walk-in clients.

Elizalde laughs and admits that she was persistent and always followed the efforts to bring the center to life.

“I think the worst thing people can say is no. I’ve always been the type of person to ask questions and plan and see what happens,” she said. So, in many cases, we’ve achieved a lot by simply asking.”

This story was published as part of the 2023 edition of Shining Stars of Santa Cruz County, Nogales International’s annual publication that recognizes people who make a difference in their communities.