["Creative Commons Palmdale California" by Rennett Stowe, used under CC BY / original can be found here]
Written by: Adriana Salcedo
I have lived in Palmdale for 18 years. Throughout the years, I have observed many families like mine moving to the High Desert. I have also heard many ask, “Why would you move to the desert?”, usually with much disdain in their tone. However, the answer is very clear to me and many others; “It's a city of dreams.” I know this from experience.
Palmdale is a place where you can afford that beautiful home that would cost double in a different city. It's a city that gives opportunity to first-time homebuyers to dream, own a home, and have a special place to raise their family. It's a city that gives you the ability to build community with hard-working people who have the heart to sacrifice and pay the price to make their dreams come true such as spending countless hours commuting to keep the dream alive.
It's a city with many men and women who have different occupations. I personally know of loan officers, real estate agents, insurance agents, life coaches, and accountants that regularly get together before work starts, once a week, to encourage one another. They build each other up by teaching one another what they have burning in their hearts and also pray for one another. A city where homeschool moms volunteer at a non-profit coffee shop to help our young people get job training to help set them up for leadership and equip them for the workforce.
I ask you to see what our city has and not just look, for eyes that see are rare, but eyes that look are common. I can see the citizens doing countless things to help build the hearts of the brokenhearted: from grieving moms who lost a child to suicide and are filling a need in our city by being a resource for mental health for other mothers who have also lost loved ones to death or suicide to groups who work together of all creeds, races, and beliefs that meet weekly to help keep our city free from mandates.
I know of Moms who are very involved in school boards to ensure their kids get the best education and foster parents who love their foster babies as if they were their own fight to restore these children back to their families. Once these children are restored, they still babysit when mom needs a break and manage to keep a relationship with them long after they are gone.
This is what I experienced this week and year after year. We can miss the depth of passion the citizens of our city have when we view it as a city that has been victimized and plagued with crime. Your city needs you, it's not about who you are; it is about who you are in the world. A city with a dream is you.
Sincerely,
Beauty for Ashes International
Adriana Salcedo