Carmen Flores

Carmen Flores lived a life of compassion, focused on empowering others in her Fruitvale community. A tireless advocate tor the poor and economically dispossessed, she worked with both government & grassroots agencies to affect change on local and state levels. She worked for the Oakland Health Department providing counseling, translation, and emergency assistance for families, and also for Oakland’s Head Start Program She served as a member of Congressman Ron Dellums executive board, and was so valued that she went on to serve as his administrative aide for 25 years. She was the cheif representative for the United Farm Workers in her area, and upon Flores death, Dolores Huerta co founder of the UFW, stated: *It’s a big loss… her spirit will live on even though it will take thousands to fill her shoes. Flores endorsed Jerry Brown’s mayoral candidacy just before her death, and he said of her: “She gave life to a politic that’s changed. Politics are now about money and television. Carmen Flores was about people, neighborhood, church, family, activism, and that’s cone tie need more people like her