Crime & Safety
Mother of Murder Victim to Speak at Youth Empowerment Dinner in Oakland
The body of 21-year-old Monica Rodas of Union City was found burning in an Oakland neighborhood on June 14. Police say she was killed prior to being set on fire. Two men have been charged with her murder.
Bay City News Service—The mother of a Union City woman recently found murdered in Oakland will speak tonight, Wednesday, at an event aimed at steering East Bay youths away from crime.
The Homies Empowerment Program, part of the Urban Services YMCA, will host Maria Alfaro, the mother of , tonight at its weekly dinner in Oakland.
Rodas' body was found burning near a highway off-ramp in Oakland's
Rockridge neighborhood on July 14.
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Police arrested two suspected gang members last week in connection
with the murder, and said they believe the two men, Salvador Valasco, 22, and Hector Garcia, 31, killed Rodas, then set her body on fire.
Tonight, Alfaro will answer questions about her memories of her daughter and of her native country of El Salvador, said Cesar Cruz, cofounder of the Homies program.
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Alfaro came to the United States to escape civil war in her home
country, and witnessed horrific violence growing up there, Cruz said.
"She wanted to come for a better life over here, but it's in the
United States that this tragedy happened," Cruz said.
He said she will also talk about how she is dealing with her own
pain, hopefully to offer some guidance to the young people in attendance who grow up surrounded by crime and violence in their neighborhoods.
The Homies Empowerment Program is a "youth development group that works with gang-involved youth in the city of Oakland," Cruz said.
The group offers a variety of services for youths and adults, including "knowledge of self" classes like Latino history, a youth-run breakfast program for day laborers, gender violence awareness classes and
weekly unity dinners, which feature speakers intended to inform and inspire.
"We try to bring meaningful guests to really show our guests what's going on in the world," said Cruz.
Previous speakers have included Nobel Peace Prize winner Rigoberta
Menchu, a Guatamalan civil rights activist, and famous rappers and actors.
Tonight's event will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Eastlake YMCA at 1612 - 45th Ave.
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