Meet Elizabeth Hernandez, Laney College EOPS alum, and admissions and records staff! Being a single parent is hard. Listen to Elizabeth's story on overcoming challenges, never giving up, and how EOPS helped her navigate a path to success and stability for her family!
EOPS is available to assist students with support services like early registration, academic counseling, career guidance, tutoring, book grants, transfer assistance, and tons more. The EOPS program welcomes all eligible students at all 4 of our campuses: Berkeley City College, College of Alameda, Laney College, and Merritt College.
For more information on EOPS, or to apply, please visit: https://www.peralta.edu/eops
For more information on Laney College, please visit: https://laney.edu/
Below is a written transcript of the video:
"I was going through a hardship; my kids' father was deported, and I needed to fully provide for my kids. I found out about EOPS through a professor. He just noticed on my face that something was wrong, and he just questioned, so I told him that I believe I'm gonna drop out, and he just took me to the EOPS office. I applied because something was telling me to stay in school. I felt like they were going to help me, [and] they mentioned what they provide to help single mothers. He convinced me, and they helped me through my journey in college.
They provided book vouchers, additional funding, gas gift cards. Those little things - well to me they weren't little, they were a lot - because being a single mother of 4, any help was a benefit to my family. They had good workshops; one that I really liked was about budgeting. I needed to budget with food, I needed to budget with transportation, and personal needs. Somehow, I learned to save off of that workshop. I believe that they were more like family; they would know my name when I was only in the office or a couple of times. There's a lot of students that are part of the program. For them to remember you, that makes you feel special. Also, they check on your progress throughout the semester. You actually see you're doing good in your classes. It's like a little push. When you meet with a counselor, and see how close you get to get to that degree, I was in shock, so that was a happy moment that I got to do it with EOPS and CARE.
EOPS, CalWORKs, and CARE, I think if it wasn't for them, I would've just dropped out. I really just wanna thank them. For all their support, and the support that they continue to do for other students."
Editor’s Note: 2025 marks the 55th anniversary of EOPS. Students and alumni from each of the Peralta Colleges shared stories with the Board of Trustees at their April 8, 2025 meeting, and we will be sharing student and alumni stories about their EOPS experiences throughout the rest of the Spring 2025 semester. For more information about EOPS opportunities, visit their websites: