Angel Nieves 

Working within the CEB has allowed me to move about in my career and stay true to what I stand for, which I love. I haven’t been with the Family Resource Center that long, before this I worked as a cook in the kitchen downstairs. Now I am a food pantry specialist within the Family Resource Center of the CEB. I help families get access to food, as well as connect them with other resources within and outside of the CEB. My day is usually busy. It mostly consists of meetings, but I have a great environment to work in. Our goal is to take care of everyone in the building, it is our mission. I am a people person, so a role like this really works for me. I am also a listener, it is my best quality. There are a lot of people here, and we have to meet people where they are in their life. Being a listener is what we need so we can better assist and connect people with the resources they need. If we don’t have the resources ourselves then we will do outreach to get them. The CEB does so much to help everyone in the building. 

I recently purchased a home, which is a big accomplishment. I come from a family of ten and am the first to be a homeowner. Doing this has allowed me to create wealth for my family and I am just beyond grateful. The CEB actually helped me with this process and it is another reason why I love it. Not only does the CEB help those in the community but they help their colleagues as well. 

Outside of work, I am a pageant director. We host all kinds of pageants. From seven year olds to eighteen year olds. The recent one we did was for Cinco de Mayo and two years ago we did miss Hispanic Delaware.

I love to spend time with my family. Growing up, my siblings and I raised ourselves, my oldest brother was twenty-one and the youngest was three. Now I have twenty nephews and nieces. They are my best friends and I am very proud of my family; where we are at and where we are going because where we came from was very hard. 

I feel like we take for granted that we are able to wake up every morning, but this makes me the happiest. I am a very spiritual person. I connect myself to the higher power and mother nature, so waking up and being able to be in any space is amazing. I really connect with people by taking time with them and truly listening to them. I think a lot of us are wrapped up in our own stuff that we forget what is around us, and I try not to do that. I love to see what is around me, who is around me and I don’t like making life just about myself because everything to me is bigger than what it is. 

Interview by Neveah Benjamin-Nesbitt and Kyleigh Curry, spring 2023