Concord Standout Student Overcomes Father's Death, Poverty, Violence

CONCORD (KPIX 5) -- On Thursday evenings, you will usually find Raymundo Sanchez at New Hope Church in Concord. It's a family affair; his older brothers Cesar and Luis lead services, his younger brother Edgar is the audio man.

Raymundo has found something at church that he needed badly - a father figure. "My youth pastor was able to really raise me since I was young and I don't mean raise me as a parent, but just to raise me as a role model."

His own father died of a heart attack, when Raymundo was only six. He remembers the details perfectly: hearing his mother screaming, seeing his father on the kitchen floor with a medical device on his chest, the police telling him his father had died.

LEARN MORE: Students Rising Above

That began a period of financial struggle. His mother went to work cleaning houses to support the four boys. His oldest brother got a job at the age of 16 to help out. Rent was the toughest issue and they had to move a lot, eventually to a dangerous neighborhood in Bay Point.

"That was probably one of the things that impacted my family the most, just because we were in the middle of all that violence," remembered Raymundo. There were police sirens regularly, and from his window he could see "groups of men smoking in their car and listening to really loud music, gambling and I'd occasionally see a gun being pulled out," he said. "There was a lot of drugs … gunshots being fired in our apartment complex parking lot. There was a lot of robbery."

But the worst impact was the pull on the older boys, especially with their mother working long hours and no father in the home. They began to turn to the streets.

Raymundo would worry when they didn't return until late in the evening. But it was hardest on his mom. "She was heartbroken," he said. "She was really heartbroken, especially when my brothers gone the wrong direction … I could see it in her eyes, she felt powerless."

Raymundo was in charge of his younger brother while mom worked.

He did something else that would change the life of his family. He focused on school and getting into college. "I knew that that was that way out," said Raymundo. "I knew that nowadays you need a bachelor's (degree) to have a stable job. I want to be able to provide a household for my kids when I'm older that encourages them to be academically strong and academically motivated."

In contrast to his often unpredictable home life, school provided a soothing stability. "The classroom was where I felt like I had control of my life," he said.

Raymundo has almost perfect grades at Concord High School, where he consults frequently with College & Career Advisor, Becky Heindel. "He's one of our top students," said Heindel. She described him as a quiet, humble "stealth student" - a guy you might not notice right away, but when you do, "he's a stand-out."

Heindel knows the perseverance it took for Raymundo to get on the college track. "Not living in a community that has done the college experience, he has had to do a lot of the leg work on his own," she said.

As the first in his family to go to college, he is pioneering a way for those who follow him. It also ties him to the memory of his father, who had encouraged him to keep studying even at his young age. "My dad definitely knew I was going to be intelligent growing up," said Raymundo. "He would call me his little lawyer."

Raymundo keeps his college counselor so busy that Heindel calls herself his secretary. "I get emails all weekend long from him saying, 'I need to do this, can you proofread this,'" she said.

Heindel speaks of him with an obvious affection. "Very sweet boy … very thankful for everything his teachers do for him," she said. "When I say I'm his personal secretary, he just reaches out and puts his arm around my shoulder and thanks me. He thanks me in emails and he's very appreciative."

Heidel added she is touched by his gratitude, which is so strikingly different from many teenagers who just expect the assistance.

Back at home, Raymundo's life changed dramatically when his older brothers got involved with New Hope Church. It is a healing place and has helped the family move forward, not just spiritually but emotionally as well. That night we visited, both brothers took a turn on stage, preaching to the gathered.

Youth Pastor Robert Walker said of Raymudo's brothers, "They came from the streets, came to this church and now they're involved in leadership."

Raymundo also stood up on stage and told the congregation of his latest accomplishment. "I applied to a job at Oakland (Children's) Hospital and I just heard two days ago that I got the job." The announcement was met with claps and cheers.

"He's got a lot of wisdom," said Walker. "He's applying that wisdom here and I know he's applying it in his own life."

He definitely is. Raymundo starts college this fall and said he eventually wants to go into medicine.