Living the American Dream

Lelia Gomez never planned to stay in America. She came at 21 from Ecuador to learn English, to help with her computer science studies.

“I came to New York [City], and I saw this horrible place. It was snowing, it was construction. The train was horrible, and the garbage cans were outside.”

Now she’s an American citizen in her forties.

"I fell in love and got married. And now I have a husband and three kids,” she said.

Gomez met her husband, Andres, when she applied for a bilingual position in his uncle’s video store. Andres was her supervisor, and they got started talking because she had trouble keeping the right change.

"I couldn’t understand why dimes were smaller than nickels,” she laughed.

Today the couple lives the American dream: once immigrants, now they are wealthy, upper middle class residents living in a lovely Sparta home. Lelia is the Director of Newton-based El Refugio, the outreach center dedicated to helping Sussex County’s immigrant population.

Andres works for Accenture, where he helps modernize companies and improve their efficiency. He moved to New York City from Colombia the day after he graduated high school, so that he could be with his mother.

“He’s more American than you are,” a Hispanic neighbor said of Andres. “We call him ‘gringo’.”

In fact, after Andres’ first year in America, he joined the American army. He wasn’t even a citizen.

Once married, he and Lelia lived in New York City for seven years, while Andres went to Queens College at night.

The couple moved to New Jersey – first Denville, and then Sparta – for better schools for their three sons, Andres, Nicolas, and Sebastian.

“I want a better education,” said Nicolas. The high school student shines at Sparta: he carries a 4.2 GPA and participates in both track and karate.

Lelia wants her family to maintain its heritage, so Nicolas also is bilingual; his brothers are too.

“My kids are very Hispanic when it comes to food and everything,” said Lelia.

Still, the Gomez family’s experience is different from many immigrants. “We didn’t come here because we were hungry,” Lelia said.

“We lived in developed cities, had good educations…so it wasn’t that big of an adjustment, just the language,” added Andres.

Lelia wants struggling immigrants to have the same opportunities she did, so she works at El Refugio. She started in outreach work when she met Pam Madzy at Blessed Kateri, before moving to El Refugio, where she worked her way up to Director. There, she coordinates ESL classes and notary services, translates documents, partners with other outreach programs, and advocates for less fortunate migrants.

“Sometimes I lose patience, and I say to Pam, ‘how do you do it?’” Lelia said. “How am I going to help 50 women? That’s when I get discouraged.”

Despite all the difficulties, Lelia remains dedicated to her work. She misses Ecuador – she still doesn’t like hamburgers or American weather -- but, like most immigrants, she wouldn’t change her decision to stay.

“The kids, this is their country. They love going here.”