ELLENTON — Luz Cooper came to Colquitt County as an immigrant and, finding opportunities here that she did not have before, wants to give back to the community that has helped her.

“I would not think twice about helping the community. I am the Colquitt County creation,” she said smiling.

Cooper is from Veracruz, Mexico, and came here to work in 1999 on the H2A visa program. She said language was her biggest barrier and she was scared because she did not understand.

“It was like I was blind. ... I was glad to find the Ellenton Clinic with the ESL classes,” she said.

She said the clinic was offering the classes through the Children Youth and Families at Risk (CYFAR) program.

“So, I started to study with them,” she said.

She worked in the fields for five years and would try to stay awake at night to study her English, she said.

Cooper said the teachers encouraged her to continue her education and she was able to take her G.E.D. in English.

“That is something I always wanted to do. After I took my G.E.D., I was ready to take the next step,” she said.

She enrolled in Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and after taking one more class, she will enroll in the nursing program, she said. She also said that nursing was something she had wanted to do since she was a little girl.

“It’s great that I have the opportunity to do it here. ... My good luck continued. I was a CYFAR child,” she said with a laugh.

She was offered a job with the CYFAR program, which assisted the families that are at risk, she said.

“Families have little control over that,” she said.

The program, which was discontinued in June of this year, took information to those families on crime prevention, child abuse, health, hygiene and home buyers information.

“I’ve seen a great improvement in these families,” she said.