Mujeres Poderosas, six

Sandra Salinas finds strength and power in rearing her children and making a home for them and her husband. Spending time with Sandra and her family reminded me of my mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis and how it forced me to shift my identity. I went from being a career woman whose work paid her way to being a daughter funneled into a caregiving role. It took swallowing my pride to admit that some years I earned very little due to spending much more time caregiving than working. Sandra reminded me that there is power in those identities that society tends to overlook because it more often values what we do than who we are.

Sandra in her Fort Worth home.

The Salinas family after school, with Sandra putting in volunteer hours and her husband Jaime helping the girls with their homework.

Mujeres poderosas, three

Sharon Herrera is another one of the women featured in the Fort Worth Human Relations Commission project, Mujeres Poderosas. A lesbian activist who founded and heads LGBTQ S.A.V.E.S, a Fort Worth organization dedicated to supporting LGBTQ youths, she knows the struggles of dealing with sexual orientation issues.

Sharon Herrera at home, in the apartment she shares with her wife, Marcel.

Sharon shows me a photo of the aunt who saved her life when she was a suicidal teen struggling with the condemnation of others due to her sexual orientation. Now, Sharon helps young people who are facing struggles of their own.