Fabiola Prieto-Martinez grew up on a ranch in rural Mexico. She has fond memories of her time there playing with her forty three cousins. Her grandmother had sixteen children and the extended family all lived on the ranch. The rural town was idyllic but education was almost impossible due to lack of resources. Fabiola’s parents only had a second-grade education. When Fabiola was fourteen, she decided to move back to the United States to learn English and pursue a career. She is a first-generation college graduate and received her master’s degree from San Jose State University (SJSU) in 2021. She currently works as a member of the Elder and Dependent Adult Protection Team (EDAPT) in San Mateo County investigating elder financial abuse crimes.
Fabiola was born in San Mateo, California, the fifth of six children. When she was two years old, her family decided to move back to Mexico to live on her grandfather’s ranch near Cuquio, a small town in Jalisco State. Seeking better opportunities, Fabiola was sent to live with an aunt in Los Angeles when she was fourteen, and a year later reunited with the rest of her family in Concord, California.
A few months after arriving in the US, Fabiola’s father was incarcerated and deported back to Mexico. The family was left homeless. Fabiola did not give up her education. She saved school cafeteria food to eat in the afternoon while working hard to keep her grades up. Fortunately, the Samaritan House was able to provide them with a hotel voucher for a few weeks until they were able to save enough money to get an apartment.
For months, Fabiola was going to school in the morning and helping her mom cleaning houses and office buildings in the afternoons and evenings. At sixteen Fabiola got her first job as a hostess in a restaurant and continued to work in the hospitality sector to support herself and her family. With help from scholarships, she was able to put herself through college without taking on any student loans and became the first person in her family to receive a bachelor's degree. Fabiola graduated from San Francisco State University (SFSU) with a degree in Social Work.
“I was determined to give back to my community after all the support I received during my school years,” Fabiola says.
While studying abroad in Germany, she interned with an organization helping refugees from Syria to settle in Germany. After receiving her BASW at SF State, Fabiola accepted a position as a Bilingual Case Manager at Maple Street Shelter where she assisted homeless individuals with the ultimate goal of helping them attain stable housing and self-sufficiency. She had a wonderful experience working with the homeless population, but she also saw a high need to protect one of the most vulnerable populations—the elderly. An intern at work encouraged her to get a master’s at San Jose State University and told her about the APS Stipend Program. Fabiola applied and was accepted.
The COVID-19 pandemic started while Fabiola was in graduate school. During the pandemic she had to learn to work and study independently which was challenging for her. She is an extrovert and likes socializing with people. She says, “I believe that I learn more by having in-person meetings instead of virtually.” While in school, her classmates from the APS Stipend Program were a great support system as they created weekly Zoom meetings to talk about projects and assignments to support each other.
“One of the most rewarding aspects of APS training was that I felt prepared to start my career with Adult Protective Services once I completed the program. I made great connections at the different APS agencies and received excellent training,” Fabiola says.
Two weeks after Fabiola’s graduation, she got hired as an Extra Help at the County of San Mateo Adult Protective Services where she assisted the county in different units, including APS, EDAPT, intake unit, and case management unit, whenever and wherever there was a need. Three months later, an Elder and Adult Protection Team (EDAPT) position opened up. She applied and was hired. She has been working on the EDAPT team for the past year and eight months conducting elder financial abuse investigations.
Fabiola is happy with her work at the San Mateo County. She says, “There is a lot to learn as every case and client is different. However, APS provides excellent training tools to make sure you succeed. There is no better feeling than knowing that your interventions/investigation helped stop and prevent abuse.”
Growing up Fabiola never took time to care for herself. Now that her life is more stable, she has learned to practice self-care and improve both her physical and mental health. She wakes up at 4 a.m. during the week, attends a 5 a.m. high-intensity interval training (HIIT) class at the local gym, and gets to work at 6:30 a.m. She says, “I like to move my body before starting my day at work.” She has also started running outdoors during the pandemic, and usually goes for a run once a week when the weather permits.
Her next goal is to get her LCSW license to assist her clients better. She says, “Aside from conducting my investigations, I want to provide a better therapeutic relationship when I meet with them.” She also wants to apply for supervisor roles in the future, and maybe even open her own practice later. For now, Fabiola wants to volunteer when she has free time to do community work and continue to give back to her community.
