PLANT CITY, Fla. — Farm work is often a family affair. If one person in the family does it, chances are someone else does, too. 

“When I first started picking, I want to say I was about 8 years old, when I first started picking strawberries,” said Soledad Flores.

That was in the 1980s. Flores says for Hispanic families like hers, it was not uncommon for children to work alongside their families in Florida fields. 

Her parents came to the U.S. as undocumented immigrants with Flores and her siblings. They immediately began picking fruit in Plant City, and still do to this day. 

They sell what they pick at the Plant City Farm and Flea Market most days. 

“This is my family’s income,” said Soledad. “It still is for my mom and my dad.”

This life would still be hers, but one encounter changed her life path. At the time, she had dropped out of high school before 10th grade, gotten married at 17, and began having children. 

“This is all I knew, and this is all my parents could show me,” she said, stacking tomatoes at her parents stand. “They were just trying to get those teenagers to go back to school. And that is where I met them.”

The two women worked for Hillsborough County Public Schools. They told Flores she could get her GED, and childcare would be provided. 

“At that point I was like, ‘I am not going to be at the market as often anymore. Or it’s going to change. My path is changing,’” said Flores. 

She ended up going to Catholic Charities San Jose Mission most weeks. She obtained her GED, which led her to classes to become a certified nursing assistant, which then led to a job at BayCare. 

She worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital, then eventually went back to school again to become an RN. 

Then, in a final twist of fate, she applied to work as a community nurse back at the San Jose Mission. 

“It was almost like a blessing in disguise because I felt like I literally went all the way around and came right back where I started,” said Flores with a smile. 

She helps many patients, many of which are Hispanic. Many are also farmworkers. 

“The patients that I see here are a reflection of my parents,” said Flores with tears in her eyes. “They are a reflection of my parents because I see how tired they are. How helpless they feel sometimes with the situation they are in. I see their hearts are warm, but their hands are tired. So when I see my patients here, I treat them like my family.”

In fact, she gives her patients her personal phone number just so they can call whenever they have a question. 

“I feel like I am back where my roots are at, helping those that are struggling just like I was when we were little,” said Flores. 

Flores said the connection to BayCare and education really changed her family’s trajectory. Her two children are both attending college. One hopes to become a teacher and the other plans to be a pharmacist.