GILROY
– When she retired from her job earlier this month, Zonia
Sandoval Waldon had not one but four good-bye parties from friends
and colleagues.
GILROY – When she retired from her job earlier this month, Zonia Sandoval Waldon had not one but four good-bye parties from friends and colleagues.
The festivities ranged from a formal dinner dance at San Jose’s Wyndham Hotel to a dance party at downtown Gilroy’s Strand venue with entertainment provided by her son Greg Sandoval’s “Dog House Riley” band.
And at one event, local Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren presented the 56-year-old retiree with a certificate of Congressional recognition.
Waldon had spent 31 years with the county’s Social Services Agency, ending her career as deputy director of the Department of Family and Children’s Services. And in those years, she brought many welfare services to the people of the South Valley region of Santa Clara County.
Waldon began her work for the agency in 1972, serving as an eligibility worker for visually impaired clients. She moved up the ranks while at the same time working on her college education, receiving a master’s in social work from San Jose State University in 1991.
Achievements in her career include starting the Youth Leadership Gang Program in San Jose, a program that now serves children at all of the agency’s resource centers. She also managed the Family Preservation Continuing Services Bureau. And she created a nonprofit agency to implement the Resources for Families and Community program.
Working with the Gilroy Community Collaborative, Waldon also developed community-based child welfare services at the Gilroy Family Resource Center. Waldon credits the S.H. Cowell Foundation for providing a three-year grant that helped fund these services from South County.
“That really helped us out enormously,” she said. “The reason they funded us is that they could see the collaboration between the community agencies, the residents and county government. I’m pretty proud of our success.”
When she was 8 years old, Waldon immigrated with her family to California from El Salvador and grew up in the Bay Area, attending schools in San Francisco and Daly City. This gave her an understanding for the problems and needs of many of the agency’s immigrant clients.
“One of the things I’m most pleased with is having the opportunity to live the American dream,” she said. “People can see someone (an immigrant like themselves) succeed, and I think that gives them hope. It brings out in people the best – the willingness and the belief that they can succeed.”
She has seen the department change in the last three decades, developing a commitment to cultural awareness and diversity. When she was first hired, she was often asked to serve as a Spanish-language interpreter for clients who spoke no English. That showed a real need to hire staff to service the diverse communities, she said.
She has also tried to make the department a place where clients feel welcome no matter what their culture or background, she said.
“People need to have a sense of belonging and a feeling of respect,” she said. “And that’s what we’ve been able to give the residents of the South County Area. When they walk through the door, they are greeted in a manner that is respectful.”
She credits much of the agency’s success to the teamwork she has tried to foster among her colleagues.
“We accomplish so many things because we work together in teams. It wasn’t one person,” she said. “You reap what you sow. It makes me feel all those years of work and investment and time, it’s all been paid back a million times with all the caring and love they’ve shown to me.”
Gwen Westphal, social services program manager for South County, worked with Waldon for many years. She praised her innovative programs as well as her natural ability at bringing out the best in people.
“She’s probably the most creative person I’ve ever worked with as a boss,” she said. “She really empowered people to work to their full potential. … She would rather you ask for forgiveness than ask for permission. She didn’t micromanage.”
Waldon often told her co-workers a quote from the anthropologist Margaret Mead and even printed the quote on agency stationary to remind them of the power of commitment, Westphal said.
The quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Westphal praised Waldon’s impact in improving the lives of children and families in the South Valley.
“She was an integral part of South County development with the child welfare services, and she was very strength-based in how she served families. She’s going to be missed. She’s a very wonderful person.”
Waldon will spend her retirement traveling, fishing for swordfish in Monterey Bay and visiting her twin sons. Her staff gave her a going-away gift to watch spring training of her beloved San Francisco Giants in Scottsdale, Ariz., next March.
“I will miss my friends and colleagues, but I look forward to the next chapter in my life,” she said.
