While working in human resources for the Los Angeles Unified School District, Arlene Latino felt that something was missing in her life.
“My job wasn’t as fulfilling at the time as I wanted it to be,” Latino said. “I decided to look for another avenue.”
She decided to attend Whittier Law School to obtain a law degree, with which she hoped to provide public service to her community.
“I felt very fortunate that I was able to retain a job [and] have a home and family,” Latino said. “A lot of people aren’t able to [have] that.”
After she passed the bar in 1994, Latino started working part time for the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles, an organization that provides advice to people about employment issues. She also joined the Los Angeles County Bar Assn., which links attorney members with city projects that provide free legal services. In particular, Latino volunteered for the Domestic Violence Project, helping domestic violence victims obtain restraining orders, and the Homeless Shelter Project, settling various legal issues for homeless people.
Today, Latino spends her Saturdays volunteering at Ahead with Horses Inc. in Sun Valley, a nonprofit program that provides horseback developmental therapy exercises to special-needs children. She is also involved in the La Crescenta Women’s Club, an organization that funds various charities and needy families, and still volunteers at the Legal Aid Foundation.
“Honestly, I think a lot of retired people say this, but I don’t know how I had time to work before,” Latino said.
What do you do at Ahead with Horses?
I walk alongside [the rider], trying to safeguard them, making sure they don’t fall or make sudden movements, because they’re disabled kids. They might move wrong or move quickly, and then the next thing you know, you have an accident. So, that’s what a spotter is for, and that’s what I do. I mean, I just enjoy being there, and I’m willing to do anything that they want me to do.
What is most rewarding about working with the kids?
It’s a great thing. I don’t know if they’re getting more benefit, or I’m getting more benefit out of it, because I really enjoy it. You’re out there; you’re outdoors. You’re working with the horses, and that’s all you can think about. You’re just concentrating on that.
Have the kids seemed to benefit from the therapy?
I can tell sometimes when these students are cheerier, happier on a particular day or doing really well. They have their good days and they have their bad days, just like anybody.
Can you think of a specific case that was particularly rewarding while volunteering through the L.A. County Bar?
The most rewarding [case] was a family that was in a shelter. The husband had lost his job. [His wife] was working at a car dealership, and the car dealership was robbed. It was a workers’ compensation issue because she had been injured during the robbery. We were able to refer her to one of the workers’ compensation groups that provided pro bono work. I saw her after that. She came up to me and she thanked me, because she said that the group had taken her case and was willing to help her.
