For fun, she played folkloric music with her family and skied, which is how she met her former husband. He got a job offer at Deer Valley, so the couple moved to Park City. “We have opposite seasons, so we followed the snow,” she says. “Summer in Chile, winter here.”
Eventually, they decided to stay in Park City year-round. The transition wasn’t easy for a young Latina woman who had no money and didn’t speak English. Some days, work meant cleaning public restrooms.
“I didn’t feel like I belonged,” Alejandra says. “I didn’t have a community for many years. It was very lonely.”
One day she saw that the National Ability Center (NAC) needed volunteers. “I couldn’t speak English, but I could speak horse,” she says. “The horses were a bridge. Finally, I was giving back to the community, creating connections and friendships. I slowly started to feel like a worthy person.”
Nearly a decade later, she is the founder, facilitator, and coordinator of the Equine-Assisted Learning (EAL) program at the NAC. “The NAC offers a place for people of all abilities to come together,” she says. “I’ve helped thousands of people from all walks of life. I trained a team and now it’s so much bigger than me. I’m honored to be part of it.” EAL offers different opportunities for different needs, including those with developmental disabilities, PTSD, and a history with substance abuse.