It wasn’t until Asbel Bernal failed an exam last May for her Napa Valley Adult Education class that she realized just how big a toll her family’s money and health problems were taking on her. The once talkative, cheerful student told the class translator, who noticed she seemed down, that she was having trouble focusing because of the stress.
Bernal had lost her job a few months earlier, her husband and teenage son were both experiencing health issues, and the family of five was struggling to stay afloat in the shadow of Napa’s wine industry.
“Sometimes no matter how hard you work, it is not enough,” Bernal said in Spanish through a translator.
Bernal and her husband, Miguel Vega Zepeda, moved to California from Jalisco, Mexico, 13 years ago, and live legally in the U.S. They briefly stayed in Santa Rosa, where Vega Zepeda’s friend connected him with winery field work, before moving to Napa.
“Sometimes no matter how hard you work, it is not enough”
For the past few years, Bernal found seasonal work at the local wineries, making sure bottle labels were correct and that bottles had the right amount of fluid inside. In the offseasons, she cleaned homes and worked winery events. She jumped from one short-term job to the next until last year, when a co-worker’s extended absence allowed her to stay on at a winery beyond the typical May-November period. Then the co-worker returned and Bernal found herself out of a job.
Around the same time, Vega Zepeda began feeling unwell.
“My stomach was swelling up as if I were pregnant,” he said in Spanish through a translator.
A doctor determined the issue was a hernia. And while Vega Zepeda has health insurance through his job supervising the bottling process at a winery, the family racked up hundreds of dollars in co-pays for emergency room visits, MRIs and medication.
The bills continued to accumulate when the couple’s 15-year-old son came home from school with chest pains and difficulty breathing, landing him in the emergency room, then in a San Francisco hospital. Doctors found lumps in his lungs — which can happen when the body is fighting a strong infection, his parents said.
“I am very expressive,” she said. “Even if I don’t want them to notice, they see me and obviously they know.”
The family of five — including Bernal and Vega Zepeda’s teenage son, 19-year-old daughter and a 6-year-old daughter — already lived paycheck to paycheck. Now they were barely affording basic necessities. They stopped going on family outings; whenever the youngest asked to go to McDonald’s, the answer was always no.
While Bernal and Vega Zepeda tried to keep their worries hidden, Bernal said their children could sense they were struggling.
“I am very expressive,” she said. “Even if I don’t want them to notice, they see me and obviously they know.”
After hearing about Bernal’s situation, the class translator referred her to someone who could provide job leads. That person also told Bernal about the Chronicle Season of Sharing Fund, which works throughout the year to help house, care for and nourish residents of the nine-county Bay Area.
Through Season of Sharing, Bernal and her family received enough financial assistance to cover two months of rent.
While health and finances are still a challenge, Bernal and Vega Zepeda said the donation helped them restart and feel less alone.
“It helped us a lot. It brought us a lot of peace of mind,” Vega Zepeda said.
Bernal now has a stable winery job. Each day, the parents leave for work at 5:30 a.m. and the eldest child takes the others to school.
Vega Zepeda and Bernal hope to continue their education and enroll in an English class.
“It helped us a lot. It brought us a lot of peace of mind”
“Although it’s a little difficult for us, we wanted to continue studying something,” Bernal said.
Their 15-year-old still sees a doctor for his lung issues. And Vega Zepeda takes medication to prevent inflammation related to his hernia. There are still days he wakes up in pain, and struggles to get down food or water. He said he hasn’t received a clear answer as to whether he needs surgery, and worries doctors won’t recommend treatment that his insurance doesn’t cover.
The family is on an affordable-housing waiting list, but Vega Zepeda believes it will be years before it’s their turn. Due to the high prices in Napa, the couple is considering leaving, even though it is where their children grew up and the city — which is 40% Hispanic and 20% foreign-born — reminds Bernal of her old hometown in Mexico, where she met Vega Zepeda when they were both 15.
“Napa is a place much like where we lived (in Jalisco). But sadly, Napa is a place that is very expensive,” Bernal said.
Chronicle staff writers Mario Cortez and Danielle Echeverria provided Spanish translation for this report.
Reach Clare Fonstein: clare.fonstein@sfchronicle.com
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