Ever since Hilda Suárez moved from Salinas in 2005, the 37-year-old grandmother has coped with a divorce, loss of two jobs and home foreclosure.
She does not regret the move. After all, getting her six children -- including reigning 119-pound state high school wrestling champion Daniel Gaytán -- into a safer environment is worth it all.
"We had drive-by shootings in front of my house," she said. "My son Daniel went over to a friend's house one day, came home and said, 'One of my friends asked me if I wanted to smoke weed.' And (Daniel) was only 3 (at the time).
"We had real good jobs, but what's the point if you can't keep your kids safe. Yes, we're struggling now financially, but we have peace of mind. And that's what matters."
On a recent December weekend morning, Suárez cradled her granddaughter and cheered for sons Daniel and Jonas Gaytán as they took part in the prestigious Zinkin Classic.
Daniel, a senior at Clovis High School, placed second in the tournament that draws state champions from throughout the west.
Jonas, 17, a junior who finished fifth in the 112-pound division at the state meet last year.
Julián, 15 and a freshman, was forced to an early withdrawal at the Zinkin Classic by an injury.
The three were cheered on by siblings Desiree, 19, Julia, 15, and, Jonathan, 9. The youngest has already started training for wrestling.
Suárez and ex-husband, Gerardo Gaytán, sat separately at the Zinkin Classic.
He worked for an engineering company and she in accounting. But the company she worked for went out of business two years after the move to Clovis. Gerardo lost his job too.
She found another job two weeks later, but they too began to lay workers off.
"We had one of those mortgages that started out like $1,500, but by the time we were done, our mortgage had gone up to $4,000," said Suárez. "But, you know what, it was tough. But there's people out there that have it worse than we do. We have our house now, our kids are healthy, and we have food on our table. We may not have too much, but we have something."
Suárez pushes her kids hard at wrestling, hoping that it will pay off with a college scholarship.
She learned the work ethic from her father, a field worker from Michoacán, México.
"His hard work stuck with me. I was able to pass that on to my children. They know wrestling is tough, and it's hard with school. You really don't have much time for anything else. They know if you want something really bad, you got to work for it," she said.
Suárez is proud of completing her first year at Fresno City College.
She hopes to become a registered dietician. She believes following her collegiate dreams will encourage her children to pursue theirs.
Other setbacks -- like selling the car designated for Daniel to make the $4,000 mortgage payment -- are minor, she said..
The family has coped, despite the divorce.
"They took it hard the first year, when everything happened, that kind of went down the drain. I don't want to say I regret divorcing, because we were at a point that I think we were doing more damage being together than not being together," remembers Suárez.
"We don't always see things eye-to-eye. I am grateful that we both want the same things for our kids. We must still be doing something right because we're still as close as we are. My kids are still doing good in school, and they're still loving the sport."