Cristina Rebeil

When a legal services consumer meets Cristina Rebeil, there is an almost instantaneous connection. “I am them,” says Cristina, a solo practitioner in Southeast Los Angeles County who volunteers at Community Lawyers, Inc. (CLI).

Cristina identifies with many of the obstacles legal services consumers face. She was born to undocumented parents and grew up in a home marred with violence. Her father attempted to kill her when she was a toddler. Shortly after the attempt against her life, Cristina and her siblings escaped the abuse when their mother fled with the children to Magdalena, Sonora, a Mexican town near the Arizona border.

Cristina’s migration back to the United States was motivated by a quintessential California event - The Tournament of Roses Parade. Almost every year Cristina watched the parade as it aired live on Tucson television. She learned English by watching Bullwinkle and the Brady Bunch. She remembers, “One year I saw the UCLA Marching Band. It captured my imagination and I said, ‘I want to go to UCLA.’”