Hello!
I'm Marc and this is my life...
New Beginnings
March 25, 2025 — I'm excited to share some meaningful news—I have officially started a new chapter as the Chief Operating Officer at Fostering UNITY!
Fostering UNITY is an incredible organization supporting foster caregivers, families, and youth throughout Los Angeles County. Our mission is to create stable, nurturing environments for children navigating complex situations, providing caregivers with real-time, specialized support when they need it most. This includes everything from caregiver mentoring and crisis intervention to intensive, trauma-informed care that helps foster youth build better futures. Additionally, we help caregivers and children meet immediate needs, providing essential items like cribs, bikes, food, and clothing to ensure stability and comfort.
In my role as COO, I will focus on enhancing our operational capabilities and ensuring we have the resources and structure to amplify our impact. I'm deeply honored to join a passionate team led by Dorothy Daniels. We are committed to transforming lives and bringing hope and stability to our community's most vulnerable children.
This journey is close to my heart as we are the parents of two adopted children, and I'm eager to share insights, stories, and milestones along the way. Thank you for supporting me as I step into this role—I look forward to making a meaningful difference together.
Imposter Syndrome & Challange your beliefs.
"You don't argue with feelings, but beliefs you can challenge." - Gabor Mate
"The wound is the place where the light enters you” - Rumi
30 Sept 2024 — This quote is by the 13th-century Sufi poet, philosopher, and Islamic scholar Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi. The quote is a line from a Rumi poem that suggests that pain can help us recognize what is essential and that we can only mourn what we genuinely love.
Rumi's quote can be interpreted to mean that wounds can lead people to discover their highest purpose and truth. For example, someone who has struggled with regret may find a path to recovery, or someone who has experienced love lost may discover life again.
AConversation With.me
16 June 2024—Imagine that by the time your third generational lineage (your great-great grandchildren) is an adult, you will be a long-distance relative. They may know your name, where you were born and lived, and what kind of work you did, but they won't know you.
They won't know your favorite ice cream was Rocky Road, that your favorite breakfast was cinnamon rolls, and that your favorite flower is tulips. They won't know that you went to St. Mary’s elementary school and your earliest memory was from 2nd grade, where you played St. Michael in the school play and loved lotteria at the school fair. They won't know that you made mistakes, hurt people, and felt regret for it for the rest of your life.
I’m 42 now; my son is 4, and my daughter is 2. I likely won't be alive when they are my age, which haunts me daily. Not for the fear of death, but that, in the absolute best-case scenario, they will someday wake up in a world without me there for them. The best I can hope for is that I have prepared them for a life in an ever-changing world that doesn’t always have their best interests in mind and that they should not become bitter but instead embrace the world for what it is. A playground to live, grow, develop their own lives, and strive to make the world a better place.
I love you, Houston & Savannah. Always.
Happy Father's Day.
I don't need any gifts; I already have you. :)
John Henry Newman - Prayer
28 May 2024 —"We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated; that in fact it may be necessary to encounter defeats so we can know who the hell we are. What can we overcome? What makes us stumble and fall and somehow miraculously rise and go on? I know that a diamond is the result of extreme pressure. Less time and less pressure and it’s just crystal or coal or fossilized leaves – or just dirt. But time and pressure will create a diamond." - Dr. Maya Angalou
Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. addresses the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., where he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech on Aug. 28, 1963, as part of the March on Washington.
AFP via Getty Images
A Dream is a Wish that Can Come True
16 Jan 2024 — Today in the US, we celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Day.
On August 28, 1963, he gave a speech under the shadow of President Lincon that forever changed the understanding of what it means to be a fellow human. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from that day, two others about the power of dreams, and one from me that came to me in my darkest hour.
Some wonderful quotes about having a dream:
"...So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."
"...I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today..."
"A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes" - Cinderella
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” - Walt Disney.
"We overcome the darkest part of the night(mare) by dreaming." - Me
So, on this day, in honor of a great man's dream, what dream will you have for this day, this year, this life? We are off to Disneyland today, the happiest place on Earth. I hope we all see MLK's dreams in action today.
God bless you all.
James Baldwin - Love
10 May 2024 — Just a great quote about love:
"Love has never been a popular movement. And no one's ever wanted, really, to be free.
The world is held together—really, it is held together—by the love and passion of a very few people.
Otherwise, of course, you can despair. Walk down the street of any city, any afternoon, and look around you. What you've got to remember is what you're looking at is also you. Everyone you're looking at is also you. You could be that person. You could be that monster; you could be that cop. And you have to decide, in yourself, not to be." -James Baldwin
2 Years at Bang Zoom! Studios
18 July 2023 —The future is always uncertain, but it's nice to be someplace with great people!
What a time to be alive...
15 Oct 2021 — After 3 years of fostering, we have completed the adoption of Houston Lee Perez. He's a happy, kind, curious child who is loved more than he knows.