Above photo: Lis Casanova grew up with overprotective, loving parents Omar and Delia (pictured above), who helped her grow into an introverted book lover with a passion to bring positive change to the community. Courtesy of Lis Casanova
By Whitney Elfstrom
Lis Casanova has led an anything but ordinary life.
Her childhood wasn’t the picture of perfection. It was filled with hospital rooms and overprotective – yet loving – parents who kept a close eye on her.
They were overprotective because she suffered from a chronic illness, and her native Cuban parents were weary of the outside world.
“My parents were really scared of America and all the news that they were hearing on TV,” Casanova said. “They had never experienced that in their lives … they were really afraid to let me go outside and play so I was not allowed to.”
At 2 years old Casanova, now 23, was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, a rare kidney disorder that causes the body to excrete too much protein in the urine.
Casanova’s immune system attacked her kidneys, and she was prescribed medicine to weaken it. This made her prone to the flu and infections, but she has been in remission since her freshman year of high school.
“It really marked my childhood,” Casanova said. “I was always aware that I was sick. I don’t know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but I remember that.”
She was born in Havana, Cuba, where she spent the first five years of her life before her family had the opportunity to move to Florida in November 1999.
She attended magnet schools far from her house her entire life and because of that she “never had neighborhood friends.” She spent most of her days inside and found solace in books. She read any book she could get her hands on – her favorite being a seven-part children’s series titled “On the Run” by Gordon Korman.
Her love of books was so strong that she once smuggled an above grade-level book from the library because the librarian refused to let her check it out – an act Casanova said was the most mischievous thing she had ever committed.
Casanova’s passion for literature transferred over to her education.
She graduated from USF St. Petersburg in December after majoring in English writing studies. While there, she worked as a copy editor at The Crow’s Nest and was an intern at Creative Loafing.
Now she works at Atlantic Health Solutions as a blogger and content coordinator.
Beyond writing, she wants to make a positive impact on someone’s life. Casanova said that during every difficult point in her life, someone has been there at the last moment to help pull her out of it, and she intends to be that person for others in need.
“That there are literally people who have never had that – not even once,” she said. “And I feel like it’s my responsibility to be able to be that for somebody else.”
During the fall 2017 semester, Casanova was honored by the Tampa Bay Lightning as a Community Hero. She was awarded $50,000 for her proposal to enhance the African-American Heritage and Culture collection and to create a multimedia innovation lab at James Weldon Johnson Community Library in St. Petersburg.
Her part in the proposal was realizing the library needed to expand its African-American history section after speaking to the library’s coordinator Susan Dickson.
The other part came from Mika Nelson, the St. Petersburg Library System director, who came up with the idea for the Makers Space, which includes a 3D printer, craft area and equipment to record music. She said that their ideas coming together “was almost as if the stars aligned.”
Casanova said that Nelson wanted to make sure that the Makers Space was an non-intimidating, welcoming harbor for creativity. She wanted it to be something that visitors felt was theirs.
She said that while the grant itself was an incredible honor; the best part was sitting with Nelson and Dickson at the Lightning game where she was awarded the grant and realizing that their idea was coming to fruition.
“This is literally going to be a thing that exists in this library and kids are going to be able to go in there and use this,” Casanova said.
Casanova’s drive to better the world comes from her past. She had a rough go of it in high school and was homeless during her senior year.
She joined the organization Starting Right Now, which offers housing, tutoring and volunteer opportunities. The organization allowed her to graduate from high school and get into college – two feats that Casanova didn’t know if she’d ever tackle but is most proud of.
“It’s almost beyond my comprehension that I am here,” Casanova said. “The fact that I was able to graduate high school, the fact that I was able to get into college, the fact that I was able to graduate from college and that I have a place to live is just – I don’t know what I did to deserve this.”
According to her boyfriend Kyle Kliamovich, 27, Casanova sets herself up for success. Although she agrees, she said there’s still moments when she wonders how she got to where she is.
“You just gotta keep going, like what other choice is there,” Casanova said. “Don’t let the pain or whatever it is that knocked you down change you in a way that makes you be untrue to yourself.”
