Spotlight

Voices San Diego

A local project of Victory Outreach, Voices San Diego works with at-risk and adjudicated youth in the National City area of San Diego. The group’s vocational training and life-skills programs are supported by the Latino Coalition’s “Reclamando Nuestro Futuro” grant. Two of the program’s participants are profiled below:

A New Design
After J was sent to Juvenile Hall for burglary, his probation officer described a history of gang affiliation and prior misdemeanors.

J’s parents were broken-hearted. They said he was a “good boy” who had fallen in with the wrong crowd. 

Upon meeting J, we felt truly moved by his mild manner and humble spirit.  We believed in our hearts that he was ready to change his path.

J did not disappoint us. He appeared for his first scheduled appointment right on time, and he has not missed a single appointment since. He even shows up early—to tell us about his progress and to get a good seat for the graphics class he attends.

J told us that when he first enrolled in that class, he didn’t even know how to turn on a computer. Now he is a key contributor to our monthly newsletter and he designs silk-screen patterns for his own T-shirts.  He is also well on his way to earning his GED.

A month after she was referred to Voices San Diego, Angelica wrote, “I am from a family filled with drugs and gangs. At a young age, all I knew was visiting my father who is a heroin addict in jail. My mom was always crying at home and struggling to pay bills and the rent.”

Angelica was desperate to break her methamphetamine habit. “When I found out I was pregnant I was happy, only to find out they were going to take my baby away because he was born addicted,” she wrote. “I could only feel sadness and pain to give birth and not be able to hold him, my baby I love so much. I could not even be a good daughter and now I could not be a good mother. I felt I lost everything.”

At Voices San Diego, Angelica and her boyfriend Pedro embarked on a journey of rehabilitation and renewal together.

“All we knew before was the neighborhood, but now we are learning to present ourselves as young adults,” she said. “We both come to life skill classes, learning job readiness and communication skills. We also come to the drug and alcohol NA meetings and, most important, relapse prevention.”

She enrolled in the Metro Program, completing all the requirements to graduate from high school.

Now Angelica’s hard work and determination are truly paying off.  Pedro and she were married in a beautiful ceremony, attended by family and friends. The courts have restored custody of their young son to her. And in June, she proudly donned her cap and gown and received her high school diploma!