Talia's Blog

Talia Rivera
A mother’s life; arrived at from drugs, teen pregnancy, and jail, through faith and gang intervention.

archives

September 20, 2010
Greetings… from prison
Some of the boys I work with end up in prison. Dion is 22 and in a federal prison doing time for racketeering, gun possession, and car theft. Talia, Greetings & salutations! I sincerely hope that this letter finds you in good health as well as good spirits. I’ve been going through my fair share of tribulations as of late but I’ve been doing my best to hold it down. It absolutely made my day to receive a letter from you! It has definitely been a minute since I’ve last heard from you. Though I take into consideration that you have a hectic schedule, the slightly ignorant part of mind...
Gangs; Drugs; Guns; Violence
September 9, 2010
A Success Story
“Naw, I didn’t have a gun, T.” I was visiting Dion at a juvenile detention center. He was arrested for allegedly pulling a gun on a group of white boys. The police recovered a gun in his mother’s apartment. The gun matched the victims’ description. I first time met Dion when he came in for an interview. He was dressed in black slacks, a white collared shirt, and a tie. We sat down. I asked, “Have you ever been arrested?” “Yes,” he said. “Is that going to mess up my chances to get this job?” “No.” We hired him in the summer of 2008. Two weeks into the program I received a call from a lawyer...
Gangs; Drugs; Violence; Guns; Success Story