This Young Mom is Disrupting the School-to-Prison Pipeline
Evelyn is a powerhouse. She’s a community leader, a mentor, a mother and an advocate for young people involved in the criminal justice system. She began her advocacy journey in 2016 and became a founding member of Fresh Lifeline’s for Youth’s (FLY) Youth Advisory Council in 2017. Now, 7 years later she’s helping young people in her community find their own voice.
Evelyn did not have an easy upbringing in San Jose, California. Her family struggled to make ends meet, her father battled with substance abuse, and Evelyn lacked the support she needed. In her early teens, left to her own devices, Evelyn hung out on the streets and got involved with gang members. Then, she was arrested.
Evelyn first connected with FLY after her release from the William F. James Ranch in 2014, a facility for juvenile offenders in Santa Clara County. She was pregnant throughout her incarceration, and giving birth to her first child was the catalyst to change her life. Once Evelyn joined FLY’s reentry program, she was matched with a mentor, worked on her leadership skills, and successfully graduated high school. She is now studying political science on a full ride at Santa Clara University. She also joined the staff of FLY and is currently the organization’s Cross County Youth Voice Coach. In this role, she serves as a mentor and leader, helping young people participate in civic engagement. In late May, she got word that the District Attorney was expunging her record – yet another milestone in her remarkable journey.
Founded in 2000, FLY works to disrupt the pipeline to prison by unlocking the potential of young people and advancing justice in California and beyond. Each year FLY serves more than 2,000 youth impacted by the legal system throughout the Bay Area. In 2022, 93% of the young people who participated in FLY’s programming did not sustain a new charge.
For Evelyn, this work is personal. She experienced first-hand how life-changing FLY could be, and she draws on her own lived experience to help court-involved youth with the kind of support she once needed. “It’s hard. I needed love, I needed support. I needed a positive role model,” she said. “I got all that at FLY”.
“Evelyn is a prime example of not only transformation of an individual, but how that transformation keeps giving back…on a much broader scale,” said Ali Knight FLY’s CEO. “There’s no person more qualified (to effect change) than someone who has lived through the change we want to see.”
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