“Never give up on people,” is the mantra that inspires Five Keys’ custody case manager

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, Nelly Vasquez was volunteering to help undocumented families register so they could participate in a grocery distribution program at The Mission Food Hub, a Latino task force resource hub, in San Francisco. For people with extenuating circumstances who are unable to make it to the hub, like seniors, people in recovery from COVID-19, disabled and others who are sick or have health challenges, the food pantry offers limited delivery services.

But on this day, while helping to register an elderly gentleman who was in line for a box of nutritious and comforting staples like oatmeal, beans, milk, fresh produce and frozen chicken or protein cuts, she observed that the man seemed especially confused and his arms and legs were jerking. But with a mask and sunglasses covering his eyes, it took Vasquez a second or two to realize what was unfolding.  

“Are you okay?,” she asked, her first instinct thinking he was having a stroke. When he fell to the floor, Vasquez jumped into action, pushing him on his side and calling 911. She stayed at the man’s side until the paramedics arrived, assuring him it would all be okay.

“At first I thought he was upset because he had told me he wasn’t working and was undocumented and was afraid to register,” she says. “Then I realized he was having a seizure. When the paramedics arrived, he refused service because he was afraid because he is undocumented,” says Vasquez, 36, who was volunteering at the food distribution center on her day off from her full-time post as a TAY In Custody Case Manager/Facilitator. “He told me he had epilepsy but couldn’t afford to take his meds. He was incredibly grateful and thankful and kept saying he was so sorry.”

Though her colleagues at Five Keys are calling her efforts heroic, Vasquez says caring is all in her line of duty. The Mission Food Hub is an organization whose mission is closely aligned with Five Keys and the shared mission to care for the vulnerable in the greatest need.

“Nelly was there to support him to make sure he was OK until the paramedics showed up,” says Joanna Hernandez, Alameda County Director of Re-entry, Northern California. “The Latino Task Force Executive Team wanted me to send an email thanking her for her help, support, and patience during an incredibly stressful time. Thank you Nelly!”

For Vasquez, a mother of a five-year-old, supporting 18-to-24-year-olds who are enrolled in case management and resilience programming who are in custody in jail is work she says she feels very passionately about. For the last four years, she has been a TAY In Custody Manager/Facilitator for Five Keys, working at the San Francisco County Jail in the downtown area, and most recently at the San Francisco County Jail #3 in San Bruno, which houses up to 768 people and is the largest facility under the jurisdiction of the City and County of San Francisco’s Sheriff’s Department.

Growing up in San Francisco, she says she stumbled off her path for a while as a teen, got into trouble, and owes her second chance to those who reached out to help her.

Now, she’s committed to other young adult offenders offering care, and not punishment, emphasizing emotional support and helping them to address the issues that will prevent them from a cycle of committing more crimes and instead of helping them become citizens making a difference.

These days, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, she says it is a little more challenging to meet with the young adults she wants to help. Most of her clients are young men who have been involved in gang activity and their offenses range from drug use and theft to assault and murder.

Through a window in the lobby of the jail, (she used to be able to work with the young people in person in their units), Vasquez works with a caseload of 25 to 30 people, checking in on them, asking how they are doing, when they are going to court, and advocating for them through the process.

“It’s hard because our jails are filled with Black and Latino men who sometimes just made terrible mistakes,” she says. “I hope to be part of a system that gives them a second chance, rehabilitates them so that they can turn their lives around.”

The lesson she is learned in her role: “Never give up on people. Everyone just wants to be treated like a human being and they deserve to be given a chance to start over.”

What is most rewarding for her are the people she has worked with who she bumps into on the streets of San Francisco.

“I encounter a ton of people in my job, and it is super rewarding to be walking through the city and have someone stop me to say ‘thank you,’ that I made a difference in their life,” says Vasquez.

Letter from Steve Good - Winter 2020

Hello Everyone:

This year has proven to be as unpredictable and challenging as years come. The COVID-19 crisis has affected all nonprofits and has presented unique challenges and opportunities for Five Keys. As we move forward, we will continue to be affected by the ramifications of the pandemic and health and safety precautions in the weeks and months ahead.

But the good news is that there is healing on the horizon.   

The promise of multiple vaccines, our renewed faith in a democracy, and hopefully a successful, peaceful transition of our nation’s leadership have great potential to take us forward with a bold, progressive vision that inspires change that will address the needs of all people — left, right and center — struggling to survive and thrive during these challenging times.  

At the same time, we must remember that no matter what side you were on during the election, this is not the time for Americans to live in a house divided. Our work is not done and to move forward, we must heal those divides and hold close our loved ones, friends, and colleagues through these trying times so we can bring our dreams of a brighter future into being. 

I continue to be overwhelmingly grateful for the hard work, perseverance and nimbleness of our Five Keys staff and the communities we serve. We have stayed committed to our mission of improving and leading forward the lives of those hardest impacted by the critical issues of health, justice, employment, and housing. Through our work to prevent and end homelessness, to educate the incarcerated and at-risk community members, and build a workforce, we seek to address the systemic issues of racial inequality that we all see around us and hopefully inspire change across the nation.

As we pause, reflect and recharge following the 2020 election results, several valuable lessons emerge: a silver lining is that we now have new insights on how to improve our systems and public health. When we return from the lockdown, we will have a more informed framework to create realistic plans for serving our community in the most at-risk, high-poverty and crime-ridden neighborhoods of the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas. 

As we move forward, we will continue to invest in the humanity of people on the margins so that they can be self-determined to change their lives. I’m excited about some of our new programs which will add to our efforts to create a footprint of change. They include the Migrant Education farm program in Riverside County, the Weber Welding program, and the likelihood of new school programs in San Luis Obispo and Sacramento. 

I am especially proud of our Home Free program which is our small token to try to repair the damage done to women who were incarcerated for 20, 30, and 40 years for crimes that aren’t even crimes, defending themselves against brutal violence. We hope through the next 10, 20, and 30 years we can offer them a beautiful place to live where we can start to repair the damage done to them and restore their dignity. We are grateful for all the people who volunteered weekend after weekend to help create this beautiful HOME including the Academy of Art University, CityBuild, G7A Architects, Gelfand Architects, McGuire and Hester, Mithun, Rebuilding Together/SHE BUILD, the San Francisco Office of Economic Workforce and Development (OEWD), Swinerton construction, author and motivational guru Tony Robbins, Alex Tourk/Ground Floor Public Affairs and so many more (see complete list).

I am very grateful for all of you who help us serve people in 25 jails, seven homeless centers, and provide employment for more than 350 ex-offenders who are our returning citizens. Know that the work you are doing is having a tremendous impact on the lives of many, many people, bringing them to hope in these challenging times.

Gratefully,

Steve Good

President & CEO

Teaching High School Classes In Maximum Security: “Gives Me Hope for the Future”

For “Miss B,” a San Jose single mother of two young adults, teaching English literature and other subjects to about 70 men in a maximum-security California jail remains the single most moving and humbling experience in her more than 21 years in education. 

“It’s so rewarding to witness students reading their own prose or smiling when they master an algebra equation, how proud they are of themselves,” says the 44-year-old former middle school language arts teacher. She adds that teaching at the jail in some ways is more rewarding than teaching in public schools.   

“Sure, there are some resistant students, but most are curious and excited to show up in class,” says Miss B. 

During the last two years, she has taught general high school courses and led a drug and alcohol program at the Santa Clara County Jail in San Jose where she says she’s learned a most important life lesson — “You are not your crime and your past does not define you.” 

“Many of the students have been convicted of violent crimes, but they still have a soul,” says Miss B. “They are still funny, smart people who have potential. I get the honor of being able to enter their home daily and form an open, respectful relationship with them. Meaning, the students are in classes to learn from me and show me respect, just as I show them respect. I also learn from them about their life experiences and have come to view things with a more empathetic lens.  I’m here to educate my students  as best I can during the time they are with me.”

In addition to teaching the core curriculum, Miss B. brings her life experience and own recovery to the jail, sharing her own story and helping inmates turn their narrative around. Miss B. knows that paying it forward also helps in her recovery as well.

As part of Five Keys Schools & Programs’ novel initiative to teach inmates at a higher level, she is passionate about the mission to turn lives around, forge opportunities and ultimately reduce recidivism and the financial and social costs to society. 

During “normal” times, there are challenges working inside a jail,— from lack of classroom space to technological limitations — but the COVID-19 pandemic has magnified the obstacles. In order to keep on teaching these men and helping them to earn their diploma, and the possibility of a life that does not involve going back to being incarcerated, these days she drops off her lessons at the jail.  Jail staff deliver the curriculum to the inmates to complete, and then the completed work to Miss B. to review.

Miss B. jests:  “Some people asked me if I was hesitant to teach people who have murdered people. My response is that teaching middle school students, and how tough that can sometimes be, prepared me for this, and offenders are still deserving of an education.”

She says she was drawn to the opportunity to teach incarcerated students a couple of years ago when she stumbled on Five Keys during some Google research and discovered a news story clip featuring the organization.  She says she was immediately intrigued and was drawn to the mission.

“I have gained such an understanding of the odds some people face and the fact that we are all responsible for doing something to help.”

In addition to her teaching, Miss B. is also interested in training for and working with Five Keys’ restorative justice program, helping with counseling for and exploring how the programs can be brought to life at Five Keys navigation centers to help with the homeless population.

Up from the Ashes: After devastating Woolsey Fire, Five Keys Crew is bringing Malibu’s beaches and national parklands back to life

In an effort that should inspire anyone seeking a second chance to turn his or her life around, 39-year-old Oscar Abrons III spends his days leading a crew of men who are rebuilding the breathtaking canyon trails and prized beaches of Malibu following the largest wildfire in Malibu’s history, which consumed nearly 97,000 acres in both Los Angeles and Ventura counties.

As manager of the Woolsey Park Project for Five Keys Schools and Programs, Abrons leads two crews who have been working almost daily to restore the hiking trails, access roads and campsites that were ravaged during the 2018 Woolsey Fire, leaving the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, the largest urban park in the country, looking like a war zone.

During these uncertain times, his hard work and that of his team are a reason for hope, an inspiration that communities can band together to pull themselves and each other out of despair and build
new life.

For Abrons, who grew up about an hour away from the hills of Malibu in San Pedro, CA, laboring with his crew to transform the devastation into new life speaks volumes about his own and the community of support and second chances he found at Five Keys, following his own journey in and out of jail from ages 23 to 34.

“We have a great sense of pride knowing that we’ve faced some bad times in our lives, but that we can work hard together to create a better way,” says Abrons about the eight men he works with on the two crews he oversees, all of whom at one point in their lives have been incarcerated. “Five Keys changed my life dramatically with all the support they gave me.”

It was about five years ago when Abrons said he was taking a painting class behind bars and met Dave Bates, director of transitional employment and re-entry for Five Keys. 

“Coming out of jail and prison, I must have gone on 10 to 15 job interviews that were going nowhere,” says Abrons. “No one wanted someone who has been in jail and prison. But the support I found through Dave and everyone at Five Keys, it turned me around and showed me I can do something positive with my life.”

His first job: A crew member for Five Key’s Cal Fire Crew. Recently, he was promoted as manager of the crews. Prior to COVID-19, he oversaw two crews of eight members each. They were cut in half during the pandemic.

“Oscar aka (OB) , has been a tremendous addition to our Transitional re-entry team,” says Bates.  “His attention to detail, punctuality and people skills has elevated him above the rest of his crew.  I am confident knowing that when a task is given to him or research that is required, I can rest assured that it will be handled.  I have had the pleasure to watch OB grow from unemployment to a line staff and into a leadership role. “

Now Abrons says his favorite part of the work is mentoring other crew members.

“All of us have been in transition from incarceration, some of the crew are ex-lifers,” says Abrons. “I like to help them know that they are not alone. Help is out there. None of us can do it alone. Everybody needs help and that is what our work together is. I tell them I want to see all of them succeed. I want to see all of them shine.”

In the meantime, when there are now red flag warnings of other fires in the Los Angeles area, Abrons and his crew head to the trails, beaches and dunes to clear the ashes and prove that everyone can recover, no matter what fires have ravaged their lives and tried to blacken and destroy the beauty. For Abrons and his crew, that means returning to the charred hiss, removing the debris, and planting the seeds of new life.

Above and Beyond the Call of Duty: Officers lauded as heroes for coming to the rescue of a 68-year-old formerly incarcerated abuse survivor tasting freedom for the first time in three decades

Recently released after spending 34 years in prison on a wrongful lifetime sentence, Rosie Dyer powered up her new electric wheelchair and set off through the streets of San Francisco to meet friends in Union Square and celebrate her new freedom. That Sunday afternoon, after tooling around the city she remembered fondly from her childhood, the brand-new wheelchair broke down, leaving the 68-year-old stranded. She was just one block from the transition home on Bush Street where she has found safe shelter since Gov. Gavin Newsom granted the freedom she had only dreamed about. 

“I was terrified,” says Dyer, 68, who is a cancer survivor and suffers from congestive heart failure. “I didn’t know what I was going to do.” 

That’s when Dyer, who is just learning to navigate daily life much less modern technology, remembered her cell phone and dialed one of her advocates she had just celebrated with. She’d promised to be there as quickly as possible to push Dyer home. But Dyer warned her: “That’s not going to work. This thing weighs more than 200 pounds so there is no way you can push me up this hill.” 

Fast-forward … while the advocate, Sheila Von Driska was sprinting back across the city, she saw a couple of police officers, explained the complicated situation, and asked them for help. Underscoring their motto to protect and serve, the officers sprang into action to help Dyer. Sergeant James O’Malley and Officer Chris Quiocho from the Northern Station were the first to arrive. But they also quickly realized the steep hill and heavy wheelchair called for a backup team. Officers Simon Hoang and Anthony Quimbo from the Tenderloin Station raced to their aid.

During these times when police officers are rarely told they are valued, Dyer and her advocates, along with city leadership, did not want their compassionate response to care to go unnoticed. 

After hearing of the good deed by the lawmen, Damali Taylor, Vice President of the Police Commission for the City and County of San Francisco Police Department, gave the officers a shoutout at a recent commissioner’s meeting to ensure their exemplary actions did not go unnoticed. 

“This woman is incredible, in a wheelchair and using it for first time, after experiencing so much time in prison, she just wanted to spend some time to see the city,” says Taylor. “It’s an incredible story and shows how we do not do enough to thank the heroes who serve us every day. I want to thank them and shout them out. I want to take my time to thank those officers who helped this woman who has experienced incredible horrible things. They dropped everything they were doing to make her feel special. Thank you.” 

At the commission hearing, Taylor read a letter written by Von Driska thanking the police officers:

“I’m so happy to hear these officers will be commended. Rosie has been through enough in her life — it was poetic. But, I understand these amazing peace officers are also going through quite a bit of injustice, too, due to the ripple effect of what happened in Minneapolis. O’Malley and Quiocho were telling me about the horrible experiences and name-calling they have been enduring because of it … based on the color of the uniforms they wear … not at all who they are, as people, evidenced by yesterday.

“Well, for whatever it is worth … they are my heroes. They stepped up in the absolute most kindest way possible to help me and Rosie with the most unusual request … a broken down brand new electric wheelchair on Jones Street for a woman who had spent 34 years in prison (unjustly) and on one of the very first days she ventured out on her own with her new “wheels” to celebrate six months of freedom with me and you for lunch in Union Square … one block from home … she got stuck. And of all the people in the world … San Francisco’s finest responded with such grace and gentle care. What an escort home!

“Last week Rosie said she was looking forward to an adventure. And what an adventure it was … with superheroes in blue coming to the rescue and the happiest day and ending possible. Thank you to our heroes.”

Using her voice for change

Dyer was one of about 100 abused women serving life or life without parole for killing their abusive husbands or partners.

In 1985, Dyer shot her husband with the same gun he had used to threaten and rape her. When she testified about the abuse, prosecutors used her words as evidence that she had a motive for the killing. After decades, and new laws, Gov. Gavin Newsom commuted Dyer’s sentence. She was released in April.

In addition to binge-watching her favorite book series, Outlander, now available to her on Netflix
(she read the series seven times during her imprisonment), Dyer has been opening up about her experience and about domestic violence to lawmakers, college students and others on ZOOM meetings dedicated to helping others gain a greater understanding of the intricacies of domestic violence. She also meets regularly and pens letters and emails to dozens of victims looking for help and survivors trying to do as she is, navigate their new worlds of freedom. 

In November, Dyer will be among the 12 women who will move into one of a set of two-bedroom apartments on Treasure Island, thanks to a new transitional housing program started by the Five Keys Home Free program dedicated to helping survivors of wrongful convictions transition back in the San Francisco and Los Angeles communities.  

“Rosie is one of the women who has endured unspeakable violence and painfully and unjustly ended up in prison because they were not able to introduce the evidence of the horrific abuse they suffered at the hands of their husbands or partners,” said Sunny Schwartz, founder and board member of Five Keys and Home Free. “We are trying to right a terrible wrong committed against these women.” Schwartz was with Von Driska and Dyer at the Little Skillet Fried Chicken lunch celebration just before the wheelchair breakdown. 

Like Dyer, these are women who killed their abusive partners decades ago and ended up with prison terms for life. That changed in 2012 when a new California law allowed the women to go back to the parole board or court and show evidence they were defending themselves from abuse. 

As a result, women like Dyer are receiving commuted sentences or early parole. Many need a place to call home.

“This is righting a terrible wrong that was committed against these women,” Schwartz said.

Besides rent-free housing, subsidized in part by the City of San Francisco, Five Keys partners with other agencies to help the newly freed women navigate daily life, from using a cell phone to finding
a job.

“God has blessed me, bringing heroes like this into my life,” says Dyer. “Now it is my turn to help others understand the horrors of domestic violence and to reach back to help women who are experiencing it and tell them they can get out. They don’t deserve to live like that.” 

About Five Keys Schools and Programs 

Five Keys Schools and Programs is leading Five Keys Home Free, a program seeking to create residential communities in San Francisco and Los Angeles providing life skills and survivor empowerment programs, as well as training and job placement for convicted survivors of domestic violence whose prison sentences have been commuted. Learn more: https://www.fivekeyshomefree.org/

Lifting Voices Toward Hope: Five Keys Schools and Programs helps inspire hundreds of jail inmates and homeless to register and to vote

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Oct.14, 2020: Dozens of newly registered voters in Alameda County and San Francisco will be able to cast their ballots in the upcoming presidential election, and many of them likely did not know they could.

Through a new “make your voice heard”- themed initiative, the leaders of Five Keys Schools and Programs are placing a high priority on making sure that the approximately 300 incarcerated students they teach in the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, CA and the approximately 1,035 unsheltered guests who are living in the seven navigation centers and hotel sites they currently run in San Francisco and Oakland know their rights, including their right to vote. They’re helping them register and participate in the upcoming Nov. 3, election. They are also helping them drop off or mail ballots.

“It’s important for our students to know their voting rights,” says Lillian Santos-Stables, principal at the Santa Rita Jail high school education program, which is run by Five Keys Schools and Programs.  

The goal: to get the word out and enroll as many people as possible who are interested and excited to vote, adds Meg O’Neill, director of San Francisco Housing Services for Five Keys. The program is crucial, as many of the inmates and guests at the navigation and hotel shelters were not aware of their right to vote, how to access voting, where to vote and how the process works. 

Providing this information is key to removing barriers and empowering individuals to exercise their right to vote.

 “We want to make sure our guests are given agency, a voice and an opportunity to participate in this year's very important election,” O’Neill adds. “People of color, people who are poor and unhoused, people who are perceived as ‘less than,’ are often intentionally blocked from participating in the political process. Through this work, we can ensure that our guests feel welcomed and encouraged to share their voices in a political climate which threatens their rights, representation, and well-being. We hope Five Keys will lift the voices of our guests in a way that allows them to be a powerful force in the political landscape, both locally and nationally.”

At the Santa Rita Jail, Five Keys teamed up with the Alameda District Attorney’s Office to create an educational video for inmates that gives an overview of voting rights and the history of voting in the United States. Santos and teacher produced a video depicting their own “Why I Vote” stories. Principal Santos-Stables and a handful of teachers provided personal and emotional glimpses of how voting can give people a canvas for hope, unity, and justice. Their hope is to inspire inmates to keep striving for change through the power of their vote. Inmates also can meet via live video chats with teachers who can help answer their questions about history and voting.

With the Oct. 19, 2020 voter’s registration deadline looming, Five Keys leadership at the two navigation centers — Embarcadero SAFE Navigation Center and Bayshore Navigation — along with the six hotels and an eighth site, are also working to make the process of voting in the U.S. presidential election as easy and stress-free as possible for the hundreds of men and women who are currently unsheltered and have a California I.D., which makes them eligible to vote. At least one of the hotel sites worked closely with the Department of Elections to make the information accessible to guests. Many of the staff at the centers, who have transformed their own lives and have past criminal justice system involvement, were not aware until this educational campaign that they can vote on probation in California, and also were able to register.  

“We kicked off efforts at all of our individual sites to get all our guests registered,” says Patricia Richard, Director of the Navigation Centers. “We want our guests to know that everybody’s vote counts and to make sure we do everything we can to help them register and vote.” 

On a recent day, Raymond, who in June was released from prison when his sentence was struck down after serving 21 years of a life sentence and now is employed as an ambassador for Five Keys, was busily marching up and down the corridors of the Moscone Center posting posters proclaiming, “Your Vote Matters: Register Today and Vote on November 3rd,” and “It’s Your World. Shape it or Someone Else Will. Vote.” 

“I’m trying to do positive things to help others and save their lives,” says Raymond. 

At Santa Rita, inmates can view the video with the powerful emotional tales of Santos and the teaching staff on why it is so crucial for them to exercise their right to vote. 

“Whenever I vote, I’m honoring the legacy of my grandfather, who was one of 250,000 men from the Philippines who fought alongside Americans in World War II,” says Santos-Stables. “Because he did that, he could vote in the U.S. when he moved here. He helped pave the way for me to know I have a voice and it will be heard.”

“Not voting is not a protest, it is a surrender,” Miss F. says in the video.

Teacher Mr. Tim offered these words of wisdom: “If you have time to whine and complain about something then you have the time to do something about it.” He was quoting Anthony J. D'Angelo – American author, founder of Collegiate Empowerment and creator of The Inspiration Book Series. 

About Five Keys Schools & Programs

Dedicated to getting people’s lives back on track, Five Keys Schools and Programs and its more than 950 dedicated employees serve more than 25,000 individuals each year throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and nine counties throughut the state of California. Five Keys was founded in 2003 by the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department as the first accredited charter high school in the nation to provide diploma programs for adults in county jails. Today, its efforts have grown exponentially. The organization interrupts the cycles of homelessness, substance abuse, violence, illiteracy and incarceration through our 80 community learning centers, transitional housing shelters, career centers, and community-based workforce networks by investing in their humanity so that they can be self-determined to change their lives. Five Keys also hires people directly into our transitional employment positions for formerly incarcerated individuals and people currently or formerly experiencing homelessness, while also employing over 300 formerly incarcerated individuals in full-time, benefited positions. www.fivekeys.org.

About the Santa Rita Jail

Located in Dublin, CA, the jail holds about 4,000 inmates housed in one of eighteen modern housing units. It is considered a "mega-jail" and ranks as the third largest facility in California and the fifth largest in the nation. Santa Rita is accredited by the American Correctional Association, thus making it the only facility in California holding this prestigious award. It is recognized as one of the most technologically innovative jails in the world. A robotic system speeds delivery of laundry supplies and food to all areas of the 113-acre campus. State-of-the-art criminal justice systems serve the internal operation, while the largest rooftop solar power system converts enough electricity to power nearly one-half of the facility's electrical needs during daylight hours. Sheriff Ahern's philosophy of cost-effective delivery of services is reflected in the private sector partnerships that support the jail's operation. A modem cook-chill food service operation produces 12,000 economical meals per day. On site medical and mental health services save money while reducing the patient load at county medical facilities. Throughout its history, the Santa Rita Jail Facility has served the criminal justice system and contributed to the safety of the citizens of the County of Alameda by providing a safe, secure, and humane environment for inmates and staff.

Getting Back on Course: “It’s about time” friends and family cheered during drive by high school graduation

During the time she was in and out of Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, CA for stolen property and drugs, Roshanda “Shanda” Howard would reflect on her teenage years in which she dropped out of high school in the 11th grade and fled her family to head for Michigan.

“I always wanted to make something out of my life, but some stupid decisions I made would always stop me,” says the Oakland, CA resident.

Fast-forward to this August, when Howard, 42, decked out in a cap and gown holding a bouquet of balloons, stood on her driveway with her four kids and her mother at her side, as a parade of teachers from Five Keys Schools and Programs drove cheering, honking their horns and playing the Pomp and Circumstance graduation walking march, to celebrate her major milestone: graduating from high school.

View Drive-By Graduation

“I had my mindset on this, this time,” says Howard, who just a week after her graduation was hired by a San Francisco private security firm to patrol building sites on the overnight shift. “It feels so good to finally finish. It’s been a long journey and I wanted to quit many times.”

Howard says she was especially motivated in 2018 when her daughter, Armani Nicole, now 20, graduated from high school. At the same time, one of her friends graduated from the Five Keys program. “What other motivation did I need,” she says.

“I’m so grateful to my teacher, Miss Michelle, because so many times I wanted to quit,” says Howard. “But she would call and say, ‘Are you coming in today?’ She always just kept telling me she knew I could do it.”

A single mom, recently out of jail and struggling to make a living, Howard says there were many times “I just thought, I can’t do this.”

Following her jail time, Howard regained custody of her four children through the Maximizing Opportunities for Mothers to Succeed (M.O.M.S.) program at the Santa Rita jail, whose mission is to promote family reunification and the healthy development of children by increasing the capacity of their mothers for self-sufficiency and parent-child bonding. After enrolling in Five Keys in 2018, she persevered through distance learning, taking rigorous courses including Algebra I.

For Howard and others who were formerly incarcerated, the Five Keys program cuts the recidivism rate by 30 percent, compared to statewide averages of 65 percent. Unfortunately, without programs like Five Keys, many people in jails rarely get the chance to make up for the educational opportunities from which they have been excluded — opportunities that impact their chances of reentry success.

Today, Howard proudly displays her diploma next to her daughters on a table in their front living room. She feels it sends a strong signal to her other three children, Desjon, 23, Ojeda, 16, and Kendall Reye, 5, to get their high school degree. In addition to the drive by graduation her family has thrown her two parties to celebrate this summer. And, especially meaningful to her was a phone call from her sister with whom she has been estranged from for a long time. “My sister called to say, ‘it’s about time.’ That meant a lot to me.” 

Now employed, Howard has her eye on continuing her education and becoming a probation officer for young people.

“Every time I walk in my living room and see my diploma, I look at it and ask myself what’s next,” she says. “But now I know I can accomplish what that will be. I have learned to stay calm and work hard and that I can succeed.”

Getting to the Finish Line: A decades long marathon near mile 18 for Five Keys student

For Jennifer Clark, school this fall feels like the 19th mile in a marathon. She is so close to the 26-mile finish line, but algebra, physical science and her own fears are threatening to trip her.

“This is really, really hard,” says the Novato resident. “But I’ve got to do it, I’ve got to show my kids that I can be more than just someone who had a lot of babies.”

There is no doubt that training/studying for her high school diploma has been beyond challenging at times.

Now 45, Clark dropped out high school her freshman year when she became pregnant with her first of eight children. The next few decades were not that kind. She’s struggled with debilitating depression and fought to survive through abusive relationships with one of her two husbands, and several of her children’s fathers. Clark was sent to jail for a week for fighting back during a domestic violence dispute — an incident that cost her her job as a certified nursing assistant at a home for the elderly and marred her record, making finding employment difficult.

But on June 10, 2019 exactly, a Five Keys Schools and Programs graduate told Clark about the program and she enrolled right away. Now, just 36.75 credits from achieving her high school graduation, she is determined to “hold my head high and skip across the stage,” to receive her high school diploma.

She attributes that feat to the compassion and coaching of her teacher, Mrs. Carla, at the Vallejo Five Keys location and the school’s principal, Ms. Rachel.

“My speech is going to be about one true teacher that has held it down and helped me and never ever given up on me,” says Clark. “And believe me, I’m a pain in the butt.”

She also is grateful for the patience and flexibility Mrs. Carla gave her in the classroom.

“Many times, I was so depressed and just wanted to give up, but she stood by my side and kept saying, ‘you can do this. You can’t let your dreams die.”

During her Five Keys schooling, Jennifer was given a certificate of graduation in 2017 by the Novato police department as a peer support substance abuse counselor, a role she says falls near and dear to her heart because her sister struggled with substance abuse and she is eager to help others.

These days, Clark says she hunkers down all day long every day studying for her degree online.

Throughout it all, she says she always kept her eye on the prize, her eight children — Anna Maria, 29, Rafael, 27, Rolando, 25, Miguel, 22, Rudy, 20, Samuel, 12, Hannah, 11, Jennifer, 9, and grandson, Gordo. Two of her youngest children are special needs, so she says she is a full-time mom and student. Any time she feels like quitting, she thinks of her family.

Clark says she knows how happy she will feel when she finishes. “I’m already thinking ahead to taking some college classes,” she says. “I want to do something in law enforcement. I really like helping people, especially when they are in trouble and need help. I still can’t believe I’ll be 45 when I finish high school. But hey, I finally am going to do it.”

Back to School: What confronting the challenges of COVID-19 looks like for students and teachers in jail lockdown

““Tutors at your fingertips”: ZOOM and hand-delivered lesson plans result in record number of inmates graduating from high school during
global pandemic”

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, August 26, 2020. As schools across the country begin a new academic year under the shadow of a global pandemic, ugly discourse, and high anxiety, educators at the Alameda County Santa Rita Jail in Dublin, CA are confronting many challenges to continue access to education behind bars for more than 300 adult students.

“We realized that there was a greater need than ever for us to keep connecting with students during COVID,” says Lillian Santos-Stables, principal at the Santa Rita Jail high school education program, which is run by Five Keys Schools and Programs.

Calling it “tutors at your fingertips,” a new service launched earlier this week, a school hotline for inmates who were distributed tablets allows them to schedule and phone in for tutoring from the Five Keys teachers who are on-site at the jail, but remotely tutoring from their offices. The jail also expanded their inmate ZOOM visitation program so that teachers can “visit” with students in supervised online sessions and is continuing a program instituted in March, where books, lesson plans and other learning materials are prepared by the teachers, distributed to the students and then returned and graded.

Due to the creativity and exceptional adjustments of Five Keys and the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office working in tandem, 15 incarcerated students at the Santa Rita jail graduated high school this summer — more than any year before, according to Sergeant Daniel Molleson, Director of Inmate Services. “COVID actually opened up a new opportunity for us. Our inmates became hypervigilant about focusing on their own self-development and really focused on their education this summer. We are creating a new way of learning and moving away from the way it used to be. We are creating the new normal.”

Throughout the summer, small groups of socially distanced students also met for targeted courses on health and hygiene (especially significant during the pandemic). This fall, there will be podcasts and learning sessions on voter registration and information on the importance of voting and how inmates can vote.

The creative pivot to continue to provide education to the jail’s inmates was jump-started last March immediately after COVID shuttered schools across the nation.

The mission is urgent for Five Keys‘ schools to continue imparting lessons in civics, history, math, and ethics, has always been urgent, but now especially so, says Santos-Stables.

Continuing inmate’s access to education reduces crime and increases the likelihood of successful reentry to society. Research shows that higher education in prison is a proven tool for changing lives. One study found that participants in correctional education were 48% less likely to return to crime. Another showed that education in prison can improve employment among returning citizens.

Education behind bars transforms lives.

“School gives our inmates a sense of drive and accomplishment and it occupies their time,” says Sgt. Molleson. “Our students feel productive and that they are making positive changes in their lives. Without it, we would have more fights, depression; it just changes their overall well-being. It changes their thinking to not look at time in custody as wasted time in their lives.”

Santos-Stables and Sgt. Molleson are a dedicated team on a mission to educate inmates. Moments
like celebrating the graduations of the 15 students including Tiara Arnold, 27, are life-changing. Arnold was arrested at age 17, and has lived at Santa Rita, and then prison, but is back awaiting an appeal of her conviction.

Says Arnold: “When I got arrested, my life was really going in the wrong direction. I was really distracted and made a lot of poor decisions. But while life was progressing for everyone else, I didn’t go to prom, I didn’t graduate from high school and I didn’t get to do the one thing my mom asked me to do, which was to get my high school diploma. I was in the worst place my life could be. But now, since people invested so much in me and helped me believe in myself, I am determined to lead a life that is meaningful and helpful to others. I plan to go to college and hope to help my mom with her business and help other at-risk kids who are struggling.”

About Five Keys Schools & Programs

Dedicated to getting people’s lives back on track, Five Keys Schools and Programs and its more than 790 dedicated employees serve more than 25,000 individuals each year throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles and nine counties throughout the state of California. Five Keys was founded in 2003 by the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department as the first accredited charter high school in the nation to provide diploma programs for adults in county jails. Today, its efforts have grown exponentially. The organization interrupts the cycles of homelessness, substance abuse, violence, illiteracy and incarceration through our 80 community learning centers, transitional housing shelters, career centers, and community-based workforce networks by investing in their humanity so that they can be self-determined to change their lives. Five Keys also hires people directly into our transitional employment positions for formerly incarcerated individuals and people currently or formerly experiencing homelessness, while also employing over 300 formerly incarcerated individuals in full-time, benefited positions. www.fivekeys.org.

About the Santa Rita Jail

Located in Dublin, CA,  the jail holds about 4,000 inmates housed in one of eighteen modern housing units. It is considered a "mega-jail" and ranks as the third largest facility in California and the fifth largest in the nation. Santa Rita is accredited by the American Correctional Association, thus making it the only facility in California holding this prestigious award. It is recognized as one of the most technologically innovative jails in the world. A robotic system speeds delivery of laundry supplies and food to all areas of the 113-acre campus. State-of-the-art criminal justice systems serve the internal operation, while the largest rooftop solar power system converts enough electricity to power nearly one-half of the facility's electrical needs during daylight hours. Sheriff Ahern's philosophy of cost-effective delivery of services is reflected in the private sector partnerships that support the jail's operation. A modem cook-chill food service operation produces 12,000 economical meals per day. On site medical and mental health services save money while reducing the patient load at county medical facilities. Throughout its history, the Santa Rita Jail Facility has served the criminal justice system and contributed to the safety of the citizens of the County of Alameda by providing a safe, secure, and humane environment for inmates and staff.

First Responders Change Destiny: Five Keys rescues young woman in crisis

“My journey to get where I am now couldn’t have been possible without having Five Keys support. I thought I was never going to experience what it was like to walk the stage, to be able to tell my family and friends that I graduated from high school.
”

— Destiny Mcghee, high school graduate

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Destiny Mcghee, a 2019 Five Keys graduate, works on the front line of an emergency response firm dispatching help to the elderly in crisis.

In many ways, Five Keys Schools and Programs was the lifeline that saved her from becoming a statistic. In high school, she repeatedly was told by teachers and administrators to forget about graduating. They told her she did not have the smarts to make it, so she might as well just drop out.

That is what she did.   

“I was told from previous schools that I wouldn’t make it, that I was just going to be a high school dropout,” said the Sylmar, CA resident. “Or they’d say that with my grades, I probably won’t get far in life.”

Over the course of the next decade, she internalized their prophesy and lived up to her teacher’s expectations.

“Of course, that made me feel so discouraged, so I gave up,” says Mcghee. When I was 18, I gave up on everything and got so tired of trying that I just moved to Vegas and got away from my problems.”

The oldest of eight, Mcghee started high school in Lancaster, California with great promise.

“When I first started ninth grade I did amazing and I was so excited to be in high school around my friends and learning so much,” she remembers.

But after her freshman year, her mother sent her to live with a relative across the country to Missouri. When she returned to California, Mcghee’s mom told her daughter she would need to home school.

As the oldest, the responsibility of childcare for her siblings, and educating them fell into her lap because her mother was working 24/7.

“I had no help,” says Mcghee. “I was depressed because I didn’t understand anything and finally convinced my mom to let me go to the public high school in 12th grade.”

That is where any hope for high school graduation spiraled out of control. After one semester she was told her home school transcripts did not meet their requirements and she would have to start high school all over.

“I was so broken,” she says. “That’s when I failed.”

Finding Destiny: “You just can’t give up on yourself.”

Fast forward and after living in Vegas for more than five years, Mcghee returned to California to live with her aunt, who just happened to work at Five Keys.

That was the start of her journey.

Before long, Mcghee was enrolled in Five Keys and graduated at 24 with her high school diploma.

She attributes that success to her teacher, LaQuette Milner, or “Mrs. LaQuette” as she calls her.

“She was the most patient teacher I had ever come across, helpful, and wanted everyone in her class to do well,” says Mcghee. “I will never forget Five Keys.”

“I really wish I had something like this when I was younger but very happy I was able to go back and do better for myself,” says Mcghee.  “I’m so grateful for the experience. “

Last year, she graduated surrounded by her friends and family.

“I was so proud to finally graduate because I was the only kid out of all of my mom’s children that didn’t graduate from high school yet and the oldest,” she says. “I tell everyone about my story and how this school really makes sure their students succeed. You just cannot give up on yourself, you must keep striving and working hard for a better future for yourself. No one can do it for you.”