Maria was a ninth grader looking for friends. She yearned from the kind of close relationships that she had been missing in her family life. Her father had been unfaithful to her mother, and the affair had cast a dark shadow on her family life. The father blamed the family problems on Maria. Maria felt an uncomfortable distance from both parents; she turned to a gang member for support and protection. What she did not have at home, she would soon find in her surrogate family: the gang. The petite ninth grader would soon find herself in a fight at school, out of loyalty to her new friend.
When Claudia joined the Alcanzando Metas after-school program, she had been struggling to separate herself from her former gang- her crew. Her cousin Angela had introduced her to gang life over three years before. Life with her crew was exciting and seductive, as she described it. The companionship with other Latinos, along with the partying and fighting, had given her a sense of belonging that she, the daughter of immigrants, had never felt. That all changed, however, one night when an aunt phoned her, sobbing over the phone; Claudia’s cousin Angela had been shot. As Angela lay dying in the hospital, she begged Claudia to quit the crew and turn her life around. On a promise made to her dying cousin, Claudia would soon transfer to Roosevelt High School, and soon get the support of Alcanzando Metas. With the foundation’s help, Claudia graduated from high school and entered the University of DistrictOf Columbia.
Maria and Claudia are the false names for thousands of Latina girls in the Washington, D.C. region.
When Claudia joined the Alcanzando Metas after-school program, she had been struggling to separate herself from her former gang- her crew. Her cousin Angela had introduced her to gang life over three years before. Life with her crew was exciting and seductive, as she described it. The companionship with other Latinos, along with the partying and fighting, had given her a sense of belonging that she, the daughter of immigrants, had never felt. That all changed, however, one night when an aunt phoned her, sobbing over the phone; Claudia’s cousin Angela had been shot. As Angela lay dying in the hospital, she begged Claudia to quit the crew and turn her life around. On a promise made to her dying cousin, Claudia would soon transfer to Roosevelt High School, and soon get the support of Alcanzando Metas. With the foundation’s help, Claudia graduated from high school and entered the University of DistrictOf Columbia.
Maria and Claudia are the false names for thousands of Latina girls in the Washington, D.C. region.