Gabino Mendez spent most of his life as a teenager in and out of jail, a victim of a dysfunctional family, forced to live out in the streets of East Los Angeles.
“Growing up seeing movies of gang members and stuff like that, I would want to mimic that,” explains Gabino. “Then I have family that were also tied to gangs. That kind of gave me that that lifestyle.”
While at prison, Gabino took the street attitude and gang lifestyle. His release date kept getting pushed back and he saw no end in sight then. In 2019, his sister passed away and it shook him into going straight.
“I kind of stepped away and was like, you know what, I need to go home,” remembers Gabino.
“I’m losing my sister, my grandma’s sick, my mom’s getting old. I kind of started getting it together… I started researching places and stuff like that.”
Fast forward to 2021, he heard about a program called MCRP, which is a Male Community Re-entry Program. Designed to provide a range of community-based, rehabilitative services. Gabino was eligible based on good behavior. The goal of participants of the MRCP is that they successfully reentering the community from prison as well as contributing to reduced recidivism.
Released from prison at age 31 in 2022, Gabino had no work experience, and a GED achieved while at juvenile hall. Through another re-entry program called Mass Liberation, he met Yessi Hernandez, a JVS SoCal intake specialist which changed the course of his life and gave him a career for the first time.
Through the reentry program, Yessi assisted Gabino with work and trade programs for people that come back home after being impacted by the justice system. Yessi was also able to assist him in getting him to work 200 hours at the American Jobs Center of California office in West L.A., where he gained experience in customer service and office work.
“It was great meeting her. Like I tell her, I give her a lot of props and she, I feel like she’s my mentor, because even finishing the program, she saw that I was thriving,” adds Gabino.
“She saw that I didn’t give up throughout the cohort, staying clean, going on time, never absent. And she saw how dedicated I was.”
Gabino is proud of what he has accomplished. He became an intake specialist and a JVS SoCal employee, earning the first paycheck in his life at the AJCC office. He thrives in helping people in need of services and career related training.
Gabino credits JVS SoCal’s reentry program for giving him a second chance in life and helping him succeed in his present position. Already, he plans for a future where he can help young people avoid the kind of mistakes he did as a teenager and give them a different perspective.
“I’m planning on making it to where I can utilize that to help my community as well because I’m a big fan of reentry and I have friends that have my background that work for the city, for the County of LA. I feel like in four or five years, I want to do that with youth,” explains Gabino.
Another positive in Gabino’s new path is his family. He has a biological son who will be nine years old this year. Thanks to his newfound stability, Gabino now has the chance to be with him and two stepbrothers.
“I’m good and they are happy,” concludes Gabino.
If you’re inspired by Gabino’s story and would like to help someone else achieve their dream, please donate today.