Project 57 Inland empire

What led me to start Project 57 Inland Empire begins with my own personal journey. I grew up in Riverside, California, surrounded by family and friends where gangs, drugs, and going to prison were almost a rite of passage handed down from generation to generation. A little barrio in Riverside, CA, called Casa Blanca, is where many of my earliest, most precious, and even traumatic memories were formed. My grandfather was a heroin dealer who was also an addict for many years of his life. I remember visiting him in prison many times, watching my uncles and cousins get out of prison and thinking I want to be like them one day. At the age of 12, I remember attending my first funeral service of a friend who was killed by gang violence at 14 years old. I happened to be hanging out with him most of the day, and he was shot later on that same night at the local Cinco De Mayo Fiesta. At the age of 15, I became a parent when my oldest daughter was born in 1996. Again when I was 17, my second daughter was born. To the outside world, I very well could have and probably should have been just another statistic: a teen father, gang member, drug addict, in prison, or succumbed to a short life by gang violence. Fortunately for me, I had parents who did their best to keep away from the negativity as best as they could. They instilled a sense of right and wrong, faith, and family. I also had teachers, mentors, and coaches who also contributed valuable lessons and discipline in me that proved invaluable. Unfortunately, for many of my friends and family, there were not as lucky. They became what some may call a statistic, but to me, they were more than just a number on a sheet of paper. We played on playgrounds together; we shared food together, laughed, and celebrated together. Project 57 Inland Empire was started to tell their story and help any young person on a similar path find a new way filled with hope, longevity, and prosperity. This project is their story. 

The Name: 

When I would visit grandparents’ house (Casa Blanca, CA), there was a picture of my uncle who passed away tragically when I was about 9 years old. This was a picture of him and his 1957 Chevrolet. This picture was a family treasure and meant a lot to me personally growing up. Project 57 Inland Empire not only pays tribute to my uncle and my family as a whole, but it also represents me going back to my roots and giving back to the communities in the Inland Empire similar to the one my family comes from.