The Lower East Side of Carlos’s childhood was a hotbed of drugs, poverty, and violence. At only fifteen years old, he was already an addict himself. His first incarceration came soon after, setting off a pattern of destructive behaviors that would land him in prison for most of the next three decades. Carlos reached his lowest point five years ago when he suffered withdrawal inside a prison cell. “I felt completely defeated. I couldn’t live like that anymore.”

He came to Ready, Willing & Able on a mission to reinvent himself. When he graduated a year later, he was a college student, working two jobs, and only just beginning to make up for lost time.

Now, Carlos is working with justice-involved youth and continuing his academic pursuits. “The importance of education is so much clearer to me now thanks to The Doe Fund.”