Searching for Safety

When I first came to Hollywood, I was a naive 13-year-old from North Carolina. I bounced between foster homes, programs, and back home with my family until I was 16. By then, I was older, street-smart, and deeply distrustful of adults. I’d been hurt by too many people who were supposed to help me.

When I wasn’t in a shelter, I slept in lifeguard towers in Santa Monica, in squats, in front of the Pantages Theater, or at strangers’ houses. By 18, I thought I was finally making progress — I had a job, started community college classes, and moved into my own studio apartment. But when I found out I was pregnant with my first child, everything unraveled.

At six months pregnant, I had to quit my job so that I could have access to medical care and found myself moving from place to place. It was an unstable and frightening time.

The Foundation I Needed

I remember my pregnancy forcing me to finally ask for help — and My Friend’s Place was there every step of the way. They threw me a baby shower, brought formula when I couldn’t afford it, visited me in the hospital, and helped me into the YWCA program so I could have affordable housing.

When I saw my child for the first time, I realized I needed to be somebody better for her. With My Friend’s Place’s support, I transferred from community college to UCLA and earned my BA in Sociology. Later, they helped me with my teaching credential by covering the cost of licensing exams.

That support gave me the foundation I needed to become a teacher — then a medical student, and now a Family Medicine Hospitalist and associate professor at a local medical school.