A week after my son was killed, we started having meetings at my home—my family and a few community people. There was a whole lot of anger and frustration—no one was ever found responsible for the shooting. We didn't know why it had happened.

We knew we wanted to do something in my son's honor, but we didn't know exactly what. Out of the meetings, we decided to take a group of neighborhood kids to a a city-wide celebration called The Los Angeles Black Family Reunion. When we got back from the trip, we just knew what we wanted to do—create a place that would keep the kids from being on the street.

[At that time], I worked with my husband in his moving-and-storage business, and when I went to work, I would see the kids standing on the street. It really bothered me, because I thought a drive-by shooting could happen. I told them I was going to start a center, and they said, "No, you won't," because no one ever did things for them in the community. When they realized I was serious, they helped out.

My husband rented a place next door to our business to expand, and when I asked him to let me have part of it, he agreed. The kids helped paint the place. I still know where all of them are. They're men, they have families, and they come back and see me. None of them have been shot. None of them were ever in a gang.

So to jump forward—we outgrew that building and rented one across the street to expand. In 1994 and 2005 we were able to purchase the buildings we were renting. Now we own six buildings and have a staff of 15.

Programs

In the beginning, we started with kids in the community. We took them on trips once a month, because these kids had never been out of [South Central L.A.]. They were born there, raised there—they didn't get to go any other place. The first trip we took was to City Hall in L.A. They saw City Hall in action.

Now the day-to-day operations for the kids run from two in the afternoon to seven in the evening. We have a tutoring program that's very strong, a Street Soldiers program that teaches kids how to stay out of gangs, a library, and a college track program.

Our Street Soliders program is run by one of my first kids, Lamar Porter. He was 11 years old when he came to the center, and now he's 29—he's been on the staff since he was 20. He teaches the kids how to be adults and take responsibility.

Graduates

We had one young man come to the center—he and his mother were homeless, and we didn't know it. He would come into the center every day when we first opened. Someone found out that they were sleeping behind the building, so we called children's services, and they took the son away. I kept trying to stay in touch with him, but I lost contact. Then, he walked back through the doors when he was 21. He was married and had been through college; he even brought his mom back. He told me the center had saved his life. When I saw him, I couldn't believe it. He had gotten through and made something of himself.

We had another young lady—her mother brought her when I first opened the center and said, "I hope you can teach her to read, because I can't." In three months, this girl was making A's and B's. We saved five kids from that family. Now she is the receptionist at the center.

I always say there are no bad kids. They're just misunderstood and got off on the wrong foot, and no one helped them. Some of them don't have a father and mother. We helped a lot of foster kids. All the kids who came when we first opened are grown now, and none of them have been shot.