Portraits of a New Beginning: María Casillas

«One of the best feelings is to get visits from the kids you help come home from lockup.»

María Casillas was born in Jalisco, Mexico, and migrated to California’s Central Valley with her family, where she grew up in a small community of farm workers. Despite serving only six months in prison, she had great difficulty reintegrating into society and finding work because of her criminal record. Since her reintegration into society, she has been actively involved with the organization Initiate Justice, advocating for changes in legislation regarding the treatment of incarcerated individuals and promoting alternative policies and programs. She also organizes toy drives at Christmas and Thanksgiving food distributions for those with family in prison. In addition, she provides for any emotional or practical challenges they may face. She recently founded the Pride In Truth organization, whose mission is to “Strengthen and heal our communities in a meaningful way, offering a helping hand and a comionate heart.” She’s a mother; her husband is in prison. She advocates for the belief that we can all change, saying, “We all matter! We are humans and deserve to be treated as humans!”

^{* The testimonies in "Portraits of a New Beginning" were collected and edited by Ana María Carrano, María Gabriela Méndez, Olivia Liendo and Tamoa Calzadilla, under the coordination of Olivia Liendo and Ana María Carrano.}

Go to the homepage of the book “Portraits of a New Beginning.”