Dawnn Cashaw
NMV Veteran Family Member
Member since 2001
Both my mother and father have been incarcerated. My mother is currently incarcerated and will be released soon. My father is out of jail, but he doesn't give a damn about me. I have been to hell and back with my mother due to her drug addiction. I joined NMVI at the age of 15 and in the 9th grade at M. B. Smiley High School. I am now 20
years old. So you can see, I've been around for a while. I came into the NMVI classroom a lost soul and came out a healing child. The day I joined saved my life. I have been hungry, scared and broken inside...and who was there for me? Ms. Gambrell and the NMVI family. I also joined this group because I've never had a real family, but for the past five years, I can truly say that I have had one. This program has changed my life. I used to think that I was going to be a drug addict and end up in prison like my mother, but instead I graduated from high school and plan to enter the military. I want to be a military nurse. I'm not going to prison. I broke the cycle in my family, against all odds.
George Bogany
NMV Veteran Family Member
Member Since 2004
The most important people in my life were incarcerated; my aunt, cousin, brother and my dad. All of my painful life experiences have left me with an anger problem and have also made me push people away. I joined No More Victims in the tenth grade at M. B. Smiley High School. The reason that I joined was so I could be "me" and learn to deal with the hurt in my heart. The group, our NMVI family, is a wonderful place to free your mind and be "you" and finally take the mask off. NMVI has impacted me in many ways. My NMVI family has helped me with so many issues.They
give me support that I have been needing since my dad left my life. I could write for days on the way my NMVI family loves me and keeps me from hurting myself like I used to; but there is not enough space on all the computers in the world to display how important NMVI is in my life. I graduated from high school and am planning to go to college. I come to NMVI every week to support my family and help Ms. Gambrell.
We are a family for life. I am not going to prison.
.
Kenneth Woods
NMV Veteran Family Member
Member Since 2004
While I was growing up, a lot of people didn't understand me. My grandparents took me to school...not my parents. Other kids would ask me why my grandmother was always at the school and not my parents. My parents were in prison, that's why. It was really hard, growing up with both of my parents locked-up. It seemed especially hard at nighttime. I always thought my parents didn't care about me because of the life choices they made. I was always told that I was going to prison just like my parents.I remember feeling so hopeless and that I was going to end up in prison no matter what good things I tried to do in my life. I never thought I had a chance until I stepped into M. B. Smiley High School my senior year. I was new at the school. I heard about a program called No More Victims.
I heard it was a group created for kids just like me, who had parents in prison and who were
needing to talk. I never heard of a group just for kids dealing with the same issues as I was.
There was this woman over the program and everybody called her "mom". This class wasn't
Math, English or Science. It was just for us and what we needed to talk about and what we
needed help with. I will never forget that day, September 15, 2004. That's the day that I
walked into the classroom and that one day and those few steps changed my life forever.
I finally could stop pretending about where my parents really were and I could be honest.
I could never be honest and it was awesome to talk about my reality and not be judged.
To be told that I was important and precious and deserved good things and that I could
choose whether to go to college, the military or anywhere else that I wanted to go. I didn't
have to go to prison just because my parents were in prison. I have the right to make my
own choices and going to prison is not one of them. No More Victims was critical for my life.
I am a veteran member of NVMI and I come back every week to support my brothers
and sisters and Ms. Gambrell. I want other kids to have the opportunity to know how
powerful they are and that they don't have to go to prison no matter who keeps telling
them they are. This program saved my life. Also, I am a senior in college this year,
Prison is not an option for my life.
Jessica Washington
NMV Veteran Family Member
Member Since 2007
Both of my parents have been in and out of prison. My mother is in prison now. As a result of my parents being locked-up, I was placed in foster care. Nothing seemed fair in my life. I was sad, scared and hurt. My parents choices and behaviors brought so much drama and trauma to my life, especially to be so young.
I joined NMVI my senior year at M. B. Smiley High School, 2007. It seemed to me like I was all alone in the world and no one could understand how I was feeling. No one cared about me. Other kids that were in foster care with me that had already joined NMVI told me about the program and how much they loved it. I decided that it was something that I needed too. I was always told by family that I wasn't going to graduate from high school and I wasn't going to amount to nothing. After years of hearing the constant negativity and being abused, it deeply impacts you and how you feel about who you are. I got a totally different message from NMVI. I learned how precious I was and important that I was. I was encouraged to graduate and was told that I could be anything I wanted to be. I am such a better person now. Being with Ms. Gambrell and the NMVI children had such a major influence in my life. I did graduate. I am
working. I have my own apartment. I plan to go to college. I am not going to prison. The chains of incarceration in my family ends with me. I have great things to do in my life.
Nysha N. Green
NMV Veteran Family Member
Member Since 2000
My mother gave me to my grandmother when I was three months old. She has been in and out of prison all my life. As the years went on, I felt that she wanted to do drugs and lay up and that was more important than me. My mom didn't care about her three kids. The drugs had totally takenover her mind. My mom was beaten up by two women and left in a motel on the floor. They took her clothes
and her money. I told her to stop what she was doing. It made me mad that she
keeps putting herself in these situations. But she couldn't hear me. She kept on doing the same things. But ya know, life must go, so I decided to forgive my mom for all the things
she had done over the years. I allowed her to spend time with one of my children as a good faith measure and she took my daugther's money and spent it for drugs. Heartbreak after heartbreak. If it was not for Ms. G and the NMVI family, I would have been dead or in prison. Through the years I thought of so many ways to kill myself. But that all changed
when I became a part of a real family. I have been in No More Victims for eight years. I joined in my 9th grade year at M. B. Smiley High School. I learned that I wasn't the only child going through the things that were happening to me. I wasn't the only child to be given away to a grandparent at three months old by an addict mother. Just knowing that
I wasn't the only one had a tremendous impact on me and how I felt about myself. If my high school had not offered this program for us kids most of us would not have survived. Many of us, if not most of us, would have taken our own lives or someone else's and/or ended up in prison. Dropping out of school
was a constant thought. Nothing mattered, our lives, our feelings, nothing. This program is needed all across the country and every child should have the opportunity to be a part of our family. I have two daughters, ages six and three and both of their fathers have been
incarcerated. My children are my heart. They are my life and I will be a stable, supportive, loving mother to my kids. No More Victims taught me how to be that parent. I am so grateful to have my daughters, Ms. G and my NMVI family. No More Victims is a family for life and I will be a part of this family and support this family for the rest of my life. I stopped the cycle.
Prison is not an option for me.
LaTrice Jenkins
NMV Veteran Family Member
Member Since 2004
I have had many painful life experiences that I am willing to share with you. My biological mother left me in the hospital when I was born. I was blessed to be adopted by a wonderful woman who took care of me and loved me as her own. I remember having a good life until my adoptive mother died when I was six year old. From there, I went to live with my grandmother, then she died. At that point, I began living between my sister and my father. That's when everything when down hill. I was eight years old at this time. As the youngest, I felt alone and didn't have anyone to talk to about what I was going through. Aside from that, I lived with my aunt and that was hell. So, me and my sister decided that we should go into the custody of Children's Protective Services. That was okay, but there was a lot of emotional and mental abuse, etc. there as well. I joined No More Victims when I was in the tenth grade at M. B. Smiley High School in Houston, TX. I joined because I needed and wanted a family who I could talk to and who would listen to me and not judge
me... just love me. I thought life would get better and easier as I got older and finally
getting out on my own and further away from my childhood. It didn't. It got even harder. I have just learned to live my life day by day.
I continue to have my NMVI family's support to help me work through life. I come to the NMVI facility weekly and support the younger kids who are now where I once was in my childhood. Our NMVI family is forever and I will always give back and appreciate what was given to me. I graduated from high school
and I am interested in joining the military....
I am not going to prison.
DeQulah Woods
NMV Executive Veteran Family Member
Legend Member
M.B. Smiley Past President
Member since 2000
My life has been full of ups and downs. My mother and father were married for two years before I was born. My mother left my father when I was approximately six months old due to his drug abuse. My mother kept me away from him because she didn't want me to become aware of the things that he was doing.
When I was twelve years old I started to be rebellious towards my mother. I wanted to have a relationship or shall I say to get to know my father. My mother finally agreed and let me go to spend the day with him, his girlfriend and her two kids. We were having a great time... then it all changed. He dropped his girlfriend and her kids off. I was so happy that finally I was going to get to spend some quality time with me daddy, just me and him. The one thing that I always wanted my daddy to say to me was that he loved me. I had never heard him say that. My father drove us to some apartments. A man came up to the car. He walked to the car like he was expecting my daddy to pull up. He handed my daddy something through the window and my daddy gave him some money. I knew my daddy was buying drugs. I asked him what it was, he said it was some B. C. Powder for his headache. The man looked at the money my daddy gave him and told my daddy it wasn't enough. Then my daddy did something that broke my heart....he tried to sell for drugs. When I heard the deal my daddy was making, I pushed the car door open and ran for my life. I was shocked and devastated, running as fast as I could, never looking back. I didn't want to see my daddy anymore. Time went on. I got older and met a boy. He was cool and we became best friends. I really liked him and trusted him with my life. He was not my boyfriend, he was my best friend. I told him everything. He was never inappropriate with me or said things to me that about being in a relationship. We were cool. One day he came to my house. He was drunk. He began beating me, then he raped me. My anger had been building for years. Now I trusted no one. My guards were up. No one was going to disrespect me or hurt me again. I began fighting and bringing razor blades to school. I did not respect anyone. The one day, this most amazing thing happened at my high school. There was this light that suddenly came shining through my terrible storm of rage. No More Victims came to my high school and began to work miracles. First they took a survey in our high school regarding how many of us kids had parents either locked-up now or had been locked-up. I didn't tell the truth on the survey. Even though it was anonymous, I didn't want anyone to figure out that I had a father who had been locked up. That means the teachers, the kids, nobody. The kids that were participating kept telling me how great the class was and that all of the kids had parents either in prison or had been and that we could talk about anything. Finally, I decided to go to the NMVI class. I was able to talk to other kids who had life experiences just like mine. I slowly,
for the first time, began to trust someone again. We were really a family, not the
type of family that lets each other down. We were there for each other. That's
what is so amazing...we had gang leaders, drug dealers, straight A students, etc. For once, no one was judging each other or harrassing each other. Being able to talk and express ourselves really took so much off of our minds, hearts and
shoulders. They showed love and that they really cared. By Ms. G being white, some of us really didn't trust her until we got to know her.
Now we know it doesn't matter what color your skin is...it's how real you are and how big your heart is. One of the most favorite things that I remember about our family is when the prom was getting close and me and my boyfriend at the time, didn't have any money for prom tickets, the clothes, the hair or nothing else. So many of us were disappointed that we couldn't go to the prom. We just didn't have the money. Ms. Gambrell knew how much it meant to all of her seniors in NMVI. A week before the prom, she surprised the seniors with everthing that we all needed so that we could go. We were so shocked and grateful and we all rushed to buy our prom tickets. We had a really great time and a memory that will last the rest of our lives.
Another memorable experience was graduation. First, I never thought I would graduate. Too much stress and pain to really focus on school. No More Victims was the only reason that most of us even went to school. The NMVI class was that important to us. If you participated in the program, you had to go to
class. It meant that much to us that we were willing to follow the NMVI rules. I did graduate and it was a wonderful celebration. Ms. Gambrell got three limousines donated for the graduating seniors and we all went to a graduation celebration dinner. I never thought I would finish high school with all of the stress and pressures in my life. Things started to change when I joined NMVI. I starting thinking differently about myself and learning ways to cope with my pain and work through the rage I
was feeling and acting out. Creating this program just for us, specifically for
kids with parents locked-up and really listening to us and loving us unconditionally,
made so much difference in my life, all of our lives. I began healing and I decided to try to have a relationship with my dad again. I
heard that he was clean from drugs. I sat down with him and we talked about everything. I told him how he hurt me and everything that I wished he had been there for. He never defended himself and he took it like a man. He apologized for everything... he grabbed me and hugged me and told me for the first time in my life that he loved me. We've been doing good ever since. Without No More Victims, I would still be a lost soul trying to find my way. Had it not been for my high school offering this program and the commitment and
perserverance of Ms. Gambrell to stay focused and passionate about us, I wouldn't have made it. Having the love and support of people around me that wouldn't leave me nor forsake me is priceless. I owe Ms. G, Mr. Beasley and
Ms. Hughes and our NMVI family my love and support for the rest of my life. They helped mold me to become the woman that I am today. Now I have two kids of my own and I make sure that I show them unconditional love. I talk to them and tell them everyday that I love them. Without NMVI's guidance I don't know
what kind of mother I would have become. Now I can lead by example. My kids don't know that angry person who was willing to kill, fight and argue. They know a mother that is calm, negotiable, understanding, loving and has their best interest at heart so they can become the successful people that NMVI has
helped all of us to become. I stopped the cycle in my family.
Prison is not anoption for me nor my children.
La'Voshea "Shay" Hendry
NMV Executive Veteran Family Member
Legend Family Member
M.B. Smiley | Historian
Member since 2005
Currently my father is incarcerated and he has been most of my life. My uncle has been in prison as well. It is difficult to grow up not really knowing my father and wondering does he realize when its my birthday or does he even think about me at all. A lot of painful things happen to us kids when a parent is in prison. My daddy did get released a couple of weeks before my birthday. Ms. Gambrell asked me if I would like to see him. I said yes, only if she was with me. She talked with him and asked him would he be willing to meet me and her at the NMVI facility on my birthday. He agreed. He was to arrive at the 4:00 pm, December 4. I was nervous and didn't know if he would show up or not. Ms. Gambrell said that when she got to the office on that day, she noticed a male kept walking back and forth past the facility, but it was around noon. Our facility is in a strip center so there are other businesses and a lot of traffic. It was also four hours earlier than the time agreed to meet. At exactly 4:00 pm, that man she had seen showed up at the door of the NMVI facility. It was him. He wanted to be sure that he got there on time, so he caught the bus early. Ms. Gambrell met with him. I came out of Ms. Gambrell's office and stood behind her, peaking over her shoulder. I wanted to see him, but I had butterflies. Ms. Gambrell put her arm around me and I said hello to my father and he said hello to me. We went into the conference room to talk. It was very emotional. I couldn't believe it. I never thought that I would sit down with my daddy, face to face without prison bars between us. He told me happy birthday. Ms. Gambrell asked if we would like to go to birthday dinner together Me and my daddy thought that would be cool. I had birthday dinner for the first time with my daddy. We all cried. My daddy cried a lot and told me that he loved
me and he told me he was sorry for all the years he missed in my life. We didn't
care who saw us crying in the restaurant. It was an experience that I thought I would never have. It was like a dream or something.
Shortly after that amazing day in my life, I learned that I had a severe blood disorder and I ended up in the back of an ambulance with Ms. Gambrell, several days in the hospital, having three blood transfusions. It was during
this time, lying in the hospital bed, that I learned that my daddy had gotten arrested and was going back to prison for even more time than he had before. Again, he wasn't there at a critical time in my life and one thing
that was so important to me was that he was at my graduation. Now he was going to miss that too. I got released from the hospital for the third time right before graduation.
A friend of mine who was a member of NMVI talked to me about joining the program. I didn't want to even talk about being in a program. They were all the same to me anyway. My friend introduced me to Ms. Gambrell one day in the hallway. I wasn't very warm to her and anyway, how could she really
relate to me? She was obviously a professional women, a professional white woman, so I really didn't have any interest in talking to her. Every time she would see me in the hallway at school she would stop and speak and ask me how I was. She would come and sit by me in the cafeteria to check on me. I wouldn't hardly talk to her. I didn't want to start to trust her
and then she leaves me just like my daddy. She was showing me consistency which caught my attention, and she was always very caring toward me no matter how I treated her, but I was afraid to let go of my fears to trust. But one day I did and I cried and cried and she hugged me and just let me cry, right there in the cafeteria. That's the day everything changed. I decided to step out in faith and trust her and join NMVI. Wow! I then understood why all of the kids called her "Mama". She's got over 700 kids. She went to the hospital in the ambulance with me and came back and forth to the hospital to see me and took me to the doctor and helped me get some of my prescriptions and things that I needed. My dad has since written me a letter and asked me to forgive him and he asked Ms. Gambrell to forgive him to. He said he appreciated Ms. Gambrell being there for me and he thought the NMVI program was awesome. I owe my existence to NMVI. It saved my life. I learned that I no longer need
the validation of others and that I validate me. I have my own voice and that what I think and feel is real and my feelings are valid. Until I met Ms. Gambrell and joined NMVI, I didn't think I would even live to be sixteen, most of us don't think we'll live to be eighteen, but for me it was sixteen. I never thought I would graduate. I did graduate, the senior class of 2008. I will soon be eighteen. I stopped
cutting and burning myself. I stopped doing a lot of things that were harmful to my life. I was doing these things because I was hurting.
NMVI is the very meaning of love.
Thank you, Ms. Gambrell and NMVI. I am
so proud to be a part of our family and to support other children who are
hurting and dealing with life circumstances just like me. I am stopping the madness.
Prison is not an option for my life!
Jessie White
NMV Veteran Family Member
Member since 2005
My step-father is currently incarcerated and uncle, who was a father figure to me as been in and out of prison. My step-father sexually assaulted me when I was six years old while my little sister was in the room. My mother was at work. He sexually assaulted my little sister later that same day. My life was torn apart at a very young age. I am grateful that my mother
believed us and filed charges. When I was eleven years old, I was raped by a seventeen year old who was supposedly a friend of the family. I became afraid of everyone and often thought "what did I do to deserve these terrible things that were happening to me". I am uncomfortable to allow anyone to hug me at times, even my own father. I can finally talk about my childhood experiences because for most of my life I wouldn't talk about anything. I was in the 11th grade when I joined NMVI. I joined one evening when I was at the NMVI facility. My sister had joined the program while she was at M. B. Smiley High School. She would tell me that NMVI was a family and you could talk to other kids and Ms. Gambrell. She
told me everything was confidential and you would be safe. I was in so much pain and she seemed really happy about being in the program, so one day I went with her to the NMVI facility. I saw a whole bunch of kids there and they reached out to me and talked with me. It was such a loving atmosphere and it
was exactly like my sister had told me. I knew I wanted to be a part of the family and I really needed the help. I told Ms. Gambrell and the kids that I wanted to join NMVI and we went through the voting in process and I was
sworn in that same evening. I didn't think that I was going to survive the pain of my childhood and I wouldn't live to be eighteen years old.
I have been homeless and abused and hungry. NMVI has fed me and taken me in and kept me safe. Ms. Gambrell had a washer and dryer
placed in the facility along with a shower so us kids could bathe and wash our clothes. We have created our own community within our
community. I am working on my high school diploma through a program NMVI has at the facility. I am happier now and more at peace. I have more confidence in myself and am able to speak at conferences and at meetings about my life and the things that so many of us kids go through. I have been able to meet some really cool people like Chammillionaire, Trae, Slim Thug, Michael Watts and Paul Wall. It was great to see them support our program. It was truly a great experience in my life. After getting my diploma, I am planning to go to Houston Community College and major in Business
Administration and Music Production. I appreciate the love and dedication that Ms. G and the family members of NMVI have given me. Every child deserves to have the NMVI program in their schools. This program will work in any school, anywhere. It has changed my life along with 700 more of us in the NMVI family throughout the northeast Houston area.
I was set free when I learned that the hell of my childhood was not my fault. The behavior of adults is not the fault of the child, but we don't
know that if no one tells us.
Prison is not an option for my life.
Be'len Izquierdo
Past Class President| M.B.Smiley High
NMV Veteran Family Member
Member Since 2002
My mom, dad and cousin have been incarcerated. Now, my little brother is locked-up and facing 15 to 30 years in prison. He is only nineteen years old. In so many ways, I believe it's my mom's fault because if she was there like she should have been, I believe that he would not be
there today. It was hard to have a mother and then...not have a mother. I never really knew my father so how can I love him. For a long time I really hated my life. When I was younger I tried to talk to my cousins and some of my family about how I felt. They thought I was crazy and kept sending me to live with other family members. After a while, I guess they said "forget it" and they gave up hope for me. Then on of my relatives sexually assaulted me. I was so full of anger and pain. I joined NMVI when I was in the 9th grade at M. B. Smiley High School, Houston, TX. I knew I had to change or I was going to die. At first, I kept questioning...."why me"? But NMVI taught me that it was not my fault. Now I know and believe that it was not my fault. Today, I love me and I am still here, through all of the trauma, I am here. I made it through. I am no longer a victim, I am a survivor. Prison is not an option in my life.
Juan Mosqueda
NMV Executive Veteran Family Member
Member since 2001
My father was incarcerated and my step-father currently is in prison with a life sentence. My father was locked up off and on during my childhood. I don't feel like I ever really had a childhood. I was the father figure to my younger brother and I was only eight years old in that role. My father began the violence that happened in my life even before I was born. He didn't want my mother to have me. Three days before I was born, my father beat my
mother repeatedly in an effort to cause her to loose me. But me and my mom survived. After I was born the violence continued. When I was eight years old, he walked away from me one day, telling me that he wanted nothing to do with me. At age fourteen, he pulled a knife on me and tried to cut me. At the age of seventeen, he pulled a gun on me and threatened to kill me if he ever saw me again.
I spent my childhood feeling unwanted, scared, confused and thinking that
everything was my fault. Us kids in NMVI can all relate to each other because we all have experienced similar life circumstances and feelings. I felt that my family didn't care about me and never did my entire life. I needed
to talk to someone I could trust and could give me the family that I never had. I over heard some kids at school talking about NMVI and they were saying it was a good program and it really helped kids. The one most important
thing to me that I over heard them say was that everything said in the group was confidential. That made me feel safe and I followed the kids to the NMVI classroom. I was then voted in, then sworn in and I am now an Executive Veteran and a family member for seven years. It was awesome. I went to the class everyday. We talked about everything.
One critical thing that we all learned was that its okay to finally let go of all those painful childhood secrets that had haunted our lives. We had been told all of our lives that we had better not cry and and a lot of us got slapped for crying. I learned that I wasn't the only child that had been treated that way. And I especially learned that it wasn't my fault. I always thought I had done something to cause all of this bad, terrible stuff that I had been through. I didn't know until somebody told that I am not responsible for the behavior of my parents. Us kids don't know that if you don't tell us. We think that everything is our fault. I started feeling so much better and I felt loved and that I had a great big new family where I really mattered. I was happy and
felt that I finally belonged. It's critical that us kids have this program to go to everyday during school. It saved our lives. It saved my life. Some time had passed and my mom, now, had a new man in her life and I now had a little sister, Nayeli. She was so cool. I loved her. I
also had a two year old brother. My step-father beat on my mom constantly, just like my biological father did. I didn't want to be around him so I was gone all the time.
Suddenly, on Christmas morning, 2002, everything changed. My step-father, drunk, came in raising hell with my mom around
4:00 in the morning. He demanded that she cook for him and fold the clothes that she had just washed. She was breastfeeding my little sister. She said she would cook for him and fold the clothes as soon as she finished feeding Nayeli. He demanded she do it
right then. He pulled a gun on my mom. She stood and said let me put the baby down on the bed then you can shoot me. She asked
him to please don't hurt her kids. My little brother was laying beside Nayeli. My mom turned and opened her arms and said "okay". He fired the gun. She saw the flicker as the bullet left the gun. She immediately took her hands and checked all over her body, sure
that she had been shot. But the bullet didn't hit her. She turned and saw her baby girl lying in blood. The bullet had hit Nayeli and had gone through her right lung and traveled across to her heart. She died instantly...at eight months old. Ms. Gambrell learned about what had happened and went to my house. No one was there. She left notes on the door and talked to the neighbors. No one had been back to the house since Nayeli had been murdered. I was sick with pain and rage for what had happened to my little sister. My step-father ran and there was a statewide manhunt for him. I was looking everywhere for him. Two days later he was found. We went to trial. Ms. Gambrell was with me and my mom
in the courtroom. Ms. Gambrell had recently broken her leg and now had a metal plate with seven screws in her leg right above her ankle. She had just gotten out of a wheel chair and now had a cast on her leg. She was waiting for the elevator in the courthouse. The elevators were full with a large crowd still waiting.
So Ms. G walked five flights of stairs to get to our courtroom. She knew we were already in the courtroom and how emotional it was for us. Ms. Gambrell was determined to be sure we were not alone waiting for the trial to begin. I walked out in the hallway looking for her. I saw her coming up the stairs, holding on to the rails to get to us. Nothing was going to keep her from being there for Nayeli, my mom and me. My step-father received life in prison for the death of my little sister. I spoke at the Melanie Rieger Conference Against Violence
in Connecticut in 2007 with Ms. Gambrell. I shared with the audience about my life and about Nayeli. Lisa Pellegrini planned a fundraising event along with other wonderful
people in Connecticut to raise funds for a headstone for my little sister. Ms. Gambrell went back to Connecticut for the event and thanked everyone and represented our family.
My little sister now has a beautiful headstone. My mom always thought that her little girl would be forgotten and her little grave would not even have her name on it. My mom was
so happy to see the headstone. She cried and cried. It has helped us to heal. Ms Gambrell has a picture of Nayeli in the lobby of our facility for everyone to see as they come in.
NMVI is my family and I have received more love and support here than I have anywhere in my life. I will always come back and support Ms. G and our family. We want other children
to have the opportunity that NMVI gave us. We want every child to feel better that is hurting and to know they do count
and they do matter. We need to be in every school, not only in America, but in every country in the world. This program will work anywhere and everywhere. I love my NMVI family and I want to thank NMVI for loving me. Prison is not an option for my life.