Published by ABC7 Allies in Action
Every day, Julia Arroyo watches young girls and trans youth walk through the doors of Young Women’s Freedom Center as images of her younger self.
Arroyo was involved with the underground street economy and grew up in poverty. She needed to navigate different housing due to foster care at a young age and had a single mother who was struggling.
“When I found myself pregnant, houseless, reentering from being incarcerated, the center was there for me at a pivotal moment in my life,” she said. “They helped me to build community and to get the tools to become a strong mother.”