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THE PESA POST
The latest news, views and announcements from
Parents, Educators/Teachers & Students in Action
May 19, 2022
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AGAINST ALL ODDS
Darwin White shouldn’t be alive today, let alone thriving. But he beat the statistics—and now he’s helping others do the same
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For proof of the power of second chances, look no further than one Darwin Lawrence White. But warning: You may want to have a hankie on hand before reading further.
The PESA social work intern is pursuing his master’s in social work degree at Cal State University Long Beach. He’s also an employee of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health and keeps his hand in his prior career as a concrete finisher with his own kitchen and bath remodeling business and is a fulltime single father to a 9-year-old daughter.
Oh, and he’s a former gang member, 30-year substance user, convicted felon and, for a time in his life, was homeless.
“I was in and out of correctional facilities from a young age,” says White. “In 2007, I was arrested for possession of a controlled substance. I asked the judge for a drug rehabilitation program under Prop 36, but I had no intention of getting clean or staying clean. I figured I’d jump through the hoops just to get the court off my back and get back out there and do what I did best, which was get loaded. After three failed chances at rehabilitation, I was looking at going to prison again. The judge said, ‘By all rights, you should be going to do the time that the people want you to do. But I’m going to give you one more chance. Because I believe in you, Mr. White.”
That last part hit its mark. “It messed me up in my mind,” says White. “I was 44 years old, and no one had ever told me that they believed in me.”
It’s not all that surprising, given his upbringing. The youngest of 13 children, White says his single mother worked hard to provide for them. “We were poor, but she kept us fed with rice and beans and tortillas and always kept our clothes clean. But there’s only so much you can give to that many kids.” With no father figure in his life and left to “run buck wild” in his Hawaiian Gardens neighborhood, he readily fell into gang life, drug use and committing crimes to support his habit.
But somehow, the timing was right when that judge saw fit to give him an opportunity.
“I went to the treatment facility, started paying attention, got a sponsor, worked the steps and got clean,” he says. “Then I went to school at Cypress College to become a drug rehab counselor. I got my associates degree—with honors. I got my bachelor’s from Cal State Fullerton—cum laude.” And now, at 58, he’s pursuing his masters.
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“My passion is working in reintegration, alternatives to gang life, mental health and substance abuse,” says White, who earlier on the Sunday of this interview had been under a house where he had single-handedly shored up the floor joists and reinforced the foundation, all before running off to do surveying work in a Long Beach neighborhood for a class research project. “I have achieved certifications for victims and perpetrators of domestic violence, anger-management, stress-management, relapse prevention and 12-step groups. And now with PESA, I’m a counselor at a middle school in Inglewood, where I see a lot of behavioral issues. As a Teen Court counselor, I’m working with three minors who were getting Ds and Fs. One of them just got cleared for graduation in May, and the other two have managed to get passing grades. I have 8 or 9 other Teen Court kids I work with on attitude, behavior and conversation, trying to encourage them and give them some self-confidence.”
In echoes of his own experience with that forward-thinking judge, White says, “One of the things I tell them is ‘You aresomebody, and you matter. You’ve got to get that into your head so that it travels those 18 inches to your heart so you understand it, and you feel it, and that’s going to project in your life.”
White’s personal experience makes him particularly well-suited to work with at-risk youth. “I can tell what a kid’s feeling,” he says, “because I’ve been right there. I know where they’re at.”
His hair now greying slightly, White has the drive of a man decades younger. “I’m up at 6 to shower, feed my daughter, braid her hair—any style she wants it—get her to school and start my day.” White beams when he talks about his kids (he’s also got an 11-year-old son, a 16-year-old daughter, a 41-year-old son and two teenage grandchildren), and he is clearly proud of his own accomplishments and those of his young clients, crediting it all to a “higher power”—and hard work.
“Back when I got arrested, I didn’t actually get arrested: I got rescued. The changes in my life and the doors that have opened, it’s nothing short of divine intervention.” ■
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