From trafficking victim to college dean’s list: Woman’s life transformed by charter school
OAKLAND — Withelma “T” Ortiz Walker Pettigrew spent her childhood bouncing from one foster home to another — 14 of them by the time she was 18. From age 10 …
From theater groups to dance troupes, artists find refuge in Oakland’s Flight Deck
OAKLAND — For more than 30 years, the storefront at 1540 Broadway in downtown Oakland sat vacant, its roof open to the elements and windows boarded shut, until an upstart …
To East Bay senior, compassion sounds a lot like Eric Clapton, Adele
Kathleen Forsythe is the resident music expert at Greenridge Senior Care center in El Sobrante. “I listen to Eric Clapton, Boz Scaggs and a little bit of Maroon 5,” she …
Molested as toddler, woman starts to heal after call to Tri-Valley Haven
When an older male relative started molesting her, Kaycie was too young to understand she was being exploited. She was maybe 2 or 3 years old. When she was 9, …
Richmond woman escapes homelessness, overcomes addiction with help of nonprofit
Melodie Smith was walking down the side of the road in Georgia toward a friend’s house, with no money, and not much to her name besides the clothes on her …