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People thought she would end up poor or locked up. She proved them wrong.
Liliana Flores at a park in the San Fernando Valley. "They had this image of me — and the people who are incarcerated — [that] they are just bad people," she said. "It pissed me off." After years of cycling in and out of juvenile detention, she decided to turn her life around.
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Annie Gilbertson/KPCC
)
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4:11
People thought she would end up poor or locked up. She proved them wrong.
Lilana Flores had the bad luck of being born into poverty and violence. She sensed people expected little of her, and as a teenager ended up in the hands of L.A. County's beleaguered foster care and probation agencies. Ultimately, Liliana decided to turn her life around.
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Right now, LAist has lost $1.7M in annual funding due to Congress clawing back money already approved. The support we receive before year-end will determine how fully our newsroom can continue informing, serving, and strengthening Southern California.
If this story helped you today, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
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