Escaping the grip of gangs

Flores is one of 20 women at Hope House, a drug rehabilitation program in Redwood City. Since it opened in 1990, the house served 500 woman addicted to drugs and living a life of crime. Hope House provides a six-month, intensive 12-step program. Of the 20 women there, two are trying to kick their drug habits while also painfully extracting themselves from gangs. Flores is one. Roo, a 22-year-old woman who wanted to only be identified by her tag name, is another.

Hidden by trees on a quiet residential street, the women live and learn under the same roof and follow a strict daily schedule. The regimen is similar to the military structure of gang, but that's where the resemblance ends, said Hope House Director Karen Francone.

"They don't have to prove anything to be here," Francone said.

Gang violence has surged in San Mateo County recently, leading police to form a countywide task force. A string of shootings erupted last week in San Mateo. One person was killed two months ago in Redwood City and another was killed yesterday in East Palo Alto. Instead of putting pressure on gangs in one city and pushing them to another, police are attacking from all sides.

In the middle of gang territory, Hope House offers women a chance away from the gangs that controlled their lives and a moment to realize the control the criminal life had over them.

"You think that's your family. They're not your family, but you're basically trapped," said Roo.

Roo has been hooked on methamphetamine since she was about 11 - the same age she joined a gang.

Roo doesn't want to reveal her identity and gang affiliation because she fears retaliation. No matter how far away she gets from the people she used to know, her nightmares of her past are still vivid.

"I watched one of my best friends get shot in the head," Roo said. "Later I found out that bullet was meant for me."

At age 16 - after watching her friend die - Roo decided to leave the gang by quietly slipping away. Now she is trying to rebuild her life after years of gang violence she learned not just from the streets but from her family.

She didn't have to be "jumped in" to the gang because her dad was already involved. At the tender age of 11 she looked for the comfort of friends and family in a web of gangs. Before she could drive, she was already taking part in drive-by shootings, selling guns, cleaning up murder scenes and disposing of dead bodies.

Roo has been in and out of jail three times, but has exchanged gang life for regimented days at Hope House. Three months into the program, Roo expresses both hope and uncertainty about the future. However, she is sure her stay at Hope House is helping her take steps in the right direction.

The women at Hope House are up at 6 a.m. for chores and meditation. The rest of the day is spent in classes ranging from hypnotherapy to computer training. Other classes include cooking, child rearing and a philosophy class taught by volunteers from Stanford University. The Stanford class earns the women college credit and, once they complete it, are eligible for another one on campus, said Francone.

Just two months away from graduation, Flores has made a clean break from the gang that controlled her life.

"If it weren't for this program I'd probably be out there using again. I'd probably be dead by now," Flores said.

At age 12, Flores rebelled against her parents after she found out she was adopted. She ran away and got involved with gangs because they provided her with attention she felt she wasn't getting from her 10-member family.

Between 13 and 17 she was in and out of jail for thefts related to her involvement with San Jose gangs. She dated a gang "shot caller," another name for a leader, and quickly found herself doing anything for him.

At 13, she got her first tattoo. By the time she left the gang at 19, she had dozens on her fingers, her ears, near her eyes and across her back. She would cover tattoos of "XIV" and various Norteno gang symbols with long-sleeve shirts. In exchange for community service, Flores had nearly all the tattoos burned off her skin with lasers through a Santa Clara County program called Clean Slate.

The pain of removing the tattoos was excruciating, but other pain lingers even longer.

At 15, Flores was stabbed in the back with an ice pick and suffered muscle damage. The fight was with another girl over a guy.

At 17, police arrested her while she was on her way with gang members to perform a home invasion robbery. However, Flores said getting stopped by the police was one of the better things that happened to her.

At 19, she managed to get away from the gang and turned to stripping instead. Soon after she gave birth to her first child. Five years later she had another. The 7-year-old son is in the care of Flores' mother while her 2-year-old was turned over to Child Protective Services.

Instead of serving jail time for grand theft, Flores confessed to being addicted to methamphetamine and moved to Hope House for treatment. Four months later, she's clean and looking to her future.

She plans to move into a San Mateo shelter, go back to school and make her rounds at elementary schools to dissuade them from the tight grip of gang life.

"The life I lived was a waste," she said. "There is other love out there other than a gang."

Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.