Life Connected

Nonprofit Dedicated to Helping Low-Income, Homeless Clients in Job Search

Nonprofit organization Chrysalis helped former drug addict and convict Trinidad Ramirez transition out of poverty.

Trinidad Ramirez is about as unlikely a hero as you can imagine.

Born to a single mother in the Santa Clarita Valley, she ran away from home at 14 years old and had her own children, who were taken away from her.

"I lived in an abandoned house for a year," she said. "I used to struggle on how to survive."

For 18 years, Trinidad was in and out of prison on drug charges.

"I didn't know how to deal with society," she said.

After her final stretch in prison, Trinidad realized at 38 years old, she had to make a change — but she had no idea how to move forward.

"I felt lonely, isolated and hopeless," she said. "Where do I go from here without a family?"

She got sober and came to Chrysalis, a nonprofit center that helps low-income individuals and the homeless find jobs. The center was named after the process chrysalis, by which a caterpillar becomes a butterfly.

Chrysalis helped Trinidad learn how to use a computer and how to find work. She began with a transitional job cleaning up Santa Monica State Beach.

"I was so blessed to have a boss who was also in recovery, and he taught me structure," she said.

Now 16 years sober, Trinidad mentors others going through the program. Earl Moore, one of her clients, is fresh out of prison and trying to rebuild his life.

"Chrysalis gives people a second chance," Earl said. "They help people help themselves. There's opportunity out there. I'm still looking, and I'm not giving up."

It's that kind of resilience that helps Chrysalis workers find their way back.

Trinidad has reunited with her family and runs a sober living house in Paramount. She said Chrysalis gave her the self confidence and the tools to turn her life around and to pay it forward.

"For me, the past tense is the past tense," she said. "I can't change that, but I can keep on moving forward and help that person in need. If I can touch just one person a day, I feel grateful and I can go to sleep in peace."

With locations in downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica and Pacoima, Chrysalis has helped more than 53,000 people find jobs since 1984. Find out more here.

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