Rising Stars: Meet Richard Sandoval of Northeast Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Richard Sandoval

Hi Richard, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I am a 52-year-old Community Intervention Worker. I work with youth 14 to 26 years old to help them make good decisions. I am a credible messenger with a history of gang violence, drug sales and use, and 27 years of incarceration. I am an undeniable authority on the struggles that youth face in the barrio. I have found the ability to develop self-esteem and focus, and with that my life has turned 180 degrees. With that turn I am able to model good health in thought, being, and action. I have completed an A.A. degree since my parole from prison 32 months ago. I am active in exercise and fitness and committed to a life of service and sobriety. I continue to pursue my higher education and to develop the skills necessary to more effectively assist the youth that I work with.

I got to this place that I am by diving as low as I could into the world of negativity and crime. At 36 years old I was shot through the head and killed, was brought back to life with multiple surgeries, and barely remembered my own name. As soon as I was able to stand on my own two feet, I was released to the streets to fend for myself. Within a couple of weeks, while still not all the way well mentally, I was arrested for an assault with a deadly weapon and given a 30 year to life sentence. I was supposed to lose by my own actions and decisions. God had a different plan for me. I found the resilience of spirit to get the desire to change. I stopped drinking and using drugs in prison. I committed to going back to finishing my education which included a GED and beginning my college education. Also going to see a psychologist and all the self-help groups that I could find. While all this was happening proposition 57 was passed and I became eligible for parole consideration at the same time that I was most ready to communicate my change.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The biggest struggle has been getting past my conditioned pride and ego. I have to be accountable for my thoughts and decisions. Being active in Narcotics Anonymous has been a major help. Step 4 is a searching and fearless moral inventory, and that has helped me to identify my strengths and weaknesses at their root. It has given me the coping tools to work on becoming well as a person.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I work with at risk youth referred to our organization by the L.A.P.D., their schools, families, or friends because they need encouragement and support to not become another statistic. I get to know them on their level. I listen to them and do my best to meet them where they’re at. I specialize in getting them to stop and realize their value and potential. I’m known for the burpee challenge, 100 burpees are the goal, and the means to an end is believing in myself, doing them 1 burpee at a time, and deciding before I begin that it is where I want to go. No time for anything else but doing it, 1 burpee at a time. It’s a metaphor for life. I’m most proud of all of the hope and confidence that I inspire in my clients, I love to see them shine. I work every day to focus more and more on optimistic thinking, to build hope and faith, to see what is possible and make it happen.

We all have a different way of looking at and defining success. How do you define success?
Success is being well mind, body, and soul. Finding that optimal level of existence and committing to maintaining that place in myself every day. Humility, consideration, patience, integrity, honesty, and dignity are character traits that need to be in that equation for it to be of substance.

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Instagram: Da One 8804
• Facebook: Richard Sandoval