ivis
Message from Ivis Medina - former ROYAL client.

To everyone who maybe out there and who is searching for a life changing experience, my personal testimony will be a wake up call for you. To be able to touch that one person who is willing to give themselves a chance and take a step forward to a balanced life will mean the world to me. I would like everyone to give ROYAL, an amazing program, a chance to see how it can change your life for the better, as it did for me.

My name is Ivis Miguel Medina, born in Honduras and raised in Seattle, WA. Coming to the United States was a challenging experience for me.

For me, the downfall all started in middle school. Skipping school, girls, homework, parents, home boys, pressure, money, work, time, energy - I was a continuous disappointment to myself and others that loved me and wanted me to succeed.

I just couldn't balance all the pressure in my life, and my tipping point hit me hard when my parents divorced. It struck me so hard that I quickly had to grow up and take responsibility for something that I mentally wasn't ready for. Because my father left, so I ended up being the father figure to my two younger brothers and sister.

Eventually harder times crept up slowly when my mother lost her home and we became homeless. For me, homelessness was never a concern and it was my first time with such a terrifying experience. I felt isolated from the world. I had no one to talk to besides my homeboys which pulled me closer to the streets, drugs, theft, lies, confusion, but most importantly, my focus to achieve my goals were shot.

I just didn't give a ****! Eventually, I got involved with crime. I found myself in a cold room, four walls, no freedom, lost my right to do as I please. White folks controlling my life telling me when to sleep, eat, and piss. Everyone around me told me I will never accomplish my hopes and dreams. I believed them and lost my own hope. What do I do? Where do I go? Who can help?

These questions were always on my mind. Is this really the lifestyle I want to live? Finally, one day help came when a special lady named Debra Robinson arrived to come see me. I didn't know it at the time, but her arrival changed my life forever.

Debra introduced a special program to me called ROYAL, where the main focus was on me. I had no choice but to take the opportunity because she was the only person who was willing to help me. She got me out of jail, and introduced me to Paul Campillo.

Working with Paul was a chance for me to answer questions that no one cared to know about. I expressed my goals, focus, inspiration, where I wanted to be in five years and all the important things he needed to know to get me on that track. With that information the ROYAL program designed a structure especially for me where I had support with the court, home, helped me find a job, good people, stable environment, trust, relationships, health, managing money, education, advancement, scholarships, helped me graduate, helped me beat my court cases, and tools and resources to utilize in the real world to help me succeed on my own.

You, the readers, can easily see the ROYAL program constructed my life in a way that helped me to grow up and be a real successful man who is always continuing to succeed and advance. Let me tell you all, it feels BOMB to be twenty-one and established with a clear focus of where I am heading. "Failing to plan is planning to fail." This quote has always stuck with me and I want to be able to share it with all of you. This is the real deal!

-Ivis Medina
This video reveals the essence of The ROYAL Project, a detention alternative for African-American youth in King County Washington. This program exists because of the problem of the disproportionate number of black youth incarcerated in the criminal justice system.

In 2006, The ROYAL Project had an 83% success rate in reducing recidivism in King County Washington.

The video was presented at the 'Evening With ROYAL 10th Year Anniversary Fundraiser' with keynote speaker Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, on February 21, 2008 in Seattle, Washington at the Seattle Museum Of Flight.