CHICO — At one point in his life David Flores thought he would die in prison. Now, he’s a student employee at Chico State’s Project Rebound.
Project Rebound is a program offering support for formerly incarcerated students at Chico State. Any student who has been formerly incarcerated in a jail, prison, immigration detention center or juvenile detention center can receive support through this organization.
Project Rebound helps formerly incarcerated students by connecting them to campus resources, providing social support through the Rebound Scholars student club and providing them a drop in center with amenities.
The organization also works with Shasta College and Butte College to help formerly incarcerated community college students transfer to Chico State.
Flores spent 14 years in prison on a 25-to-life sentence under California’s Three Strikes law. While in prison he earned his GED diploma and four associate degrees. After the laws changed because of the Public Safety and Rehabilitation Act of 2016, Flores was able to get out of prison before serving the last 11 years of his sentence.
Going from life behind bars to being a student at Chico State is “still a shock,” Flores said.
“I mean, just over the last couple of days … I’ve come to realize like, I’m an actual college student, and I have a job, and like, I have responsibilities,” Flores said.
When he first got to Chico State, Flores said he thought he wouldn’t be welcomed and that he would have to hide his past and be ashamed of it.
“That’s what’s different today is that I feel like I belong here,” Flores said. “Like, I’m a part of this and I have responsibility here.”
Challenges
Formerly incarcerated students make up a small minority of Chico State’s campus.
Project Rebound currently serves 10 formerly incarcerated and system involved students, said Program Director Gabby Medina Falzone.
“I would say the biggest problem that they face is the stigma and maybe the shame of being formally incarcerated and trying to be on a campus where the majority of the population does not understand that fear,” Flores said.
In addition to likely being the only formerly incarcerated students in their classes, they are often older, which further separates them from their peers, Flores said.
Roberta “Birdie” Ruiz, a student employee at Project Rebound who spent seven years in prison, said she is careful with whom she shares her past.
Project Rebound student staff member Roberta "Birdie" Ruiz sits at a desk in the Project Rebound office at Chico State in Chico, California on Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Molly Myers/Enterprise-Record)
Project Rebound student staff member David Flores, back left, and Roberta "Birdie" Ruiz, front right, sit at a desks in the Project Rebound office at Chico State in Chico, California on Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Molly Myers/Enterprise-Record)Caption
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“I have a facial tattoo … so instantly when I walk in class I already feel like “Oh my gosh, I got this tattoo. Are they going to look at it and already have their their own ideas about what it is or where it came from?”
Though Ruiz hasn’t felt comfortable sharing her past in classes at Chico State, she has shared some of her experiences with her community college peers when she had a professor who was knowledgeable on the justice system.
“She (the community college professor) was really involved actually in the justice system,” Ruiz said. “So she understood it, and I just felt very comfortable enough to like dabble into my story.”
Aside from facing stigma, formerly incarcerated students face the challenge of routinely traveling to and from the parole office. Transportation is hugely important, Ruiz said.
Project Rebound helps formerly incarcerated students by connecting them with resources on and off campus. One of the resources on campus is the Chico State Basic Needs Center, which can help qualified students with issues around housing insecurity, food insecurity and other basic needs.
What would really benefit formerly incarcerated students would be designated housing and a meal plan, Flores said.
If Ruiz could go back in time and tell her incarcerated self one thing it would be, “that my crime doesn’t define me,” she said.
While in prison, Flores said he tried to commit suicide multiple times, including trying to hang himself.
If Flores could go back and tell his incarcerated self one thing it would be, “Just don’t give up,” he said. “You know, keep setting your goals, achieving your goals and one day you know, you’re gonna be where you want to be … just don’t give up.”
This story has been updated to better reflect Project Rebound’s interactions with the Basic Needs Center.
