Carmen Ortiz

[Content warning: Youth on Rikers, child abuse] Carmen Ortiz grew up in Harlem with three siblings, two of whom were also incarcerated. Before serving time upstate, she was first sent to Rikers at age 15, where she witnessed rampant fighting and drug-dealing in the adolescents unit. She stresses the necessity of good guidance for youth, which she says was absent during her upbringing, and seeks to be a source of support for the young people in her life. Ortiz has worked as a security guard and case manager for Exodus, and is now an office manager there. (Summary written by: Carson Stachura)