General

Safety measures under scrutiny

Richmond High School students are hearing a lot more warnings this week about safety measures after the rape of a 15-year-old student, who was attacked on campus following a homecoming dance on Saturday.

Struggling homeowners get help at Cow Palace

Richmond homeowners facing foreclosure have one more day to get help from a traveling network of financial counselors. Thousands of Bay Area residents have huddled into the seats at Daly City’s Cow Palace over the last four days, hoping the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America (NACA) will help them negotiate a new mortgage. One of the homeowners was Robin Bill of Richmond. She lives near the city’s border with San Pablo. Bill spoke briefly at the NACA podium, one of…

Profile: Michael Froiland

At 24, Michael Froiland is quite a bit younger than most participants in the Bay Area Rescue Mission’s recovery program. But Froiland said he appreciates the perspectives of his older counterparts. “I’m trying to learn what I can from the generation ahead of me so that I don’t repeat their mistakes,” he said. Froiland began using drugs as a freshman in high school in Visalia: “Crystal meth, ecstasy, weed, alcohol, just about anything I could get my hands on,” he…

Profile: Maurice Cathy

With at least a year remaining on his parole, Maurice Cathy hunkered down to spend 14 months in the culinary training and recovery program at the Bay Area Rescue Mission. Cathy, 28, said he’s been in jail eight or nine times. Most recently, he had been in San Quentin for dealing drugs in Richmond. Six months after he began the recovery program, much to his surprise, Cathy’s sentence was commuted. He was free to go. But Cathy was determined to…

Profile: Melvin Jenkins

When Melvin Jenkins’ brother brought him to the Bay Area Rescue Mission earlier this year, Jenkins thought it was for a cooking job. And it was — sort of. Jenkins quickly realized that he had been fooled; the “job” was actually a 14-month drug recovery program, run in conjunction with an intensive culinary training course. Jenkins, who had worked previously at restaurants, said he has always had a passion for cooking. So he agreed to join the program. Six months…