Lewis Garcia, (aka) “Louie”, was born in Calexico, CA in 1965 as an only child who was raised by both parents. Attended public elementary school and then parental choice was the enrollment into private school through the junior high schools years. Louie started doing drugs at the age of 11 years old “smoking marijuana”, which lead to drinking by the age of 14 years old, on into the use of cocaine at 21 years old culminating with his drug of choice, methamphetamine at age 28.

At the age of 16 years old, after getting the high school girlfriend pregnant, it was our decision to get married in 1982. We lived with our parents so we could graduate from High School with our classmates. Our son was 2 years old when we graduated from High School in 1984. We moved to San Diego in order to further our education. At this time, a position was offered as a part time transferee employee at Safeway Groceries, Inc. In addition, worked at a full time job at a plumbing company, which lead to journeyman plumbing status.

Had the ability to provide a very good life for our children, enrolled them all in Catholic school, had a live-in nanny, lived in a new home located in a nice area of San Diego, at this time we were happily married with three children and another child on its way. Life appeared to be going very well. In 1999, after being married for nearly 18 years, with numerous fights and many arguments, re: drug abuse, the mother of our children decided to file for divorce. Having a difficult time accepting the loss of family, marriage and full contact with the children a spiraling out of control soon followed. Quit the job of which was held for over 15 years, stayed away from all family, including the children and close friends finding false solace in the alienation, for fear of them seeing the choice of the life as a drug dealer. Staying away was by choice, yet without thinking of the pain, stress, tension and anxiety it put on my family and children for approximately 5 to 6 years. Although the children and the ex-wife never truly forgot the father who raised the family, they would cruise the streets of Riverside, CA until contact was made to make sure all was ok and a pure sign of life. At this time, there was no sincere appreciation they even cared, instead selfishly not wanting them to see the pain and hurt, so contact was short, kept to 5 to 10 minutes.

In August of 2005, at the age of 40 years old, an arrest for selling a substantial amount of methamphetamine to a parolee working undercover for the Drug Enforcement Agency culminated in a conviction to the California Department of Corrections at Avenal State Prison for the period of 6 years. Going to prison at the age of 40 was a complete revelation for Louie. A period of transition took place with a message towards it being a blessing in disguise, call it an intervention or a rescue, it changed the perception of all the pain, hurt and inconsiderate acts that led to being in a state penitentiary. Literally, prison was a lifesaver. After being in prison and locked up inside, Louie’s' thinking changed to focus on what was important in life. In addition, coming to the realization of all of the missed events the only daughter participated in, i.e., her High School graduation, wedding, and the birth of the first two grandchildren. Missing so many important milestones the children went through while living the drug life was certainly painful. Setting the goal to learn from the past mistakes became a mission, which is still an undergoing task. Making amends and asking for forgiveness becomes an important directional path Louie travels. In July 2008, Louie was released and given three years parole. After 13 months of parole supervision, an honorable discharge was earned.

In July of 2009, Project IMPACT offered gainful employment as a facilitator servicing at-risk youth within the Juvenile Justice system. This service work has served Louie very well with the hope of all the life challenges in his past, both good and bad, allowing him to help, assist and aid these young incarcerated young men to see and do things differently.