Roger is raising money for his return home in November to secure stable housing and cover medical bills for his recent cancer diagnosis. As part of EPIC’s Parole Advocacy Project at NYU Law, I (Maya) have been working with Roger to prepare for his release in this November.

Roger is a Brooklyn native, growing up in Flatbush and Bushwick until ending up in the foster care system after the tragic death of his mother. Even as a teenager, he dreamed of being able to rent his own apartment – which remains a key goal of his upon his upcoming release. Now, in his 40s, Roger was diagnosed with cancer just months before his release.

Roger is an incredibly compassionate person I have had the privilege of getting to know – he hopes that sharing story will help others like him, particularly people dealing with medical care inside jails and prisons, stay proactive about their health. In our conversations, he always raises the needs of others before his own. As he prepares for his return home, his resilience is unwavering. He is most excited to get back to building a movement he calls Living on Street Time.

Living On Street Time began as a clothing line, but is growing after Roger was inspired by recent social movements and his own experience with incarceration. He is growing this project to include a platform to share information, help people navigate services, and to highlight how different issues affect all of us. He hopes to focus on issues and services related to prison reentry, advocacy for homeless people, the foster care system, and domestic violence among others. Once he is free, he is most excited to continue building this movement as he navigates some of these issues himself. The full mission statement of Living On Street Time is below:

Living On Street Time is combining street smarts (education) with book (school )education to create a venue for whatever your individual skill is and using this skill to improve your community, borough, city, state andhopefully the world. Pocket The Dime LLC is into nurturing (pocketing) these skills (dimes). Pocket The Dime LLC was created as a platform to connect people with people and living on street time is a bridge to that connection. I have a vision, I have a determination, I have a solution = Grab a pen and bust mine Living.On.Street.Time.

Roger is eager to return home to his four children after spending the last four years in prison. Please consider donating to ensure that Roger has access to stable housing and to the medical care he needs. All money will go directly to Roger. Any amount that you can contribute would be incredibly appreciated.