Ms. Isaac, the youngest of nine children, was born and raised in Stockton, California, where she lived with her mother and siblings. As a child and teenager, she avoided trouble and was a good student. When Latasha was sixteen, her mother died of cancer. Shortly thereafter she started getting into serious trouble, became pregnant and dropped out of high school. Within time, Latasha found herself responsible for two children while fighting a cocaine addiction. She eventually lost her children to temporary state custody until she entered a treatment program. Although she was able to reunite with her children, Latasha did not finish the program and relapsed. As she put it, "At that point everything went downhill."

Latasha had no job experience and was not receiving any public assistance. Her addiction drove her to sell crack to support her drug habit and to make a modest living for her children. This also led to a number of arrests for drug related offenses. By this time she had moved to San Francisco, and after a period of living out of a car, she met a man who agreed to pay her rent in exchange for holding his drugs.

Soon after, Latasha was arrested for drug possession. Although the Court agreed that a treatment program was the preferred alternative to a jail sentence, there were no available slots and she served her sentence in custody. After her release, she states: "I figured {that} if I couldn't get help while I was in jail, I wasn't going to get it while I was out." She again turned to dealing to support herself and her children. After hustling to pay each night for hotels and fearing another arrest, she contacted a treatment program and was put on the wait list. However, she was arrested again for possession before she could enter treatment. This time her probation officer recommended that she be sent to prison as a repeat offender, but fortunately, the Judge disagreed and gave Latasha one last chance.

As she put it, "I finally got honest with myself and others, I mean real dirty honest." Latasha completed a rigorous treatment program at Jelani House which enabled her to reunite with her young children. AFDC assistance provided the income necessary to survive during this difficult transition. "To get treatment , I needed an income, I didn't come from a rich family, I needed AFDC to get me into the program. It helped me a great deal" Soon after, Latasha started to volunteer at the Family Rights and Dignity Project. She proved to be such an assett that she was offered a paid position as an outreach advocate for low income families. "I can relate to single parents trying to make it, I've been there."