HONOR, SACRIFICE & ANSWERING THE CALL

The Hustler Files with Lisa Reilly - Stories That Challenge What You Thought You Knew

Gabrielle Perry was one of the lucky ones. Her birth mother was incarcerated when giving birth to Gabrielle. She engaged the aid of a friend who found a family to adopt Gabrielle, site unseen. Her parents were older, settled and without children and as she tells it, her beloved father Thurman Perry, answered the call to raise her as his own. Gabrielle’s life was as normal as could be until as a teenager she lost her beloved father, her mother became disabled, she learned she was adopted, and met her birth mother on her deathbed. Despite Gabrielle’s grit and dedication to her adoptive mother, survival eventually took her down the justice-impacted path. It was during that time in jail that Gabrielle says she found a peacefulness away from the stress of her life. She also found a level of kindness, especially from the Judge who finally heard her case. Gabrielle was once again one of the lucky ones, and over the years has achieved so much. Her greatest joy now is honoring her birth mother and the man who raised her, as she provides direct assistance and resources to system-impacted women and girls.