Gold: Presence
Jasmin Vega, a mother of three, is raising her 11-year-old daughter, Za’Ryah Hernandez-Ruffin, without her father, Deavoghn Hernandez-Ruffin, who was shot and killed on Father’s Day in 2012. Za’Ryah was eight months old. “I know what it was like not to have my father around for a period of my life,” says Jasmin. “He was active, very active. But then he went to prison for 10 years, and I yearned for him…To know that my daughter doesn't even remember a hug or kiss or anything from him bothers me, and it bothers her so badly.” Jasmin works hard to keep Deavoghn present in Za'Ryah's life and make the lives of all her children the best they can be. "Being present means not just saying what is available; It's doing. Its action. Presence is a verb…It's not a past-tense thing. It's what you do…As a mom, as a parent, and as a single parent, I have to be present."
Baseball
Za’Ryah pitches a baseball to her younger brother, Jaheem, 7, while Jasmin, far left, watches while hanging out with friends outside their home in Rochester, N.Y., on May 10, 2023. Jasmin has moved her family back and forth from Fairport, N.Y., a suburb of Rochester, in search of better schools and more space for the children. She eventually settled back in Rochester because she felt the diversity of the schools and neighborhoods in Rochester was essential for her children to grow up around other children who looked like themselves.
