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."
Jasmin pauses braiding the hair of her friend, Sam, to help Za’Ryah with her math homework at her home in Rochester, N.Y., on Nov. 21, 2022. “You can take someone's clothes, you can take their sneakers, you can take their hair and cut it off,” says Jasmin. “But you can't take their education, you cannot take someone's education. That's something that you can never take from someone. Never…If you have the proper education and the proper mindset, you’ll stay away from those guns.”