on the cover / By Yelena Kisler

Thrift Store Angels

Inside the Arcata second-hand shop that lifts up at-risk youth

(Feb. 4, 2010)  Mike Deleon will be a father in February. He has his own apartment, bank account and cell phone. In October, he got hired at Baywood Golf and Country Club as a dishwasher. And he works on his passion — music — as much as he can.

This may not seem like much to brag about, but Mike has come a long way in the last year.

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Like many 22-year-old guys, he loves the 49ers and Tupac, listens to anything with “that real West Coast energy.” His ginger-colored hair is slicked back, almost greaser-style. Though not very tall, he has the build of someone you wouldn’t want to mess with. His deep brown eyes are full of kindness; a teardrop tattoo pours from the left eye, a labret stud adorns his bottom lip and a silver link chain hangs from his neck.

Eva Dickson has the physique of a pixie and long, wavy, blonde hair. Her bright green eyes and full smile are warm and inviting. Though born in Burbank, her family moved to Humboldt County when she was 7. At 12, her mother left. Her father, Rick Beckman, raised Eva and her younger sister from that point on. “I had to take care of my little sister [Julie] and the house a lot of the time” she says. You can hear the love in Eva’s voice when she mentions Julie, but when asked about her older brother her reply is sharp. “He’s a dick,” she blurts out “I don’t talk about him. In fact, let’s not even say his name.”

At 13, Eva began experimenting with drugs. At first it was just to be cool, but after a while she just wanted to numb the pain inside, and the whiskey and meth did just that. “It didn’t get really bad until after high school … especially after my husband [Doug] and I broke up.” she recalls. At one point she ended up in the hospital with kidney problems related to her drinking and drug use. But she didn’t change her lifestyle until Aisha came along. Aisha is now 3.

“When I found out I was pregnant with her I quit doing drugs, I quit running around with the wrong kind of people, and just really buckled down” she says. Not long after, Eva came to work at Angels of Hope Thrift Store, through the Welfare-to-Work program.

Like Eva, Mike’s family moved to Humboldt County when he was young. His family came from Sacramento. He spent a large portion of his childhood living with his grandmother. As Mike looks down at his fountain drink and plays with the straw he mentions that his mother came in and out of his life during this time. At around 15 he and his twin brother, Nick, were put into foster care. Thanks to the efforts of dedicated counselors, Mike and Nick were able to get into the same foster home — a luxury many siblings don’t get.

From then on both boys began getting into trouble. Mike was in and out of juvenile hall several times. His eyes flash a look that makes it clear he’d rather not go into detail. “I was runnin’ around with adults, doing things that I shouldn’t have been doing.” After a while he came to the point where he had nowhere left to go, and it was time to make a change.

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