For the first time in a long time, C’alra Bradley felt a glint of hope. It was an unfamiliar feeling for the then-18-year-old whose life had been disrupted and derailed by one roadblock after another. Once an A and B student who loved to read, she was living out of her white 1997 Toyota Avalon, on her own for three years, scrounging to get by.
![Pushed out and punished: One woman's story shows how systems are failing black girls](/sites/default/files/styles/blog_featured_image/public/articles/2021-08/C%2527alra%2520Bradley.jpg?itok=3kBcwAo1)