Left to right -. Warden James Hill, RTB Secretary Joel Abreu, RTB Founder Lyle Menendez, CDCR Director Ron Broomfield.
- Rehabilitation Through Beautification (RTB) was formed in 2018 at the request of California prisoner Lyle Menendez with approval from the Warden at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California.
Its mission is to transform the living environment on the Facility E prison yard into a rehabilitative community that has the look and feel of a park-like campus setting.
The group is made up mostly of prisoners serving life sentences, many of whom are youth offenders serving life without the possibility of parole. All of whom volunteer their time to make this remarkable project a reality. The installation for this project is being donated by a volunteer prisoner crew who live on the facility. The prison muralist team is led by Erik Menendez and Robert Beckett, includes artists Joel Abreu, and Matt Brown.
RJDCF Administrative Team
Green Space Project sponsors and RJDCF administrative team. Left to right – Tony Blevins (GDA), Nicole Maples (GDA), GDA President Russ Gittlen, RTB Sponsor Gabe Rosales, PIO LT. Adam Garvey, City Fabrick CEO Brian Ulaszewski, Coach Anguiano-Vega, Associate Warden Allan May, Cal Supply Co. CEO Joe Long, Coach Torres, Captain Rutledge.
The Green Space Project would be just an impossible dream without the backing and partnership of the RJDCF Administration under the direction of Warden James Hill and Chief Deputy Warden Mathew Palmer. The Green Space Project is supervised by Associate Warden Allan May.
The Public Private Partnership would not be possible without the dedication of the two RTB outside sponsors:
Chandrika Kelso, Ph.D. Professor, College of Law & Public Service, National University. President of the non-profit foundation, Helping With Out Prejudice (HWOP.ORG), an inmate centered charity that supports peer to peer self-help groups; head of the Alternatives to Violence Program (AVP) at RJDCF.
Gabe J Rosales, M.A. Social Ecology – Independent music professional, academic and program provider at Richard J Donovan correctional facility. Co-founder of Underground Scholars at UC Irvine, and the founder of his own nonprofit, VNON 501C3.