City Colleges grad started anti-violence group while raising 3 kids

Some people ask Krystal Robledo how she juggled community activism and family, and then found time to tackle college.

The 26-year-old mother of three graduated last month from Harold Washington College, one of the City Colleges of Chicago, with a $40K per year scholarship to Loyola. She held a 3.9 GPA after creating an anti-violence organization on the West Side.

“Sometimes I’m just honest: It’s hard,” Robledo said. “It’s not like there’s some kind of superhero story to it. I feel like I’m doing what everyone should be doing: helping people, bettering myself, getting an education.”

Robledo founded a group called “The Healing Corner” with a friend in 2015 after gunfire broke out at a prayer vigil she attended with her children in Humboldt Park. She said the night changed her life.

She remembers hearing shots, running home with her kids and collapsing at her gate. She cried.

“I was so devastated,” Robledo said. “There was a serious time of reflection afterward.”

That night inspired her to become an activist for her community.

After a short stint working with families affected by gun violence, she and her friend Arielle Maldonado organized an “active loitering” event mimicking the work of Mothers Against Senseless Killings on the South Side.

They called themselves “The Healing Corner” and set up tables on one of the most dangerous streets in Humboldt Park, offering food and activities for kids at Division Street and Keeler Avenue.

“That was a notorious corner. We went there and completely changed it,” Robledo said. “Kids were playing with chalk, people were dancing. ... It brought people together and it made people feel safe.”

She remembers being warned about a boy who people called “a shooter” approaching the table for food.

“He told me, ‘I wish you would have done this two years ago, because then things would be peaceful now,’” Robledo said. The moment was a sign. “That’s what kept us going.”

She continued setting up Healing Corners, sometimes three times a week, seeking to de-escalate hotspots for violence. There were some close calls (police pursuits, fights) but the Healing Corners were mainly positive experiences, she said.

Robledo’s path to graduation was indirect — starting with the birth of her first daughter at age 16.

Robledo transferred to an alternative high school so she could work and raise her child in the suburbs. She moved to Humboldt Park and she tried community college, but she wasn’t committed.

“I lacked the maturity to continue, but I think I needed the life experiences I’ve gained in the last 7 or 8 years to come back here now [to school],” she said.

Robledo now lives Archer Heights with her husband. She took a break from full-time activism in 2017 to start work and classes at Harold Washington College, though she still attends community events when she can.

Robledo graduated last month with an associate’s degree in sociology and a highly selective Jack Kent Cooke transfer scholarship. She plans to study political science at Loyola University and then go to law school.

Robledo’s family watched her receive a diploma at a ceremony last month at the Wintrust Area.

“This is just the next chapter of my journey,” she said. “I know I’m not done here. I know this is the first of three graduations.”