Life coach has turned grief into healing

(News4usOnline) — Losing a loved one is devastating. Losing four brothers is unimaginable. Yet for Ronald Jenkins, that has been his reality. What could have broken him completely instead led him to lean on the people around him, finding strength in community, faith, and resilience.

Jenkins felt compelled to use his life story to avenge the death of his four brothers. Instead of selling drugs, Jenkins has chosen to save young people from the same dangerous path he once knew.

“The death of my brothers left me depressed most of my childhood,” Jenkins said in an interview with News4usOnline reporter Archangel Apolonio. “Sports helped me cope with life until college. When I got to college, I figured out I could do something to help kids who had the same experience like mine.”

Jenkins was born in South Los Angeles. He grew up there. His early life was marked by hardship. He attended Manuel Arts High School from ages 15 to 17, completing grades 9 through 12 before stepping into adulthood.

His mother passed away just two years after his birth, leaving him to navigate the foster care system. He lived in numerous homes before eventually being adopted by a woman who had once known his mother. Unbeknownst to Jenkins at the time, his mother had not wanted him or his brothers adopted by this woman—a revelation that added another layer of pain to an already difficult upbringing.

Jenkins recalls that the woman who adopted him did not provide the care and love a mother should. Instead, she used the money she received from the county—meant for Jenkins and other children in her care—to buy and sell drugs.

“I feel mixed emotions in that she was trying to provide, but the impact of drugs being in the house damaged a lot of lives,” Jenkins remarked.

During this time, Jenkins’ four brothers were murdered before he turned twenty-three. He faced verbal and physical abuse at the hands of the woman who was supposed to protect him and the other children she took under her wing.

The effects of this abuse still linger within his siblings, but Jenkins was fortunate to have positive male role models in his life. These men recognized the kind of kid he was and understood that he needed mentorship and stability. His early environment exposed him to gang life, and many of the peers he surrounded himself with eventually ended up in jail.

Things began to change when Jenkins met a man named Mr. Herrell Burnett, who took him under his wing. Home was not a safe place for Jenkins, so he often went to Burnetts’ house, where he was tutored by his mentor’s wife.

His grades improved drastically, and he found a positive outlet in football, which became a way to escape the dangers of his past.

Over the course of three years, sports became a central part of Jenkins’ life. His dedication and talent on the football field eventually earned him a full-ride scholarship to Fresno State, giving him a new path forward and a chance to rewrite his story.

While walking into the career center as he navigated what he wanted to do in life, he realized he wanted to help kids in similar situations.

Jenkins decided to major in social work. In his senior year, he interned at Fresno County Juvenile Hall, where his purpose began—wanting to make a difference in the lives of individuals in the juvenile justice system.

After graduation, Jenkins faced a decision between becoming a social worker or a correctional counselor, weighing the difference in pay. With his bachelor’s degree, he chose to become a probation officer. As Jenkins began his career, he understood what he had to do and who he needed to be to represent the environment he had worked so hard to rise above.

Working at the Juvenile Detention Hall kept Jenkins grounded, requiring him to be a better version of himself. Working with both young men and women, he understood that their upbringing shaped how and where they ended up. He went out of his way to organize ping-pong and pool tournaments, and he launched a sports program where youth competed against local parks and recreation programs.

Jenkins knew that recreational activities were the icebreaker—and when combined with therapy, it became the key to overcoming a traumatic past. It was a method that had worked well for him.

Through his involvement with the youth, Jenkins earned several awards over his four years there. He later took on a position at the California Youth Authority (CYA) and transferred to the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ), where he worked for over 25 years as an officer and counselor.

Jenkins says the most important lesson he learned is trust—trusting those who are in a position to help you, who have a genuine concern for your well-being, and never giving up on yourself.

Jenkins hopes to leave behind a legacy of turning pain into purpose, using his struggles to help others change their lives, and giving more than he took—even when so much was taken from him as a young child.

The impact Jenkins has had on the lives of many millennials is something they will never forget. For Fatima Machorro, his influence was life-changing. Machorro, now a senior at UC Davis majoring in psychology and minoring in human development and Chicano studies, says her outlook on life was completely different before she met Jenkins.

Machorro describes Jenkins as “selfless, wise, caring, and charismatic.” She has known him for three years.

“Prior to meeting him, I was working at Dave & Buster’s and had heard a lot about him from my older sister,” she recalls. “He knew more about me than I knew about him because my sister had told him about my struggles.”

After meeting Jenkins at work, she looked forward to seeing him every Sunday when they shared a shift.

“We’d talk about life, education, family, and relationships,” she says. “It was comforting to know I wasn’t alone. Eventually, he even took me out for what felt like a father-daughter lunch. When you hear his story and see him face to face, it’s hard to picture him having gone through what he did.”

Her biggest takeaway from knowing Jenkins is that he encourages others to seek help, have a voice, and understand that they are not alone.

“He helps people see that there are others who genuinely want to help, and that you don’t have to stay where you are—you are worth so much more and have so much potential,” she says.

Ronald Jenkins’ journey is one of transformation—turning tragedy into purpose, pain into healing, and isolation into community. Through his work, he’s not just saving lives; he’s redefining what it means to overcome.