Robin D. Keeble reflects on her past at La Palma Park where she used to sleep when she was a homeless junkie. Keeble recently completed her master of public health degree and took part in Cal State Fullerton’s commencement ceremonies Sunday, May 18. Photo by Kelly Lacefield

Welcome to Cal State Fullerton Commencement highlights, featuring members of the Class of 2008. The following is a news release prepared in advance of the May 17-18 ceremonies.

Sober and Saving Others

Former Criminal Cleans Up, Earns Public Health Degree

May 15, 2008 :: No. 260

Her thin, dull hair was falling out of her head. The few teeth she had were rotting. Her skinny body was frail and malnourished. Her cheeks were sunken. Dark circles lined her eyes. The full length of her arms, punctured with pockmarks.

Robin D. Keeble was a drug addict who prostituted herself or committed burglaries for the money to buy heroin. Her habit kept returning her to jail for 22 years, and her appearance labeled her a "lost cause."

"When people looked at me, they wrote me off as worthless, and I had no self worth," Keeble said, recalling her homeless days in 1996.

She was released from prison for the last time that summer. She was in La Palma Park in Anaheim, sharing needles with other homeless junkies when an AIDS Outreach Project worker walked up to her and kindly asked if she was hungry and whether she had a safe place to sleep that night. He offered her a free HIV test, food vouchers and help getting into a drug rehabilitation program.

"This guy didn't judge me," Keeble said about that fortuitous encounter. "Two weeks later, he returned with my HIV-positive test result, and that's when I made the decision to pursue a different lifestyle. Learning I had HIV and knowing I continued to engage in the same behavior that got me infected, I became deeply concerned about others. I chose to try to change my life so that I would not infect others."

Today, the 52-year-old grandmother and Cypress resident is completing her master's degree in public health and will participate in Cal State Fullerton's commencement ceremonies Sunday, May 17.

She's been sober for 11 years.

Road to Recovery

After a year in a drug rehab program, Keeble became a Santa Ana College student. She earned her associate's degree in 2002 and transferred to Cal State Fullerton, where she received her bachelor's degree in human services, cum laude, in 2005. In 2007, the university's Human Services Department named her "Alumna of the Year."

"It wasn't my intention to get these degrees and do something with them," Keeble said. "It was more about the journey. But now, I can apply the knowledge I've gained and, with the experiences I've had, I just want to be an example for others. Part of who I've decided to become is someone who has strong integrity, honesty and ethics."

Keeble's turnaround is an astounding feat that few can conquer, said Sora Tanjasiri, associate professor of health science, director of CSUF's Center for Cancer Disparities Research and one of Keeble's graduate studies advisers.

"Robin's professional and personal experiences are remarkable, and it is fitting that she receive her degree in public health, given her triumph over so many personal challenges and the true compassion she brings to the people and communities she serves," Tanjasiri said. "Robin is the embodiment of a public health professional, and she is an inspiration to me and, I hope, to the many colleagues and clients whose lives she touches every day."

Service Commitment

Keeble - who works as an Orange County outreach program supervisor - spends her free time as a volunteer, reaching out to homeless addicts and AIDS victims in hopes of helping them give up crime and drugs. She helps place the ones who are ready in rehabilitation programs like the ones that helped her.

She also serves as co-chair of the state's Inmate Family Council at the women's prison in Chino, and as a member of UC Irvine's Institutional Review Board, AKA Angels, St. Vincent de Paul's Lights On program and the Orange County's Sheriff Department's Consumer Advisory Committee.

In those roles, she has effected change in the way inmates, especially single mothers who are drug addicts, are treated in jail and how they are assisted once they are freed. Through the Lights On program, she travels with other volunteers in an RV to county jails at midnight, which is when most inmates are released. Parked near the jail exit, Keeble approaches the ex-convicts, offers coffee, clothing and a phone so they can call someone to pick them up.

"I try to connect with them, let them know that someone cares about them, believes in them, that they are human beings, that they can change their life path and that they shouldn't give up hope," Keeble said.

Sometimes, she said, they cry and say things like: "I really needed to hear that right now."

That kind of affirmation, she added, fills her heart and assures her that she is "doing the right thing."

"I'm so proud of Robin," said Lori Phelps, lecturer in human services. "The population of drug abusers, especially heroin addicts, experience such incredible stigma and discrimination, and Robin's story is proof that underneath that is this powerful human being with so much to contribute to society. She is a living example for anyone who thinks obstacles cannot be overcome."

Family Ties

Keeble's 36-year-old son, Brandon Keeble, echoed those remarks, saying he is glad to have his mother back in his life.

"I am very grateful that she fought for her life, even though she has HIV," he said. "Not everyone has the will to clean up and be sober."

His mother got pregnant at 15 and raised him alone in Newport Beach until he turned 3, when she started experimenting with drugs at weekend parties. Her habit spiraled out of control and she lost her job as a technician at Hughes Aircraft Co. She also lost her car, her apartment and, ultimately, her son, who went to live with her mother and foster parents while she spent the next two decades behind bars.

Mother and son were reunited after she completed her drug rehab program.

"Where I am today has far exceeded any dream or fantasy I ever had, and I know now that there are no limitations to our dreams," she said. "When I was an addict, I believed that the barriers in my life were insurmountable. I've learned that because the barrier is there doesn't mean there's no way around it, over it or through it. . If you believe you deserve a better life, you can make it happen."

Photos: Available online at www.fullerton.edu/newsphotos

Media Contacts:
Mimi Ko Cruz, Public Affairs, 657-278-7586 or mkocruz@fullerton.edu

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