Maria Anna Esparza

Maria Anna Esparza has worked for 20 years as a teacher and for the past 14 years as a guidance counselor near San Antonio. She has nearly three decades of experience as a teacher and counselor. She is an active member of the National Association of Mental Illness. Her articulate and impassioned outreach helped gain the release of her own son, an ex-Marine who returned from Iraq with mental disorders, from a solitary cell in a county jail with no care, into a treatment program in a hospital. She has since been a tireless advocate for veterans incarcerated in Texas jails and state hospitals. She contributes frequently to the TJP website and helps answer email queries seeking information and advice.