Andres “Jay” Molina grew up in the Dominican Republic where he played minor league baseball. In his late teens he left the D.R. for New York’s Lower East Side with dreams of going to college. Jay put school on hold, working twelve-hour days to support himself and his mother. He worked as a truck driver for several years until becoming involved with the drug trade. After serving time in prison, Jay’s plans for a new life were altered by a rare disease that attacked his vital organs. In 2014 the condition took his ability to walk, and Jay moved into a nursing facility where he began writing and performing with other younger residents as the OPEN DOORS Reality Poets. Today Jay is nourishing a passion for filmmaking and animation and advocating for people living with disabilities. His poetry and writings have been published in NYU’s Literacy Review, The Main Street Wire, Visible Ink, and Wheeling & Healing: A Poetry Anthology Edited by OPEN DOORS Reality Poets. He’s a recipient of the 2020 NYC Mayor’s Office Safe In The City Grant. Jay is co-director of the documentary film Fire Through Dry Grass about the Reality Poets’ survival and activism during the pandemic.
