Media Clips
Re-entry program focuses on turning around younger offenders
7/23/10 Daily Breeze—Gerald McGee grinned sheepishly as several hundred people erupted in applause Friday at Carson's community center, cheering his success.
To those attending a daylong event called the Young Offender Reentry Summit, the 22-year-old represented the pinnacle of their grueling challenge - to turn around lives.
The Los Angeles man, who has also lived in Inglewood, spent his youth on the streets, committing crimes, mostly out of boredom and the desire for money.
He chose gang members as friends in his South Los Angeles neighborhood, despite opportunities not afforded others in his community. Not only did he attend Beverly Hills High School for its football program, but he was offered a college scholarship, which he declined.
"I stupidly turned it down," he said, explaining that the small central California town where the college is located was no competition for his neighborhood and the fast Los Angeles lifestyle.
But now, after repeated encounters with the criminal justice system, he is employed and only months away from completing three years of probation for an armed robbery conviction.
McGee is an administrative assistant at Quantum Community Development Corp., a nonprofit that assists the elderly with housing and provides other free services.
"Truthfully, it's not as much money as I'm used to," McGee said. "But I can live and make sure I stay out of jail."
- Available online
- http://www.dailybreeze.com/
- Denise Nix
- Date
- 07/23/10
- Source
- Daily Breeze