SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC NEWS) – Anthony Jackson is an outreach worker at The Mary Nelson Youth Center, located in the Southside. He volunteers to mentor teenagers in the community to help steer them in the the right direction.
Growing up in the Southside, he knows how easy it is to get involved in drugs, violence and gangs. Jackson says he thinks one of the main reasons why this happens is because of dysfunctional homes. Many teens don’t have a good support system, thus forcing them to look elsewhere to cope with their struggles and pain.
“They are allowing the very negative things in life to influence them which is causing them to either want to be a drug dealer, want to be a gunslinger, want to be rob, want to kill, or you want to be part of a gang,” he says.
At the age of 13, he became involved with a gang. He was in and out of jail, until 2003, at the age of 24, when he was convicted and sentenced to fifteen years and 9 months in jail. After being released, he decided to give his grandmother a call.
“Calling my grandmother was the best choice, because when I called her and I told her how I felt, she said told me maybe you should give Jesus a try. And that’s what changed my faith, what’s changed me, into who I am today,” he said.
Ironically, Jackson’s co-worker was once in a gang that was rivals with his. Ramar Tigner, now an outreach worker at The Mary Nelson Youth Center, says their new outlook on life bought them together.
Tigner says Jackson has been a huge role model for these kids. “I mean it is hard to describe because it is like a father-son type of thing. You know dealing with kids their missing that positive light and I have seen him give that positive role model role for the kids,” he says.
One teen says Jackson has been a positive influence in his life. “He keep me out of trouble, he keep me on the right road,” says 17-year-old Jaheem Robinson.
Jackson emphasized how it starts with one kid, and then they’ll tell his friends and soon their whole friend group will start coming. Another teen who attends the youth center, Jay Hunddo, says it’s like a domino effect. Hunddo says there needs to be more programs like this in the community for young people to come and just hang out.
It was only last month when the center made the hours one to five available for teens. It started with two kids, and now there are nine. Jackson hopes The Mary Nelson Youth Center becomes a safe haven for more youths in the community.
