Chattanooga Pulse

The OnPoint Organization, formerly known as “Why Know,” is one of many local organizations that have restructured some of their programs to combat increasing gang activity. The organization, which was originally created in an effort to curb teenage pregnancy rates, has evolved into a program designed to give teenagers the tools and resources to make healthy lifestyle choices.

Program Specialist Ed Hines explains why teenagers are often attracted to joining a gang. “The gang shows them love, the gang shows them acceptance, as far as being a part of something. But they help them achieve something that’s not positive.”

OnPoint strives to combat that attraction to joining a gang by giving teenagers a positive alternative. Hines says he does this by giving teenagers a positive role model through what he describes as “tough love.”

“A lot of these kids come from single-parent homes. And they need direction. I give them aspirations, and encouragement. You know, I encourage them to go to college, if that’s what they dream to do, or, stay in school, just encourage them to become positive members of our community. I’m in their corner. If they do something wrong, or make a bad choice, I tell them. But I’m still in their corner. That’s tough love,” explains Hines.

Hines says many more volunteers are needed to reach more kids in this same way.

One Teen’s Story

Linton Jackson walks into OnPoint Program Specialist Ed Hine’s office. Clean-cut and dressed in a three-piece suit, Linton hopes to discuss his future plans with Hines. Now 18, Linton aspires to attend a prestigious culinary school in Atlanta, become a chef and, one day, open his own restaurant. His future is admittedly brighter that he would have imagined just a few short years ago.

At a young age, Linton started hanging out with what he describes now as “a bad crowd.” From stealing to vandalizing property, to getting into frequent fights, Linton explains, he started getting into trouble with authorities, including law enforcement in his early teens, “I was getting into fights all the time, like every single day some weeks. I was getting suspended from school, I actually got expelled from school. And I actually went to Juvenile Detention four times…twice for running away, twice for misconduct.”

All this happened by the time Linton was in 10th grade. Although Linton chose not to join a gang, he was often pressured by neighborhood peers to do so.  “My neighborhood…that was the area of the Crips. There’s always somebody who’s like, ‘Oh, man come on and join. We’ll have your back!’ But, I’m too independent, first of all. Second of all, there was too many people getting shot, too many people getting killed, too many people going to jail,” Linton recounts.

It was during that phase of his life that Linton met Ed Hines, who became his friend and a father figure. Linton credits Ed’s encouragement and the OnPoint Progam for steering him to make better decisions with his future than he had made in his past. Linton admits, “If it wasn’t for Mr. Hines and OnPoint, I’d probably be doing the same things I see these other kids doing. Most of them are on drugs, girls are pregnant, they’re in gangs.”

Linton explains that the OnPoint program gave him positive ways to spend his time, as well as focus he had been missing. Now, he gives back to the program by speaking to kids headed down the same path he once was, and encourages them to join into some positive extracurricular activities instead.

Linton still faces obstacles, though. While Linton is hesitant to admit it, he’s currently struggling to come up with enough money to pay for attendance at Cordon Bleu Culinary School in Atlanta. He’s about $1,800 short for tuition and expenses.  However, Linton refuses to give up hope of attending the school or his dream of becoming a chef and business owner. He vows to do whatever it takes to achieve his dream: “I keep telling myself, it’s going to be way worth it, which it is, in order to reach my goal!”
For more information about the OnPoint Program: www.liveonpoint.org

Boys & Girls Club Reaches Out to At-Risk Kids

Many local organizations with missions to give young people positive alternatives have been impacted tremendously by increasing gang activity in Chattanooga, and have adjusted accordingly. One such agency is the Boys & Girls Club of Chattanooga. President Michael Cranford says he’s seen signs of increasing gang activity for more than a decade. Cranford says he’s had countless teenagers in his program make the decision to join gangs. “It’ll break your heart,” he says. “I’m talking about some of these 13, 14, 15 year olds…I mean, they don’t even know what they’ve done.”

Cranford says gang activity has brought its share of tragedy to members of the program, “Last summer, one of our kids got shot and killed, not because he was in a gang, but, because he was in a place where something popped off. Guys end up shooting at each other, and he caught one in the chest and died. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and he lost his life.”

That’s why the Boys & Girls Club has expanded programs specifically for teenagers by adding Teen Leadership and College-Bound programs designed to continue giving teens ways to positively spend their time, in hope they will choose not to use that time engaging in gang, or other illegal activities. However, as the Boys & Girls Club can reach only a small percentage of at-risk kids in the area, Cranford says more must be done.

“Many times, because of where these kids live, there’s a lack of jobs and opportunities. There’s little opportunity for these kids to earn money in a positive way. So, we as a community have to figure out how to provide more jobs, and ways for these kids to make the money they need and want that will be beneficial for everyone. Because, they will find other ways to make money, illegally or otherwise,” Cranford explains.

Cranford says funding and community involvement could make a huge impact in expanding programs like those at the Boys and Girls Club of Chattanooga, “Volunteering, mentoring these kids to give them a positive role model, someone who can tell them ‘I succeeded by going to school and working hard. You can do this, too….’ That’s what will make a difference in these kids’ lives.”
For more information about the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chattanooga online, go to www.bgccha.org