Boston Uncornered: Former Gang Members Seek New Road to College

 

Former gang members, politicians, law enforcement officers and philanthropists shared a stage on May 18 for College Bound Dorchester’s 13th annual fundraiser. This year, the nonprofit unveiled it’s new “Boston Uncornered” program, a three-year initiative with the aim of helping troubled youth and adults attend and graduate from college.

Boston Police Commissioner William Evans was honored at the event with the title of “Champion of the Year” for his work serving the Dorchester community and surrounding areas.

Antonio Franklin, a Dorchester native, became involved in gang-related activity, in the fifth grade. Six years later, in the 11th grade, he stopped attending school for fear of running into fellow students he “had issues with.” At age 20, after being shot in the leg, Franklin directed his anger outward and assaulted a police officer, an action that earned him a 10-year prison sentence.

“I have a metal rod in my leg to this day,” Franklin said of the wound in his leg. He found himself embroiled in a criminal lifestyle due to an absent mother and grandmother, who preferred drugs to childcare. “They cared about [my little brother and I], but they had an addiction,” Franklin explained.

Now Franklin is 30 years old and re-shaping his life. While in prison, he earned his GED and entered the Boston Uncornered program following his release. In fall 2018, nearly 14 years after his last high school class, Franklin will attend Bunker Hill Community College to study sociology and psychology. “Everything I was doing was a downfall for me, and I added gasoline to the fire,” he said. “I needed a wake-up call, and prison did that for me.”

Former convicts need as much aid as possible. As Franklin put it, “a lot of places don’t want to hire someone with a criminal record,” even if the criminal is rehabilitated. This is hardly a secret—especially in the United States, which jails and imprisons more people than any other nation. In 2015, the Bureau of Justice Statistics reported that nearly 2.2 million Americans are imprisoned.

Assistant Democratic Majority Whip Senator Linda Dorcena Forry acted as an emcee for the gala. She called Boston Uncornered “a shining example of community-based change.” Dorcena Forry added that she hopes reaching out to youth in Dorchester will positively impact their lives. “A lot of our youth are falling through the cracks because we believe we can’t reach them,” she said.

Francisco “Cisco” Depina, 31, acts as a college readiness advisor for College Bound Dorchester, having escaping his own gang-involved past. Depina was kicked out of various schools and made money illegally selling marijuana before joining College Bound Dorchester in 2006 and later earning his GED. Depina worked on the organization’s front desk as a recruiter, drawing students in before becoming an advisor last year. Depina now supervises 36 College Bound Dorchester students and plans to attend Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology in the fall. Depina will be the first in his family to attend college.

“It would be a beautiful thing,” Depina said about enrolling in college. “It’s beautiful knowing where we came from and how bad things were. To imagine setting foot in a college classroom… It’s just a wonderful feeling, and I can’t wait.”

Depina will enroll alongside his friend Alex Diaz, who grew up with him in Dorchester.

Diaz’s daughter Alixia, 11, attended the gala alongside her mother, whom she lives with in Brockton. Alixia was born when Diaz had eight years left in his prison sentence, and the two are still getting to know each other. Diaz has now been out of prison for four years and spends his weekdays at College Bound Dorchester, studying for his HiSET exam, the equivalent of the GED test. Diaz also intends to enroll at the Benjamin Franklin Institute and will study automotive technology so he can work in his father’s garage.

Despite being founded as a pilot program two years ago, Boston Uncornered already boasts encouraging results, with 85 percent of its students avoiding criminal recidivism and more than 60 percent continuing their college education. The program’s goal is to enroll 250 students over the next three years and see active enrollment from 90 percent of them. This includes continuing support for those who attend college, in the form of personalized study plans and financial aid. The financial aid and weekly $400 stipend (for 35 hours of school work, tutoring or work-based learning) help participants maintain public service benefits, such as SNAP food aid, public housing and childcare, but it provides enough money to survive without illicit income.

“When gang members change their lives, the neighborhoods change,” said Boston Uncornered CEO Mark Culliton. “These young men and women are both the problem and the solution and can end generational poverty.”


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