Jerion Evans’ dream from childhood was to create rap music. A few costly wrong turns in his high school years, however, threatened that dream and took him down a different path.
“I started hanging with the wrong crowd, just lost complete interest in school. I didn’t get along with my teachers a lot, I didn’t get along with other students a lot. So eventually I just stopped going,” he recalled.
From that point, bad decisions landed him in Louisville Metro Services Youth Detention Services, where he reflected on his choices.
“While I was incarcerated I was doing a lot of thinking — I just really want to change my ways and get on a better track,” he said.
That’s when his life took a new direction with Right Turn.
The Right Turn program helps teenagers 16 to 19 who have committed minor infractions that have landed them in the court system. Volunteer mentors guide the youth to set goals and help them work to meet those goals. Right Turn is provided by the city of Louisville’s Workforce Development Board with $2.25 million in grant money from the federal government, $750,000 of which filters through the Institute for Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C.
With the help of his case manager and mentor, Jerion earned his GED and is now enrolled at Jefferson Community and Technical College.
Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer believes the mentoring provided by Right Turn is essential to bring young people back in the mainstream of community life. “So much of what we find is everybody is a good person. Some people have bad breaks, some people have good breaks. Right Turns provides that coaching and mentoring that’s important to bring kids on through, so that they can find a meaningful life,” he said.
Jerion’s goal is to study business at the University of Louisville. His Right Turn mentor, Sytisha Claycomb, said he always stays positive.
“It didn’t take much to push him,” she said. “It was something in him that wanted to succeed and do better.
”Especially looking at youth who’ve been incarcerated, often they lose their village of support. I think having a mentor who is genuine, who is committed, gives them a different perspective.”
A mentor, Claycomb said, helps young people realize they are not alone. “It’s a no-judgment zone. We understand where you’re been, but this is where I think you can go,” she said. “And I’m going to help you get there.”
Jerion has learned that small steps make a difference. “I’ve learned that when I push myself to do something that I can actually achieve it,” he said.
Kaiona Kennebrew also is trying to better her life through Right Turn. “I was getting in a lot of trouble at school, and I wasn’t really focusing on the right track that I knew I should be,” she said.
Simmons helped Kaiona get her GED and a job. Now enrolled in community college, she wants to become a nurse.
Right Turn has provided her bus fare so she could get to school and work, and her case manager kept track of her attendance. “When I was late or didn’t come, she always shot me that text, like, ‘Where are you?’” Kaiona said.
It’s that kind of personal, one to one involvement that Mayor Fischer believes is essential for the young people and the community. “We are all connected in the city, and in the country, for that matter. So it’s incumbent upon all of us to take a lookout for everybody, and say that fundamental interconnectedness means we need to be helping each other,” Fischer said.
Relationships made in Right Turn give young people more support than they otherwise would get. “It makes your network wider,” said Elaine Simmons, Right Turn case manager.
Simmons encourages people to volunteer as mentors with Right Turn.
“I want everyone to know that youth are not disposable,” said Simmons. “They can and will do amazing and wonderful things … but sometimes they need support. Because we were all young once too, and we didn’t always do it right.
“But when we had that person or those people in our lives to come assist us, and to have our back, that’s how we thrive.”
To volunteer as a Right Turn mentor or for more information, contact Kentucky Youth Career Centers Right Turn program.
This video is from KET’s Health Three60, funded in part by the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky
