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After a childhood spent in Ohio's "South End Projects", Darryl Bego said he learned a lot about what unmet needs can do to kids in underserved communities.
Those experiences, he said, now propel the mission of his nonprofit Youth Development Initiatives (YDI), a program designed to put teens who need guidance the most on the right track.
"I know that a lot of young people that grew up with me, that didn't make it," Bego said. "They either went to jail, got on drugs, or just really struggled in life. If they would have had a YDI program, they definitely would have had a better chance at making better decisions, and therefore having better life outcomes."
YDI students get referrals to the program through many channels, including juvenile justice and social services agencies, schools, and even parents themselves. In 20 years of operating, Bego said his program has a 100% graduation rate when it can serve a student for two years. It is a service he would like to scale up given the current climate of teen strife; however, YDI has service duration and funding constraints with the funding it receives from the Department of Juvenile Justice.
Recent numbers from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department show that four out of every five car thefts involve a suspect under the age of 18, and shootings involving juvenile suspects increased 33% from last year. Tackling youth crime has become a major talking point among many community leaders, as they work to curb those rising numbers.
WCNC Charlotte visited Bego on a Tuesday afternoon, a day when YDI usually serves referrals from the juvenile justice system. In the afterschool hours, a group of teens was hard at work on construction projects, a shop-type class that was just as much about building foundations for adulthood as it was about building creations.
"I didn't think I was able to do half the stuff that we're doing," said Kimora Patterson, one of the students. "You see the house? I didn't think I was going to be able to do that."
Patterson said she now has a lot of pride in herself, realizing her newly-discovered skills. She said she is also learning about what she wants from life.
"Do what makes you happy because we're not going to be kids forever," Patterson said. "We have to think like [about] what we want to do fast."
Bego said YDI has a strong focus on empowering its students and unlocking their inner drive.
"Kids can really get an understanding of who they are first because we deal with self-awareness at first," Bego said. "Then, they go through a process where they learn what careers align with who they are, and then we give them the job skills, and then the paid work experience, which culminates the learning experience."
The paid work experience is also important to deterring criminal activity, Bego said.
"It helps counter that kind of word on the street, that the only way that they can make money is if they do something criminal," he said.
Juan Ramirez, a YDI graduate, said his time with the program is already paying dividends. After some time in foster care and a DSS referral to the nonprofit, Ramirez is now manager at a Charlotte business. He said the well-rounded support was key to his development.
"It made me feel like I wasn't alone in everything I did," Ramirez said. "I felt like there was always somebody there."
Leonardo Zarate-Olivas has been attending YDI's programs for a few months and said he is already thinking differently about life and looking forward to seeing how all the pieces come together for his future.
"At first, I didn't really want to go because I just felt like it was going to be wasted time," Zarate-Olivas said. "I say give it a try. You only live once."
Bego said for those looking to help change lives, YDI is always looking for mentors and volunteers.
"I created a program that I wish I would have had," Bego said, reflecting on his childhood. "YDI is personal to me; it's not just a job. It's kind of a calling for me and it's kind of me going back and paying it forward."
Contact Vanessa Ruffes at vruffes@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, X and Instagram.