YOUTHS HAVE OPTION AWAY FROM GANGS

YMCA Program At Pride Park Offers Alternatives For Those Living In At-Risk Area

MANATEE COUNTY -- Jerry Parrish scoured the Pride Park neighborhood
last week to round up kids cruising and hanging out on the streets.

"Hey, you want to play flag football?" a bubbly Parrish asked loudly
in his Southern accent to a child on a bike.

What started as a game with six boys quickly grew to 30. Parrish
recruited any child he could find.

Youths with idle time, Parrish knows from experience, get into
trouble or involved in gangs, a lifestyle Pride Park residents know too well.

Parrish, the at-risk youth director for the Manatee County YMCA, sees
Pride Park's new playground as an avenue to offer youth activities
that enable them to stay away from gang violence.

Four weeks ago, the YMCA started a summer program at Pride Park
called Club Cairo, which will offer sports and games for teens. A
character-building session also allows the youths to talk about
problems or issues they have and how they can overcome them.

All youths are welcome, and there is no cost for the club.

After three teens were shot in a gang rivalry feud on Easter Sunday
on Coquina Beach, community leaders have been trying to create and
enhance existing summer and after-school programs.

The Latino Community Network of Manatee County and the newly formed
Community Gang Prevention Task Force are compiling a list of
activities available for youths.

Pride Park's Club Cairo is just one example of what can be done, said
Sean Allison, CEO of the Manatee County YMCA.

"Our goal is to get as many positive activities in this park as
possible and to fill it up with wholesome programs," Allison said.
"The kids need this."

Thomas Welch, 17, admitted that without a program such as Club Cairo
he might be up to his old ways of fighting with other teens.

Welch brought his brother and two friends to the flag football game.
It was their second week there.

"This way, we don't have time to get into fights," he said. "And we
get to have fun."

Raphael Yon, 16, said there is not a lot for teens to do in the
county. He would probably be home eating or sleeping the summer away
without Club Cairo.

"Getting into trouble gets old. You start maturing," Yon said. "But
this helps keep me out of trouble."

Parrish hopes to be a mentor for youth such as Welch and Yon, like
the YMCA mentor he had as a teen. He gives all the youths his cell
phone number if they need to talk.

Parrish said he can relate to them. He was drinking and smoking at
age 11 while growing up in Texas. His mother worked two jobs. He had
no activities or adult supervision. His mentor's advice turned him around.

"I had a good heart, but I was drawn to bad stuff," Parrish said.

Parrish, now 40, is returning the guidance he was given. "I guess
I've come full circle," he said.

Pride Park and other neighborhoods can have a new beginning and stop
gangs, Parrish said.

Gang graffiti marked on a fence in Pride Park conveys the
neighborhood's rocky history of crime, drugs and gangs.

The new playground, the anticipated construction of a YMCA center and
the rebuilding of nearby Daughtrey Elementary School serve as beacons
of hope for residents trying to wipe out the blight and drive out the
crime from the area formerly known as "duplex city."

"We're trying to have an impact in the park," Parrish said. "As soon
as we allow the gangs or whomever to come in here, the bad element takes over."