Thomas Angel Porter, Aka Arocks
They might act hard and like they could beat the world. But they very humble. A lot of them want to be changed. They don’t want to be abused. They don’t want to go to jail. A lot of them still face a facade that they have to put up. Because people watching them. But for the most part, a lot of them grow inside this program.

How do feel about them? I grow love for them the moment that they walk through inside these doors. Because I’m like, “Damn, that was me.”

We kind of understand what they are going through at their age. What they are feelin. We can say, “Listen, we’ve been through that way, but now this is where we are at this time. And you don’t need to follow my route to get to where you need to go.”

I went to prison for assault. Actually I shot somebody when I was 21 years old. I was a part of the Bloods. I don’t say that I’m not a part of the Bloods no more because I still like definitely associate with that. Only thing is I’m not in the street, out here causing mischief. What I do is like, pick up and pull up the young brothers that’s still involved with the gang and also the one that’s about to become involved or that’s becoming involved and everything. And making them get an understanding of what this is actually about and what they getting themselves into.

Manny Alberto Guerrero
I was mandated to come here and when you hear the word mandate you actually think it’s something bad. My first day on probation, I met my probation officer and she told me “I’m going to mandate you to this program called Arches.” I’m like “Wow, what’d I did wrong?” I knew what I did wrong. I have a misdemeanor and I’m on probation for three years but, so she sent me here. Talking to them that actually made me realize and see things that I didn’t see before.

Before I just wanted to be in the street, drugs. I didn’t care if it was school or women, I just wanted to be into it. And now, I’m more into saving the youth now. Now, I’m going to all these events, all these, I actually shook hands with the mayor. I’m doing a lot of things with myself that I’m proud of.

Thomas Angel Porter, Aka Arocks
I’m not expecting to get nothing physically out of it, except for just to have a good sense that I did something. That I tried my best help prevent somebody from going to prison or being dead inside these streets. And that’s, that’s a blessing for me.

Thomas Angel Porter goes by the name Arocks. As a member of the gang the Bloods, he served time in prison for shooting someone in his early 20s. But when he got out of jail, Porter transformed his life and now mentors youths so that they can stay out of the prison system.

“It’s like I’m looking at my brothers walking through that door. I’m like, “Listen I got to save them before they end up doing a lot of time or end up getting killed on these streets or end up killing someone in these streets,” Porter said.

Thirty-three year old Porter is a mentor in the Arches mentorship program that was developed under the Bloomberg administration’s Young Men’s Initiative. The program uses a peer-to-peer mentoring approach to train youths currently on probation in communication skills, conflict resolution and job training.

Twenty-three year old Manny Alberto Guerrero, a recent graduate of the program, was sent to Arches by his probation officer following a misdemeanor charge for robbery.

“I was caught up with the wrong people. I was around bad kids that used to rob people,” Guerrero says of past life. Now, Guerrero talks about becoming a nurse or maybe working in film production.

Porter’s mentoring job, while technically part-time is more of a around the clock support system. But the hours are worth it.

“Why I started doing this? It’s in my heart,” Porter said. “I’m not looking for money. My wisdom and my words are going to help save one of these youths lives.”