The Boston Strategy > Players > Streetworkers

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Warren "Butch" Williams
Streetworker
Boston Community Centers

If you can walk up and talk to a dozen kids on the corner, instead of being scared, they got respect for you already. Just for the fact that you were able to go over there and speak to them, and you took the time out to speak to them, that's important. That's important to them because most people run. And if you have some resources with you to back that up, then that's another notch on your belt because they're gonna respect that. You gotta have some tangible goods right there for them. You gotta be able to say "OK, here's the jobs. I have summer jobs and I'm offering them right now. You have an opportunity to work. Do you want this?" And they're gonna say "He's got something and I can see it. He's not selling me a dream because it's right there." And it's up to them to take it and nine times out of ten, they do. I mean they might not keep it, but if they don't keep it, you work on other things.

I'm trying real hard to get them off the streets so no one else dies out there. And they want the help. They really want the help. And as long as they want the help, I'm going be there to give it to them. And so far I've probably placed about four or five of them in Job Corps and they're doing very well now. They're not in that environment any more, so when they come back, they won't just slip back into the cracks because I'll be right there to give them that same support. See, the way I look at it, it's kind of like AA. When someone has fallen off, they always have a supporter to back them up. And I'm like that supporter. So whether you just got out of jail, or whether you just got out of the gangs, I'm going to be there for when you're ready to fall, so you won't. I'm going to be there to push you up, so that you don't fall.

When I go out and work, I try to... for one, I try to make the kids feel comfortable. I'm coming to their neighborhoods. I'm hanging in their neighborhoods. I'm talking to these kids on a daily basis. They get to know who I am. And I basically let them know what services I can provide. I mean sometimes I plead with them. I go out there and I tell them "Look. What will it take to get you off the block? If a job is what it takes to get you off the block, then I'll get you that. If going to a drug rehabilitation program to keep you from using those drugs, then this is what we'll do." OK? These are the things these kids need to know. Half the programs that the city offers, these kids don't even know about. So we kind of bring the message to them. What programs are out there, what schools are out there that they can go to. And what type of services they can utilize that we have. Even if it's just getting some Celtics tickets so we can bring these kids to the basketball game, something to get them off the block for a little while so they can see it's more than that block out there. Because at that point in time, I even thought the same thing, that this is it. From this end to this end, this is all mine and that's it. I don't want to go anywhere else. I wouldn't go to the movies, wouldn't go to the mall, wouldn't do none of that. Why? Because once you step outside that block, you're vulnerable. And these kids got to know there's a lot more out there and once they start seeing that, OK, now they want to experience this new world that they're seeing. And with the help of the Streetworker Program and other programs that are also out there, they gain access to a lot of services.

To be able to sit down -- to bring two gangs together that have been probably fighting for four or five years, to have them all come in a room and sit down and discuss the matter and squash it, stop the violence right from there, that's very rewarding. When you walk away from that table and everybody is hugging everybody and shaking everybody's hands, that's rewarding because you know that you've done something that saved many lives. Specially if that fight escalated so much that even the police couldn't stop it, and the community was in outrage, people were dying, innocent people were getting hit. To be able to just squash that whole beef, is so rewarding.

If you're missing something out of your life, you go looking for it in the streets. And if the streets come to you, you're going to open your arms to them. Now you're in. And that's how it all starts. Then, no matter what your parents say, you're going to do whatever you're going to do. But when I'm out there on the streets, they look at me like "Oh, he's one of us. He's already been through it and we know who he is. He's out here every day. We know he's not trying to get us locked up, he's trying to save us. OK. Maybe we should listen more and find out what type of services he has."

If I just met that client, it's time for me to come in and kind of do an evaluation. I talk to the parent and sometimes the parents have needs. They have issues that they need to deal with and services that they might need. So if I can save that kid by helping their parents, then I'll do that. Sometimes the parents need jobs. And that might be one of the major concerns in the household. Then I'll take that and I'll try to help the parent get a position. Once I get a position for the parent, then I can start maybe working with the kid because a lot of the frustration is raised off the kid's back because a lot of the things kids do is because of what they see their parents going through.

When you go out there, you have to befriend these kids. You've got to let them know that you're really concerned, that you care about them. And once they establish that, they'll open up, with no problems. And then that's when you try to mediate the beefs that they already have. And you try to just calm things down in the neighborhood and try to show them a better way.

Usually I look for the tough guys. I work with everybody in general, but it's that tough guy that's going to cause danger. That's the one that's at risk at the moment. So that's the one I'm trying to get to, give him my card, find out what's going on with him and make a connection.

Then from there, I'll move down through my area, hitting the well known blocks where gangs have been known to hang out. I hit those hang out spots. I walk around down there, I talk to people. Usually once you make that relationship with the guys, they know you. You come through, you say "Hey, what's up? What's going on? Anything you guys need? Hope you guys are not out here getting in trouble." And like I said, nine times out of ten a kid doesn't really call you unless he's in trouble. Unless he's desperately in need of services or he's in trouble. But you still make it a point to go down there and talk to these kids every day, just so you won't lose that bond, that connection. Every time they see you, they know who you are, so when they do get in trouble, or if they are having some issues, they'll definitely come to you about them.

Well, I think they like it! I think they like it. From my experience, when I go out, the kids love it. I go out there, I talk to them. I go up to their schools. I find out how they're doing. I find out if they're missing any days. If they're missing a lot of days in school, and it seems like it might be a truancy problem, then I'm going to contact that kid and talk to him, let him know "Hey, these are the options. You have to do this. You have to do that or they're going to kick you out of school. " And it's up to them to actually DO it. But that little push, that little extra push doesn't hurt.

Same thing when I get kids jobs. I can set everything up for them, call the employer, let them know my position and what I do, and if they can secure some positions for me, and if they say yes, then OK, I'll let the kid know. And sometimes that kid might need that extra push. He might need me to take him down there first and give him some support while he fills out the application and goes through the interview process. And then after that, it's up to him to follow up. Now I still follow up as well, and check on him and call him and say "Hey, did you call down there? What did they say? What's going on?" And he or she lets me know and I continue from there. But you've gotta stay on them and give them that extra push. I think that's what teens and at-risk youth need right now, that extra push.

It's a motivation thing. The motivation in kids is so low, their self esteem is so low that it's up to the Streetworker to try to bring that up. If that means walking up to a person before you leave and telling them that that was an intelligent thought that they had, then that's important because that just boosts their self esteem just that much more. And when you keep coming at them that way, and you keep letting them know positive things about themselves, it brings it up a little more. And with that extra push of motivation, it shows them that they have options. This ISN'T it in life. They have opportunities out there. And once they know that, they're gonna start utilizing them. Once you start utilizing them, you can't stop.

I mean, like I said, I look at them ALL like they're my kids. And my co-workers kind of tease me on that. Whenever they see one of my clients they say "Oh yeah, just seen your father around the corner!" [laughing] because I really try to do whatever it takes to help them out.

I would say its like that old saying "It takes a village to raise a child." And I feel like I'm just part of that village. I mean a lot of these teenagers don't have parents. The streets is all they have, and you have to let them know that there's alternatives to the streets. I think people should get involved because if you're not gonna get involved, who is? And if you don't like living in the neighborhood the way it is, shootings every day and people dying, then you gotta make a change. You're gonna have to make a change. And that change has to be you getting involved. Outreach is the most rewarding and it works. To be out there and work with these kids on a daily basis, it works. You see the change, you see the growth within them and that's very important.