Do you remember the first client you worked with when you established this program?
P: I really like Richie.
C: Richie’s an awesome story. He’s a kid who got involved with gangs at
a young age and eventually had his own chapter of the Crips. He’s turned
everything around and is doing great. We’re helping the outside of his body
reflect the change that his heart and his head already have. Shawn is another awesome story. Shawn was one of our first here in Boston. He had
“DAD” tattooed across his face. Long story short he was living on the streets
and some traveling homeless guys came through while he was passed out
and tattooed “DAD” on his face. It looked like a three year old spelled our
“DAD”. He was having trouble getting work and housing.
P: He couldn’t even get public housing just because of his appearance
alone; not even because of his qualifications.
C: We started removing it and you could see him change. The first time he
came in he wouldn’t look any anybody. He was thin and emaciated. Towards
the end you see there’s happiness; there’s a smile that comes.
P: After it was off his face he was truly genuine.
C: They sort of develop and the person inside can come out. They don’t
have to hide anymore. I have another kid named Steven who came in with
a cross on his face. His uncle set everything up for him. When he came in
he wouldn’t even look at me. He wore his hat down low, over his face. As
the process went along, with the cross being totally gone, he would actually
come in and look at me. The hat came off and he would joke around. It’s just
amazing to see the change.
P: That’s why we started doing it more and more. People actually want to
change and better themselves. A lot of people do grow up and change into
new people. They’re not the same person they were several years ago.
C: The impetus for everybody to be here is change, right? You’re changing
jobs or you’ve changed your mind because you don’t like it anymore. You’ve
changed boyfriends or husbands because it wasn’t going to work. It’s all
about change. So it’s the same for the INK Program. The underlying component is change. You don’t want to change on the inside and have something
on the outside look as though you haven’t. I think that underlying premise is
also why you see the passion. How many people can help these people do
what they’re doing? There’s not many and we get to.
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