They said NO to Gangs & YES to a Job

From left to right: Desmond Woodard, Dylik Smith, Jalen Parham and Deion Woodard.

While most kids think about video games, going on vacation or sleeping all summer long while school is out, four young men decided they wanted to work. But they didn’t want to work just to earn money, they wanted to work to stay off the streets. Desmond Woodard, 14, Deion Woodard, 14, Jalen Parham, 13 and Dylik Smith, 13, were all friends and all wanted a job for one particular reason.

For months the young men began to receive a lot of unwanted pressure — not from their mom or dad bugging them about keeping their bedroom clean or washing dishes– rather, the pressure these young men faced came from gangs; a much more powerful and influencing source. Yes, for months these gentlemen were individually approached (at different times) by gang members who wanted to recruit them and put them to work for them.

According to the HuffingtonPost, the young men approached Zsa Zsa Heard, CEO at the Lagrange Housing Authority in Georgia, to ask her for a job. Thinking the boys were just playing around or talking, she brushed them off. All four had been asking Ms. Heard for a job since May when the school year ended.

“I thought they just wanted to work for money,” Heard told the HuffPost.

Even though they were turned down, that didn’t stop the boys from approaching Heard and asking her again for work. Seeing their determination, Heard decided to ask the young men why they wanted to work and the answer she got next not only surprised her but forced her to give them all a job.

‘We just don’t want to be in gangs.’” Desmond Woodard stated.

As the others turned their heads away, Desmond compelled them to tell the truth of how they were all approached by gangs. Once Heard received the confession, she then knew that she had to work fast to change their situation around. After speaking with the Georgia Financial Department at LaGrange Housing Authority Heard set an appointment for 11 a.m. for the group to come in on the next day. They were in her office at 10:15 a.m.

The Dynamic Duo, as I like to now call them, were granted permission to work odd jobs around the LaGrange Housing Authority making $7.25 an hour. They do everything from passing out flyers to tending to the community garden. They’re even in the process of building community picnic benches from scratch.

Heard was so touched by the experience, she quickly posted it to her Facebook page:

I want Facebook to empower these young men they walked into my office today and asked for a job. I said why do you want a job? They said so we want get in trouble and we do not want to be in a gang! I said have people approached you about being in a gang they said yes’mam! I hired them on the spot! The streets will not have our children! ‪#‎ILOVELHACHILDREN‬

Since the post’s release, it has received over 717 shares and 505 likes and hearts! People are quick to say what our young men and women are not doing but these gentlemen have just broken that status quo and stereotype by withdrawing themselves from something negative and creating something positive.

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