The Rev in his own words A message from Reverend Leon Kelly Here's how it happened with me: I was lucky enough to have a family structure - a mom and dad, cars, and a house - the whole bit. But, I saw plenty of kids hanging around who didn't have fathers of their own. Even as a youngster, I saw how many of these kids were craving a family structure. I really wanted to help, even then. So, I went to school and completed a degree in recreation. How I turned down the wrong path When I arrived in Boulder in the early 70s, I received a scholarship to play AAU basketball. As an athlete, I progressed from beer to marijuana to speed to mescaline to mushrooms to hash and eventually did whatever was available. When someone asked me to find her some cocaine, I found it for her. I made $600, "boom," off the first ounce. It put a spark in my eye, and I was introduced to greed. To make a long story short, I ended up in the state penitentiary and served three years of a five to eight year sentence. Starting to turn it around When I was assigned to a halfway house, I was able to obtain evening parole. I went directly to a club. I drank some and did some cocaine. When I arrived back at the halfway house, I had to take a urine test. I was two days away from freedom, but now I was on my way back to jail. I had never really seen my mom cry, but I saw a tear come down as she was told the news. That broke me. I said, "Mom, I know I need to change." She said, "Why don't you pray?" The next day I began to pray to be rid of these habits. I told myself if I could put as much energy into doing what is right, I could really make a change in other people's lives. A recreation center where I had previously worked called me when I got out of jail. Gang behavior was just starting in Denver, and I saw that it was not going to go away. I decided I could offer tangible alternatives. My Spiritual philosophy applied to real-life situations Many times I have thought about giving up. But then the Lord reminds me that this is my work. The Lord said, "I've made you a watchman unto my people. If I give you a word to give to my people and you fail to give it to them and they die in their sins, I will hold you accountable for it. But, if you give them the word and they fail to yield to it, then that's on them." So, that's my approach. I give people the word. Whenever I get discouraged, something good always happens. When a kid calls and says, "Hey, Rev, thank you," that counteracts everything else. A lot of people write these kids off. They say they are no good to themselves or to others. But, I see a lot of them as my kids, and I refuse to throw them away. I don't condone their actions, but I value their lives. Although we are realistic about the incredible size of the problem of violence, we know that every life we touch is a step closer to the solution. We believe we can change lives, change a neighborhood, change the direction of the next generation. The problem is not too big when we work together to save one kid at a time. Thank you to all of you who share our mission and who have helped so much. I am deeply grateful, and young men and women have benefited greatly.