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Saving' grace' helps ex-gang members build a better future· By

DARCI SMITH

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ablo Bonilla and Pedro Gonzales used to be members of rival gangs that ruled the streets of southwest DetroIt, but now they work side by side." Bonilla, 23, and Gonzales, 22, are learning skills to enrich their own and their community's future as participants in the Grace Program. It is a nonprofit program run through Detroit's St. Anne Parish in collaboration with Munoz Machine Products, a division of GSC Industries. Program" director Alex Montaner founded the organization- last fall" to give ex-gang members training and jobs. Bonilla spent nine years in a gang, a tenure that ended with a two-year prison stint. "Not too many people will hire you," he told The Michigan Catholic, Detroit's archdiocesan newspaper. "This place took a chance." With Gonzales, Bonilla attends class tw:ice

experienced its highest quarter ever; and one pr()gram participant set an all-time record for the number of machine parts made on his first day, Montaner said. " ''It shows by the company investing in these young people, the kids will work hard and have pride in their work and for the company," he added. The Grace Program was launched in December with its first group, consisting of 11 ex-gang members. "We've gained a re,al sense of family," said Montaner, noting that two participants once shot at each other. Now, he said, "they .look after each other. They've become a strong team and a strong unit." Letty Salazar, 21, was associated with gangs fOf four years, beginning at age 13. Now Salazar, the mother of 17:-month-old Arianna, is learning the ins and outs of the

PABLO BONILLA works at a Detroit machine shop through the efforts of Grace Program, a church-based effort to get ex-gang members job training and employment. The program operates out of St. Anne Parish in collaboration with Munoz Machine Products. (CNS/Smith photo)

a week, learning basic computer skills and how to read blueprints and gauges. The other three days, they work at Munoz Machine Products, putting the information to practical use. "Alex helped me out - gave me a better chance to stay away from the old crowd" (after prison)," said Bonilla, who was recognized last year by the White House as a success in Detroit's Empowerment Zone. Montaner instituted the program following a truce signed by rival gang leaders last year at St. Anne. Carmen Munoz, who chairs the board of Munoz Machine Products, was eager to become involved with the prograII:l, calling it "smart business." " And indeed it was. One" plant where the former gang members were placed recently

GRACE PROGRAM director Alex Montaner stands in front of St. Anne Church in Detroit with Letty Salazar, a young mother who had been involved in gang life for four years. (CNS/Smith photo)

human resources side of Munoz's Hispanic Manufacturing Center through the Grace Program. "I see the company growing with our community," she said, addling that it is good to know "there are people out in the community that want to help us;" " According to Munoz, there will be jobs for all 11 members of the Grace Program at Munoz Machine Products upon their "graduation" if they choose to stay "with the company. "I am more than pll:!asantly surprised" at how the program is going, she said. "I am amazed at how bright these young people are. They underestimate themselves. They have some wonderful abilities to approach problems from different directions." " '.... • •

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" Munoz believes the program is a way to fix the problems of southwest Detroit at .the . root. "We keep worrying about more policemen on the street," she explain.ed. "If we give these kids a job and an education" there might not be as much of a problem. Gonzales and Bonilla's foremlin, Jim Guerrero, is also impressed with their work. "There's a lot to learn on these malchines," he said. "For the short time they've been here, they've been learning quite rapidly." Participants i~ the Grace Program receive transportation, uniforms and contin'Lled sup-

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port, Montaner said, and each speaks at schools and participates in one volunteer program a month. Montaner admitted that "people ,thought that I was crazy at first," and that if it wasn't for the support of St. Anne"s pastor, Basilian Father Robert Duggan, the program might not have happened. "Father Duggan" told me to believe in myself and do God's " work," he recalled. And now that Grace Program is successful, "people want to know how," rviontaner said. But, according to Montaner, the solution is simple: "We have to care about our kids, and love them enough to teach them to live right," he said. .: \

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