GRACE; graduates it's first teens, putting them on 'A Path Forward'

Friday afternoon at the Kent County Courthouse, 8 teens graduated from a program that’s designed to keep them out of the criminal justice system and on a path forward to better lives.

It’s graduation day, but not from a school.

“Our goal is not to hold their past against them, but to love on them and give them family and community, and then to teach, train and mentor them as they move forward in life.”said Pastor Darryl Gaddy.

These teens are the first to graduate from the “grand rapids alternative correctional experience”, or GRACE for short.

“Our goal is to really apply our three model principles. That is to encourage the heart, empower the mind and engage the hands.” Said pastor Gaddy.

Before they were accepted into grace, the teens were in the juvenile criminal justice system. The 16-week program’s goal is to help them break the cycle of crime. Pastor Gaddy, says, “We just believe that it's important to grab them right now before they're waived into the adult prison system.”

A big part of the program is that every teen gets a mentor that can be an advisor and role model. Grace Mentor Coordinator Zach Harris says,

“I think one of the biggest things that I see from the mentors is when they they're connected one on one with the mentee, I’m finding out that their relationship is important, and something that's well needed.”

Chris Becker, the Kent County prosecutor says it is important to help these kids become productive adults and sees this program as a good tool to achieve that goal. He says,

“These individuals that are going through this graduation program, were on the verge of, looking at adult charges . and that's not a good pathway, I mean, that's not something that you know, leads to, you're going to have a good, you know, adult future.”

Pastor Gaddy is confident that grace will change the trajectory of these teens and put them on a path to be successful adults. Saying,

“I've seen them come from hardened kids who didn't trust anybody, thought the world was against them, to being able to sit in the room and watch a movie together and laugh, eat and share.

The next step for these teens will be to move on to the job training part of the program.

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