When I run an event, I like to think I have a fairly good idea of what will happen. The things I think about preceding are mostly logistical and hospitality-based. Therefore, those are the issues that I see arising. Even though the nonprofit has some incredible people and stories surrounding it, I’m so embedded in these on a day-to-day basis that I imagine other people will be the ones getting emotional.
During the first Tattoo pop-up, I found myself standing next to a friend talking about the event and what it meant to each of us. As we were talking, I noticed something occurring that I could have never imagined. One of our DEUCE Community Coaches was set up in a corner of the gym tattooing an LAPD homicide detective. This particular Coach had been sentenced to life in prison as a juvenile. His crime was murder.
The scene is forever etched in my memory, I get emotional whenever I think about it. I was too far away to hear what they were talking about, but undeniably they were sharing a moment of connection and seeing each other as human.
Police are not the only ones who wear uniforms. Gangsters wear them too. I imagine that, at times, an Officer’s uniform can be just as restricting and hard to take off as the one I used to wear.
The experience shared by these two continues to remind me that regardless of our pasts or what uniform we put on each day, we all feel the same things; hope, despair, loneliness, ambition, anxiety, triumph, and joy.
Our first Annual Film Fest was stressful for me, but I did not imagine there would be much time for emotion or reflection. I was absorbed in trying to run a great event despite some significant logistical difficulties. I had seen every video being shown multiple times. I was involved with the creation of all but one of the films. I thought that there was nothing new here for me and that I would be there running a projector and pressing buttons so that other people could experience emotion.
I see myself in all of the people whose stories we showcased. But that day, I saw all of us together in the same place. And we saw each other.
We have realized a dream. A dream that for a long time felt impossible. None of us had a model for what it meant to make it. That day, we found ourselves together in an old gym speaking about the journies we had been on, variations of the same path.
We saw a reality where transformations like ours are the rule and not the exception.
This gives me hope for the world and drive for the work that we do at DEUCE.
I’m grateful for moments like these that bring me back to myself. Moments that take me away from running and building a thing and remind me why I’m here.
Campbell Lillard
DEUCE Community Inc. Co-Founder
Missed the Film Fest? Catch the videos HERE
DEUCE Community has catalyzed the creation of multiple entrepreneurial ventures by those who are system, substance, and housing-impacted. We are seeking to accelerate the creation of new businesses by involving members from our community in our program offerings, like our Business Prep course.
Business Prep 101 is a deep dive into principled entrepreneurship. Our Co-Founder Logan Gelbrich wrote the course, which is primarily offered online as a premium educational offering.
To better enable those in our programs to close the gap between where they are and where they want to be, we’ve partnered with Mass Liberation to offer an in-person version of Business Prep for participants of our program AND members of the community.
The idea here is to connect entrepreneurs from the community Like Jay De Natale, founder of Vale with students in our programs so that we can all grow inside of one developmental container. The hope is that the diversity of the cohorts will provide growth and opportunity for everyone involved.
Interested in being involved in the next cohort? Email campbell@deucegym.com
Every Saturday at 1:00 p.m. | Community Workout at DEUCE Gym @ 110 Lincoln Blvd.
February 1st | DEUCE Community moves to a larger housing facility. This transition would not be possible without the support of people like you!
The Amazon Prime packages that show up on the porch of the DEUCE Community House mean more to these guys than you can possibly imagine. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
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Measuring impact is a tricky thing. A large focus for DEUCE Community in 2023 was data collection and considering metrics that put our participants’ needs first. With a lot of help from our community partners, we made a great stab at building a tool that will allow us to better serve those who come through our programs.
I believe there’s no perfect way to measure impact. Humans and human transformation are too complex to capture all the nuance. Nuance that in many cases, we can’t see until years or decades later. This is not a cop-out from attempting to measure the efficacy of social programs, but an observation of phenomena that are hard to pin down and categorize, like ripples on a pond.
I’m sure that one could do a great job measuring the ripples a pebble makes when it is skipped across or thrown into a lake. If we were inclined to do so, we could count and measure the crests and throughs. But I don’t think anyone could pin down when the pebble’s disruption truly ends. Is it when the sentiment settles after the rock drifts to the bottom of the lake? Were fish startled by its contact with the water? Was anyone else inspired to skip a stone?
One example is Daisy, the adopted daughter of one of our first program graduates David. Because of David, Daisy has a father. David is one of the best examples of fatherhood I’ve ever seen. His behavior regarding Daisy and the family he has built leaves me in awe. It is one of the most selfless things I’ve ever seen.
Another example is what David has taught me. Everyone who has come through our program has changed me for the better, but David has had a profound impact on my life. In mentoring him, I have become mentored by him. He has taught me some of my most valuable lessons. He has shown me what it is to have a work/life balance and how important restorative work is for someone in leadership. I didn’t have a positive example of that balance I could relate to before I saw it from David. More than anyone else, he has shown me what humans are capable of when they open their hearts. Whenever I doubt, David shows me that doing the work is infinitely better than not doing it. David is inspiring the world to skip stones. The world Is an objectively better place because he decided to be better. My favorite part about his story is that we’ll never know how it ends.
Campbell Lillard
DEUCE Community Inc. Co-Founder
DEUCE Community is humbled by the love and support from the community for our Giving Tuesday Housing Campaign.
We started this campaign in what we felt was a Hail Mary effort to expand our housing services for men like Joseph Bruner who are actively taking on leadership and fighting for another shot at life.
63 Donors came together to give $27,819.02. This will cover a huge chunk of housing expenses for 2024 and allow us to open up 4 additional beds to men in our programs.
The fundraiser culminated in a community barbecue for supporters and program graduates at the gym. The event was led and orchestrated by Jose Bojorquez, program graduate and the only paid employee of DEUCE Community. Watching Jose shine in leadership here was a special moment for me and the organization.
The success of this fundraiser is a giant win that we did not believe possible. However, because the community believed in us, it happened.
Together, we are giving men transitioning out of prison and off the streets a shot at overcoming the gap between where they stand today and where they want to be tomorrow.
We are excited to announce the first annual DEUCE Community Film Fest. We will be showcasing shorts that highlight the nonprofit, Los Angeles Culture, and transformation in the system, substance, and housing-impacted spaces.
The Film Fest will be held at 110 Lincoln from 3-6 PM on January 20th and will culminate with a special screening of a talk, which we will link below, and Q&A Session by Co-Founders Logan Gelbrich and Campbell Lillard.
January 20th at 3:00 p.m. | Film Fest @ 110 Lincoln Blvd.
Every Saturday at 1:00 p.m. | Community Workout at DEUCE Gym @ 110 Lincoln Blvd.
February 1st | DEUCE Community moves to a larger housing facility. This transition would not be possible without the support of people like you!
The Amazon Prime packages that show up on the porch of the DEUCE Community House mean more to these guys than you can possibly imagine. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
]]>In this compelling video, Logan Gelbrich, the founder of DEUCE Gym in Venice Beach, and Campbell Lillard, co-founder at DEUCE Community Inc., converge to share a collective mission focused on empowerment, personal transformation, and growth. Logan reflects on the pivotal role preparation plays in pursuing potential, drawing from his baseball career's defining home run. Campbell, having faced addiction and incarceration, underscores the transformative power of physical training within prison. Together, they stress the significance of leadership, mentorship, and the organizational mission to create empowering environments that facilitate remarkable change. The duo challenges viewers to engage in honest self-reflection, embrace challenges, and support initiatives that empower individuals to overcome barriers to transformation. The video underscores the shared belief in relentless pursuit as a catalyst for positive change and invites viewers to join in promoting empowerment and personal growth within their communities.
DEUCE Community exists to help individuals discover their limitless potential in the workplace and in life when transitioning out of the justice system or off the streets. Informed by one of the founders’ personal experiences, DEUCE Community uses developmental leadership environments — including intense strength training at DEUCE Gym — as a tool for their participants to uncover their own unique gifts and talents.
Stand Together Foundation is committed to breaking the cycle of poverty in America by driving change from within communities. We are building a community of social entrepreneurs who believe in people, work from the bottom up, and unite with anyone to do right. Since 2016, we have committed $180 million and counting to fuel the innovation of nonprofits throughout the country to build stronger, safer communities where all people can learn, contribute, and realize their full potential. Our goal is to help nonprofit leaders maximize their impact to transform more lives out of poverty.
]]>This Giving Tuesday we are asking you to make a difference by giving intentionally to DEUCE Community.
We will use all of the money raised to bolster our most impactful program, housing, which recently took a hard hit.
In September, due to the property we were living in being torn down, we were forced to move quickly out of our housing in Mar Vista. A lack of funds meant that we had to move to a smaller space farther from the gym, where most of our participants study and intern.
Moving to the smaller space in La Cienega Heights, we were forced to close our floating bed and cut our housing capacity down to 50% of what it was in Mar Vista. This led to some very tough calls where we had to turn away qualified candidates from being housed. We also had to pause recurring 12-step meetings at the house.
From November 28th through December 16th we are hoping to raise $10,000, which will allow us to move back to a larger home on the Westside where the impact we are able to have will be much greater. Immediately, we will be able to reinstate a floating bed for men getting out of the system who need an immediate place to stay as well as 12-step meetings in the house. Within 3 months, we hope to be back at full capacity for housing which would make stories like Joe’s possible (scroll down to read Joseph's story).
You can help by giving below.
Joseph Bruner was the reason we decided to integrate housing into DEUCE Community.
He was a rising star in our program, everyone was sure that he’d be successful upon release and take a leadership role at the gym. However, when Joseph was paroled, he was denied housing through another program. He was forced to pay rent in a sober living in South Central. While moving in and changing his bedding, he uncovered a used syringe. The house was basically a front for predatory individuals to collect money from parolees. Drug use and crime were rampant at the house, but Joseph was afraid to tell us about it.
Predictably, he relapsed and returned to prison on a new case. Because of Joseph’s progress and mindset before staying at the sober living, our hypothesis was that if we could replace the environment to which he was paroled, we could change the outcome.
When Joseph was released from prison on his last term, we drove to Central California to pick him up. He was immediately paired with a mentor and given a clean bed. His first night home we threw a dinner celebrating his return.
His transition has not been without its rough spots, but the potential we saw in Joe is manifesting. Less than six months after release, he took over full control of the Breath and Exposure program at DEUCE Gym and is currently poised to take on a paid role as Housing manager for the nonprofit. He just spent Thanksgiving with his children for the first time in 15 years.
Joseph has been to prison 6 times, serving a cumulative 16 1/2 years. He says that he had never known unconditional support until entering the program at DEUCE. He credits this along with the accountability and behavior modeling in our housing program for the success he has had since his last release.
The truth is that housing played a small but pivotal role in Joseph’s transformation. The work was and is his to do. His ownership of that is what has given him a new life with unlimited upside.
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A seat at the table for everyone who is hungry. We say those words a lot.
It’s more of a vision for the future than a current reality. DEUCE imagines a world in which ANYONE who is determined to do so can close the gap between where they are and where they want to be.
Take a second to imagine that with us. A society where everyone, despite their background, is able to actualize the most authentic version of themselves and their potential.
We get really excited about it.
When we start to imagine this, we start to think about what the current roadblocks are, about what is jamming this vision up.
For me, a huge obstacle that I didn’t understand was in place was what woke people call a "lack of representation". I had never seen anyone like myself make it.
I had never seen anyone like myself make it.
I felt like the road to a different way of life was unpaved. I felt alone.
A defining moment for me was checking in with my gang when I got out of prison. It was my responsibility to do this and the person I was under had the responsibility of making sure I had a pistol and dope to sell so I could take care of myself.
Fortunately, I reported to the right person. We had a very long conversation about my desire to stay out and stay sober. He looked at me In the eyes and asked me if I was going to do it. With a lot of doubt in my voice, I told him that I didn’t know. Without wavering, he told me that he knew I could do it, that he had done it, and that I was right not to take the dope.
Before that moment, I could only imagine that someone who had been through the same experiences I had and made the same choices I had could make it out. Now, I had hope. If it was possible for him, it was possible for me.
He offered himself to me as a mentor and helped me navigate life outside of a box. I could go to him for anything, he even helped pay my rent one month when I was short telling me that he was proud of me for not going back to the streets. He would fight me about this, but without his support, I would have gone back.
The above experience is exactly why we have lived experience mentorship at the core of our program. DEUCE Community Inc. asks the people in our program to do incredibly hard things. One of the ways that we empower them to do these things is by shattering their paradigm around what they are capable of and what their future could look like.
The biggest wins of our program aren’t recorded. They happen in the space of conversations or unspoken observations like the one above. There is a shift in people when they cast out an old idea about themselves and begin forging a new one. This isn’t possible without the examples of people in our program who have gone the distance.
People like David Gonzales, Joseph Bruner, and Jose Bojorquez. Through the lives that they lead, they are inspiring others to push toward something different.
It is our hope that in this way, we can erode the biggest obstacle for people who are system, substance, and housing impacted, their own self-belief.
Campbell Lillard
DEUCE Community Inc. Co-Founder
Every Saturday at 1:00 p.m. | Community Workout at DEUCE Gym @ 110 Lincoln Blvd. Note: The November 18th Workout is Canceled.
The Amazon Prime packages that show up on the porch of the DEUCE Community House mean more to these guys than you can possibly imagine. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. View Amazon Wishlist.
This past month has held many lessons for DEUCE Community. We’ve navigated through several tough transitions with partners and with housing. Doing so has forced us to assess where and how we can be the most effective and create the most amount of value for men and women who are system, substance, and housing impacted.
Reflecting on the past month and where we are at as an organization leaves me with a distinct takeaway.
As much as we want it to be, progress is not linear.
For me, the rub is, ’as much as we want it to be’. Too often, I hold fixed frameworks in my mind. These frameworks can sometimes be useful, but only to a point. One framework that can be ineffective for me is thinking that progress in life is like climbing a mountain. This can be a useful point of view in that it motivates me to keep moving or climbing. However, it is certainly ineffective when the path stops moving up when it feels like life has circled back around and I find myself at the base of the mountain yet again.
A new point of view I am trying to take is that life is more like a spiral. It always circles back around to a new beginning. The principles always stay the same, even though the scenery changes. This model holds more grace for variables outside of my control, yet also allows for more ownership of the things outside of my control. A spiral has no peak; no endpoint. And, even though it keeps circling back around to remind us of ourselves, it’s still a hell of a ride.
This circling back sometimes feels like a transcendence and sometimes like a regression. The more I think about it, the less important I think it is whether the circle is ascending or descending. The real question to ask is, “Is the spiral bringing me closer to myself?”
For my money, that is what life is all about: becoming ourselves.
As a young organization, we are still very much stepping into ourselves and who we want to be in the world. Sometimes, challenge can feel like it’s bringing us further away from where we want to be. My reframe is that challenge is bringing us closer to ourselves and that is the first big step to having a real impact on the world.
Campbell Lillard
DEUCE Community Inc. Co-Founder
Upcoming Fundraiser | Featuring art by Vava Ribeiro keep an eye out for upcoming dates
Every Saturday at 1:00 p.m. | Community Workout at DEUCE Gym @ 110 Lincoln Blvd
Community Dinner | Temporarily discontinued until we settle at our new location in La Cienega Heights
The Amazon Prime packages that show up on the porch of the DEUCE Community House mean more to these guys than you can possibly imagine. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. View Amazon Wishlist.
]]>Believing in someone is the best way to empower them. This is a truth that I hold close to my heart. Often, we see potential in others that they can not recognize in themselves. As a coach, most of my work is simply holding a mirror up for other people so they can see their reflection. The least effective way to lead is to tell people what to do. A higher expression involves helping people develop more awareness about themselves and their behaviors so that they can better navigate their own path.
It can be easy for me to forget, but just because I utilize this technique on others, doesn’t mean I’m exempt from its effectiveness. There is so much of myself that I can not see. In being concerned with my own development, I typically think in terms of what I need to do better or improve on. It can be easy for me to undervalue myself and miss my own potential.
This is the part where I insert relevant examples…
The lifting of stones speaks to something primal in us. It is a test of ourselves. With the best stone lifts, the outcome is never certain. There is a drama to lifting a stone that is apparent to everyone who witnesses the feat, but also knowable only to the lifter. We are all fighting something within ourselves that is represented by the stone.
I am uninterested in a life without challenge. That is why, for me, stone lifting is a quest without end. It is less about the weight of the stone or getting strong enough and much more about the fight. With that being said, I don’t consider myself particularly good at picking up rocks. There is much in that world that feels far off to me; unreachable. However, recently, a good friend and coach has seen a capability in me to lift a stone I once thought I would never lift. Because of her belief, my efforts have doubled. The stone no longer feels impossible, but just outside of my reach. Achievable if I dig into myself and earn it.
At a time when no one believed in me, I knocked on the door of an old auto shop that had been turned into a gym in Dallas, Texas, and asked for a shot to intern there. The owner, a cantankerous Italian American man named John asked me my story and then agreed. No one else in the world would give me the time of day. I couldn’t even get hired under the table at local car washes. I’m not sure John saw anything in me that day, I think he mostly figured he could beat me up if it didn’t work out.
As time went on, however, John put faith in me. He gave me an insane amount of time, patience, and mentorship. He walked through a thousand mini-crises with me as I learned to navigate a world that was foreign. He is the kind of guy who doesn’t dole out praise lightly, so when he did it really meant something. One day, he handed me a key to the gym and told me that I’d earned it. I can’t remember having ever felt more accomplished.
I never would have had the courage to stand in front of a room and coach if it wasn’t for John. As I prepared to run my first class, I told him I wasn’t ready. He said,
Without his help, there’s no way I would have survived my first year out of prison. If I hadn’t known how much he believed in me I’m not sure I would have really tried. I have a lot of difficulty expressing to him what that means to me and I think he has trouble accepting it when I try. What I do know is that what means the most to him is my willingness to give others what he gave me.
When I first started at his gym, I thought that I was learning how to teach people to do fitness. (Whatever that means.) What I realize now is that I was learning how to trust in my ability so that I could go on to see the greatness in others they are afraid to realize.
Watching the growth of other humans and seeing their potential unfold and manifest is the most beautiful thing imaginable to me. Those experiences are why I will always do this for a living. Professional development in my line of work just means becoming a more effective catalyst for the growth of others. The best way I’ve found to do this so far is to show them what they are capable of when the vision is unclear.
Campbell Lillard
DEUCE Community Inc. Co-Founder
The Amazon Prime packages that show up on the porch of the DEUCE Community House mean more to these guys than you can possibly imagine. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Amazon Wish List.
This month, we would like to acknowledge one of our hardest working volunteers, Jesse. Jesse has been involved in DEUCE Community since our inception. He is always willing to give his time and leadership and is unmatched in his kindness to the people in our program.
He was born in Terre Haute, Indiana to Debra and Jeff Hills, the 3rd oldest of 9 children – 7 boys, 2 girls.
2006 Graduate of the Virginia Military Institute. Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran, officer in the USMC. DEUCE Gym member since 2021.
In 2021 my little brother Jacob died of suicide at the age of 29. Jacob suffered from a TBI as a teenager, struggled with addiction spanning almost a decade, and was facing several legal charges at the time of his death.
Jacob was a son, brother, and father. He was charming, funny, intelligent, and his potential was limitless. I often think about how his potential, given the right circumstances and support, could have manifested. I see a little bit of Jacob in many of the members of DEUCE Community.
I lost so much time with Jacob when he was alive. A tough lesson I had to learn was that I lost our time together to my own hurt, anger, judgment, and ego. Now that he is gone and I have time to think back about the person I wish I could have been for him, I realize I can now be that person for others.
For me, volunteering at DEUCE Community is all about relationships. Asking strangers to be vulnerable and to trust you with their pasts, insecurities, fears, ambitions etc., and meeting their trust with the same vulnerability and buy-in to the relationships and program at large.
DEUCE Community is not only a second chance for those in the program to find their place in society, it is also a second chance for me to lead with grace and be the type of person I wish I had been for my brother. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to serve this community. I’m fortunate to call many members my friends. Through volunteering, I have made meaningful relationships that enrich my life every day.
“A seat at the table for anyone who’s hungry.”
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Three years ago, I had what I thought might be a great idea. I poured my soul into putting this idea down on paper and showed it to Logan, expecting him to tell me how to make it better.
Instead, he told me that it was a great idea and asked how I was going to get it off the ground. I told him I wasn’t sure, I was worried no one would want to give someone with my background money for a big project like this.
He then explained to me that as an investor, he would never give money to someone with an idea for a lemonade stand, he’d ask to see the business first. He then looked me square in the eye and asked me what it would look like If I wild-wested my idea tomorrow.
If you are familiar with this blog, I’m sure you know that idea became DEUCE Community, Inc., our nonprofit that works with those who are system, substance, and housing impacted. DEUCE believes no one should be excluded from an opportunity because of their background.
Our primary work is getting those in our programs to see that they are worthy of a seat at the table. Once this happens, they transform not just themselves, but the people and environments around them.
One of our greatest stories of transformation is Jose Bojorquez. Thanks to generous grants from Simply Good Foods and Stand Together, we’ve been able to hire Jose in a role that empowers him to coach others down a path similar to the one he traversed.
Reflecting on what my idea has become gives me gratitude and hope. The most fulfilling moments of my life come from DEUCE Community. It has evolved and continues to evolve into something I could not have foreseen. Today, my heart is full knowing the impact Jose will have on those who walk through the gate at 110 Lincoln needing someone to believe in them.
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For many years, I lived In a concrete box with no window. This was because I was placed in custody status of Closed Custody and Administrative Segregation. Being housed in these environments came with many unique challenges, but the lack of sunlight or a view of the outside world is one I have been appreciating lately.
Waking up and not having any sense of what time of day or what season it is will do peculiar things to one’s biology. Finding a flow or a sense of connection to the larger world becomes hard. You never breathe fresh air, so everything feels…stale and inorganic. Often, you don’t feel rested like you can’t sleep deep enough, and your sleep schedule constantly changes. Maybe this next one is particular to my own experience, but my sense of smell and hearing got keener. I think this is because I needed to be able to make out certain sounds and smells, like someone being gassed or lighting a fire, amongst the chaos without having a line of sight to these things. It was a very lonely way to live; no matter how hard I threw myself into cell-block politics or writing letters, I always felt completely alone.
It was such a bizarre reality that I have to mentally bring myself back to reflect on the experience. When I was released, fresh air and sunshine felt like food. I remember walking across the parking lot in Huntsville and bending down to touch a patch of grass. I was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude. Not just for my release, but for the return of these long-lost sensations. I try to hold onto that feeling, to remember how nourishing the natural world is and what life is like without it.
Dreaming of that used to feel impossible, but that’s not what I’ve been appreciating lately.
Watching the effect that living in the Mar Vista house has on people like me who were consigned to a life in a concrete box, thinking they might die there, makes me well up with emotion. This is a house in a good neighborhood, with a yard and view that embodies both the beauty of nature and the inherent potential in man. It’s a place none of us thought we would ever be. Being in this environment makes a marked difference in the way we think and act. It makes other things that once seemed impossible feel a little more attainable.
Campbell Lillard
DEUCE Community Inc. Co-Founder
The Amazon Prime packages that show up on the porch of the DEUCE Community House mean more to these guys than you can possibly imagine. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
DEUCE Community Inc. showed up in force for the third annual Lift Run Hang Competition at Muscle Beach, Calif.
Our interns and program participants were behind the scenes working tirelessly to make sure the event ran smoothly. From load in to load out – security, athlete liaising, judging and changing plates – they made sure all the work got done to a high standard.
We also had a ton of fun.
Somehow, in the middle of the biggest event of the year, we managed to get in cold lifts, cold brews, pick-up basketball games, and more magic than we have seen at any other Lift Run Hang.
Raul, kingpin of our annual Tattoo pop-up, was there making big lifts. He even managed to sneak in a ‘Killers Only’ tattoo on a DEUCE Community supporter. Coach Samantha Love, who was a program participant before we had a name, was there crushing lifts, talking smack, coaching first-timers, grabbing coffee, and supporting everyone in sight. Board Member Plum and all-around creative wizard Niki Gruttadauria, were indisputably the hardest workers there. They, as always, were behind the scenes acting as matriarchs making the magic happen and dealing with every emergency that popped up.
A gigantic thank you to everyone who made this event possible.
When we were working on securing housing for the men in our program, our primary objective was that the major benefit would be in the creation of a positive and secure home environment free of drug use and violence.
We are now able to provide this at the Mar Vista house. This environment is important and certainly a prerequisite for our work. However, we believe that the two primary benefits of housing are accountability and behavior modeling.
Accountability and feedback systems have always been an integral part of our program. Living with one another allows us to take those things to the next level. In a house full of men who are giving their best effort to grow and build the best life possible for themselves, there is nowhere to hide. Because we all feel the weight of the goals we are pursuing and what is at stake if we don’t make it, a feeling of solidarity exists that makes it easier to stay on top of one another.
Before we had the opportunity to model things like sleep schedules, nutrition, morning and evening routines, and study habits, trying to express the importance of these things before we had housing felt like talking to a brick wall. Once we could model these things in real-time, the game changed. They suddenly became tangible and adherence produced results and transformation.
One example of this is a daily routine checklist we all have above our beds. This practice is aligned with our focus on process orientation. The idea is that if we are able to be relentless about a few simple practices every day, we can close the gap between where we are now and our goals. Utilizing a checklist like this is a suggestion I had made many times, however, until the guys saw my checklist hanging up, none of them gave it a try. One of the residents says that for him this practice, “holds me accountable to tasks that help me start my day in the most productive way.”
We have observed that success is very difficult to achieve if you have not first seen someone with whom you identify realize it. Now, we are also observing that process, or the steps necessary for success, are very hard to implement if you have not seen it implemented by someone you respect. The most impactful part of DEUCE Community’s housing effort is the culture that we are able to create in the house.
Campbell Lillard
DEUCE Community Inc. Co-Founder
Tattoo Pop-Up Was a Massive Success!
Thank you to all who came out or sent financial support for our annual tattoo pop-up and fundraiser The fundraiser was a remarkable success. we surpassed our goal, but more importantly, we were able to give those in our program a remarkable experience. The overwhelming turnout motivated several of them to approach me after the event and express their gratitude, Many of them have never known what it is like for a group of people to be invested in their future.
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The Amazon Prime packages that show up on the porch of the DEUCE Community House mean more to these guys than you can possibly imagine. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
DEUCE Community Incorporated is beyond proud to announce that as of July, 1st, we will have our first paid employee, Jose Bojorquez. We have worked hard to offer Jose a competitive salary for his role as well as full medical and psychiatric benefits.
Jose was our second program graduate. You can read about his work as an intern HERE. Jose will be coming on primarily in a case management and navigation role, which means we will be doing on-the-ground work with our interns and program participants. He also hopes to build out a youth program for DEUCE Community, something we have been excited about adding for a long time.
Jose’s bio is included below:
In July of 2021, Jose arrived at Amistad (Amity) from Prison, a re-entry program located in Los Angeles, California. That's where it all started for him. Jose had been introduced to DEUCE Community Inc and their coaches, where he began to see the world in a different light including himself. At DEUCE gym, Jose benefited from an amazing community and support system where he quickly learned about growth mindset. Jose soon started developing himself as a leader, entrepreneur, and mentor. While Interning at Deuce gym Jose was also working on his detailing business (CleanSlate Mobile Detailing) and CJL, an Americorps program that is designed to help those affected by the DJJ Justice system.
Since then Jose has been a part of multiple non-profit organizations, where he has continued his development as a leader and mentor. Formally Jose was working with RISE, a program within St Johns community health, where he had a caseload of 30-plus returning citizens. Jose has been able to solidify himself in the re-entry community where he uses his lived experience to connect with those who currently find themselves in the same place he once did. With his newfound experience and knowledge, Jose is seeking to change the stigma associated with those who have been justice-impacted one person at a time.
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If you’re reading this in Los Angeles, you’ve probably done a significant amount of complaining about the weather recently, I certainly have.
Most of us have the life experience to know how ridiculous it is to complain about a cloudy day in Southern California, but I think it’s dangerous not to reflect a little deeper on how good we have it.
If we believe ourselves to be in a bad situation, we become unhappy. Conversely, if we think we are relatively well positioned, our outlook changes.
Seems basic. But, stick with me...
I’d be willing to bet that even if you agree with this, you’ve been imperfect in implementing a mindset rich with gratitude for your situation.
My benchmark for keeping a perspective of optimism and purposeful living is Viktor Frankl. Victor Frankl spent three years of his young adult life in four different Nazi concentration camps, including Auschwitz and Dachau. During this time, he held onto his purpose in life and held firm to the belief that his tormentors could take everything from him, except his thoughts and his response to external circumstances.
I can’t begin to imagine what it was like to experience the horrors of Auschwitz. However, I think I can begin to imagine what life was like after. I can imagine a world that was rich with abundance, gratitude, joy, and connection. I can imagine a world that was more colorful in every way.
The tragedy is that not everyone who makes it out of imprisonment sees the world through a lens that makes everything brighter. Past traumas haunt us and sometimes it can be easier to shut out our past rather than embrace it.
I’m certainly not as strong as Viktor Frankl and so to bolster my resolve, I try to incorporate reminders of gratitude into my habits and environment.
When I was fresh out of prison, one of my favorite ways to bring presence to myself and my reality was to look up at the sky while I rode my bike from gym to gym. For many years, I was in a seg cell with no window. Without the hour a day of recreation I received or my clock radio, I would have had no idea of what time of day or season it was. It was a kind of sensory deprivation that would affect the body in strange ways. Even with this experience, something as simple as looking up and being able to see the sky is easy to take for granted. Now, I do this less frequently, but I still try to stop to take in a world with fresh air and no fences.
What keeps me most present and grounded in gratitude is helping other men and women make the transition out of prison. Walking beside them as they navigate the path to autonomy and success gives me the greatest feeling I could ever imagine. This work forces me to show up as the best version of myself so I can support them. It’s the most effective way I’ve found to move forward and stay rooted in where I came from.
The last practice is newer for me. Almost every day, I run a drill in my head that I stole from my therapist and renamed, ‘this fool’:
I tell a story about myself to myself in the third person. The story might start like this, “This fool used to be so uncomfortable with who he was as a person that a needle and a life of violence were better options to him than sitting with himself…” I stop and sit with how I feel about the story and the person in it. I examine what feelings and observations come up for me. This exercise is a game-changer for several reasons. It’s easier to have awareness and make judgments about other people than it is about yourself; the drill takes me outside of myself to give me deeper insight and perspective. It also allows me to see how far I’ve come, which gives me a strong sense of self and motivation to keep evolving.
It’s one thing to say something like, ‘see the glass as half full, not half-empty or, ‘every cloud has a silver lining’. To me, these seem like Barney and Friends bullshit aphorisms. It’s much more effective to build systems and environments in your life that encourage reflection and a positive mindset.
The reality is that life will always be hard, sometimes seem oppressive, and no matter where you are in the world, the weather will never be perfect. I wouldn’t try to change that if I could. However, I can empower you with the knowledge that all of life's problems are relative and that you can CHOOSE how you face them and what context you put them in.
“Everything can be taken from man but one thing: the last of human freedoms-to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” -Viktor Frankl
The Amazon Prime packages that show up on the porch of the DEUCE Community House mean more to these guys than you can possibly imagine. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for buying from our Amazon Wishlist.
My name is Joseph Bruner. The majority of my adult life was spent in the California prison system. 15 years of served time. I was caught in a vicious cycle that seemed like it would never let me go or ever end. Throughout my life, I've never really had much thought as to what my purpose in life was. Aside from my children, I didn’t consider my life or how I lived as anything with any substance. Then I was introduced to DEUCE Community who ran a workout at the reentry house I lived in. I was offered an opportunity to come to the gym and participate in Coach’s Prep. Little did I know that I was about to discover my purpose. I quickly found out that the gym was more than a place to work out. The culture quickly grew on me and for once I felt like I had found a place in the world where I belonged. I now am working to become a Coach, and most importantly give back to those who were like me. I would like to thank DEUCE Community for giving me hope and helping me find my purpose in life.
]]>We are excited to announce the second annual Tattoo Pop Up! On Saturday, June 17 at 1:00 p.m. we are shutting down fitness and popping up a tattoo shop in the DEUCE Garage for a community fundraiser to support DEUCE Community Inc.
There will be food, drinks, coffee, and yes... tattoos. All donations will be used to support the DEUCE Community Inc. non-profit to empower those in our community who are system, substance and housing impacted.
Please Register Here for the Tattoo Pop Up
Raul Diaz:
"32 yrs old. Born and raised in Santa Barbara, was always into sports, my path turned with the progression of alcohol, drugs, and crime. Adopted the beliefs that come with it at the time which led myself to a 15 to life sentence. I was granted parole at my 15th year and was determined to make this opportunity at freedom count. My passion is art(tattoos) and exercise. Since my release the world definitely has changed but the exciting thing for me is my perception of it. How I see myself in it comes with endless possibilities. I grew by wanting to learn.. I met up with deuce community February 2022. Was exposed to a close community that helped me throughout my transition to society. Especially since I had no family in Los Angeles. Currently living back home in Santa Barbara. Recreating my reality of my hometown. Continue to tattoo. Working on a future for myself to have my own home and family." Check our Raul's Instagram >
Taylor La Fortuna:
"My name is Taylor. I have been tattooing for 6 years, but have spent the last 12 years working in a shop. Today, I am lucky enough to have my own space with my best friend and business partner. Ultimately, tattooing is a ritual, more ancient than we can recall. It illustrates a moment, however monumental or not at all- a grand or simple memory we wish to mark on our skin. Tattoos are messages to ourselves, and to others that bring us closer to our own unique identities. Whether these images are well thought out, each detail symbolizing something much deeper, or a spur of the moment decision with a friend who made you accompany them to a flash day- tattoos are evidence of our existence- a picture, a word, or a faded series of dots from a stick and poke, tattoos bring us back to a time we may have otherwise lost. Tattoos are about autonomy, a person exchanges this choice of pain, knowing that on the other end of it, they will heal and be left with something more permanent than that pain- tattoos are a beautiful metaphor in that way. As a tattoo artist, I feel like a conduit for this process; and perhaps more than anything else, I am the most grateful for the intimate time I get to spend with each person I work with. Somehow, even as the artist, I remember many details of the lives I am illustrating. I guess that’s why I love tattoos, they don’t let you forget." Check out Taylor's Instagram >
Chet Duvenci:
Chet Duvenci was born 700 years ago to a family of Ottoman Pirates. He learned to tattoo at age 5 while smoking cigarettes and cooking for the ship's crew in the South Pacific. After becoming battle hardened and fighting in numerous civil wars (that he instigated) Chet decided he wanted a piece of the quiet academic life. Upon completing 6 different degrees at Harvard Law School in 1805 Chet decided the classroom was "not quite his thing". He chose to swim from Boston to Kansas City by way of the Gulf of Mexico & Mississippi River. After settling down on a farm outside the city he took up cattle farming. One sunny day while branding his herd he became nostalgic about his early days of tattooing. In 1997 he decided to set down his branding iron and pick up a tattoo machine. Tattooing again now for a paltry 26 years Chet has completed a measly elevendy hundred thousand tattoos in this current iteration of his career. While Kansas City, MO remains his hometown he prefers the open road & traveling the country side by truck with his dog Chicken.
Gina Serpentina:
"I’m Gina Serpentina, a Los Angeles based tattoo artist by way of the Midwest. I fell in love with tattoo flash the moment I saw original hand painted designs on the walls of a tattoo shop located in the back of a motorcycle spot back home, later this would be where I landed my tattoo apprenticeship. After tattooing in Milwaukee professionally for 3 years I relocated to Los Angeles where, eventually, I opened up a tattoo studio with my bestie Taylor La Fortuna. Having the opportunity to create my own environment and offer a calming atmosphere on my own terms has been very impactful on my creativity and wellness. I hope to provide a safe space and an ear to all who need it while under the needle or otherwise. I’m looking forward to more collaborations to give back to this city that’s given me so much." Check out Gina's Instagram >
Fern Ochoa:
"My name is Fern Ochoa and I was introduced to DEUCE Community in May of 2022 at a strength and conditioning program in a downtown correctional facility. I am one of our newest residents here in the DEUCE Community house. I'm an exceptional artist and have used it as my drive to leave behind a life of crime – freeing myself from a self-destructive past. I am hardworking, dedicated to change, and one day hope to open my own tattoo shop."About Chef:
Nyesha Arrington has been in love with the kitchen since she was just a little girl cooking from the age of five alongside her Korean grandmother. Born in Southern California to a multi-cultural family, she was introduced early on to diverse foods such as bulgogi, octopus, and homemade kimchi. These first stages of culinary experiences definitively shaped her palate and her ideas. By integrating flavors and techniques from around the world, Nyesha has been able to create a style that is both personal and unparalleled.
After graduation from the prestigious Culinary School at the Art Institute of California in Los Angeles in 2001, Nyesha built an impressive resume working with Josiah Citrin at the acclaimed 2 Michelin Star Mélisse in Santa Monica, and legendary French chef Joël Robuchon at his Michelin Star restaurants in Las Vegas, L'Atelier and The Mansion. She then went on to helm Leona and Native in Los Angeles where she was celebrated for using farm fresh, locally, and responsibly sourced ingredients. In 2012 she was named to Zagat’s 30 Under 30 and in 2015 was recognized as LA’s Chef of the Year by Eater.
Nyesha hit the national stage as a fan favorite on “Top Chef” season 9 and is currently a co-star of the hit culinary competition show “Next Level Chef” (U.K. season 1 premiering on ITV in Jan. 2023 and U.S. season 2 premiering on FOX in Feb. 2023). She is also the host and producer of “Plateworthy,” a digital series on Eater.
Nyesha draws inspiration from art, her African American, Nigerian, and Korean background and is passionate about food and culture, nutrition and vegetables, storytelling, travel and fitness.
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to meet one of my heroes, Chad Houser. He’s the founder of Cafe Momentum- a restaurant staffed entirely by young men and women involved in the juvenile justice system. When I met with Chad, I knew I would have a very limited amount of his time, so I chose to be economical with my questions.
I asked him what the one piece of advice was that he would give to someone trying to make as big an impact on the world as he had. He stood pensively for a long minute and replied:
He then elaborated with a well-known story about the first Cafe Momentum pop-up dinner he ever held in June of 2011. Chad had talked authorities at the Henry Wade Juvenile Justice Center into transporting youth in custody to one of the top restaurants in Dallas and letting them plate and serve a gourmet four-course dinner.
The dinner was designed to change the community's perception of the youth and build advocacy for a permanent brick-and-mortar Cafe Momentum restaurant. You can imagine how nervous he was about that first night going well. It did, mostly. The kids did a fantastic job. They did such a great job that they returned all the wine glasses from each table to the kitchen empty. Not all of the wine glasses left the tables empty.
Instead of allowing this incident to ruin his vision of creating better lives for these kids and shifting how the juvenile justice system operates, Chad chose to keep moving forward and believing in the kids. He just slightly adjusted his operating strategy, so this wouldn’t happen again.
It’s rare to have a visionary who is also adaptable; someone who will go to the ends of the Earth for what they believe in and has the humility and perspective to admit when they are wrong, and course correct. Chad’s advice got me reflecting on the ways in which I was treating lessons as failures and letting them defeat me. In the time since our conversation, I have been thinking hard about the things that will have to be true for me to realize my own vision.
The road to realizing this vision will be riddled with more hardship than I can possibly imagine. To give the people I believe in the opportunities they deserve, I must be flexible and unyielding. I will have to be adaptable in the extreme, learning from everything life throws at me. I will have to be a student, growing capacities that far exceed where I am currently. I will have to be firm in my belief and the pursuit of what I know is possible, despite what the world tells me.
Chad’s advice, like all great advice, wasn’t practical at all. He just let me know that if I was tough and mobile enough, I could change the world. What he really gave me was an example of what’s possible for a guy with a dream who believes in people that no one else will.
The Amazon Prime packages that show up on the porch of the DEUCE Community House mean more to these guys than you can possibly imagine. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. View the Amazon Wishlist
Liefia Ingalls grew up facing the challenges of poverty, housing instability, and familial incarceration in her early life. Navigating the traumas of systematic inequality, community violence, and substance addiction would force Liefia to grow incredible resilience and empathy, which she would later come to value as the unique fuel for living an incredible life.
While studying Biopsychology at the University of California at Santa Barbara, insight into the effects of physical training on the brain triggered an interest in strength training. An experimental interest in strength training for self-development turned into an obsession with pursuing the limits of her strength and propelled her into a triumphant career as a professional Strongwoman. As a competitor, she claimed prestigious titles including the Inaugural Arnold Pro Strongwoman Champion in 2017, World's Strongest Woman, and Strongest Woman in the World in 2018. She also set a list of event world records and became the first woman to lift the legendary Husafel Stone in Iceland.
Liefia is passionate about using strength training as a model process for self-development and personal transformation. She provides individualized strength and performance coaching services to athletes and professional clients across the world through her business Unicorn Strength Training. As a Deuce Community Board member, Liefia seeks to apply her unique set of skills and experiences to inform and support the development of a community model that will foster continuous personal development for each of its members.
My name is Fern Ochoa and I was introduced to DEUCE Community in May of 2022 at a strength and conditioning program in a downtown correctional facility. I am one of our newest residents here in the DEUCE Community house.
I'm an exceptional artist and have used it as my drive to leave behind a life of crime – freeing myself from a self-destructive past. I am hardworking, dedicated to change, and one day hope to open my own tattoo shop. I feel that, with the help of the mentorship program, I am well on my way to reaching my FULL potential.
I'm excited to dive deeper into the program through Business Prep 101, a course on the principles of entrepreneurship. Developing not only as an artist and entrepreneur but as a leader in the community are my hopes for myself as I enter this new chapter in life.
]]>Every Sunday evening, we have a house meeting. (Wait... did you hear we got a house?! Read all about it here.) The meeting is designed, very intentionally, to be a time that we grow through challenge and feedback. In some meetings, we talk about very specific pressing issues or repair relationships by acknowledging broken trust or commitments among house members. In others, we talk more generally about the culture of the house and how to improve our processes. Last week, we talked about broadening our perspective and the way we look at the house.
By leasing the house in Mar Vista, we burned the ships in a big way. We, very nearly, emptied our bank account to lease the space upfront for six months. We did this because we feared losing several program participants who were about to be released from prison. We had to get a place immediately so we could provide a safe environment for these men, We were only able to afford the space because it is being torn down in six months and was up for short-term lease, at a steal. In the next 5 months, the pressure will increasingly mount for us to prove and pitch our model so that we can continue the program and inhabit another house. If we fail, everyone in the house becomes homeless.
All of the inhabitants in the Mar Vista house were fully aware of this when we signed the contract to move In. Living in the house carries with it an enormous burden of responsibility. We have to come together, trust one another, and give our best effort so that this works.
Sometimes, the weight of our task can get lost in the day-to-day. When this happens, small details begin to slip: The water filter fails to be replenished, dishes do not get put away immediately, dog hair accumulates on the couch.
The danger of dog hair accumulating on the couch has nothing to do with the hair and everything to do with our mission and our commitment to one another. If a potential donor walks through the door and sees a small thing out of place, it tells them that much larger things might be out of place as well. At this stage in our existence, that could mean the difference between attaining long-term housing for our interns or having to scrap the program.
To combat this, we have agreed to walk through the front door of the house with a different set of eyes. Instead of entering the house as a man recently released from prison worrying about how he is going to make it in an impossible city, or as an exhausted coach who just worked a twelve-hour shift, we view our living environment through the unweary eyes of a donor who is looking for what stories the house might tell them.
When something is out of place, we move it. When dishes are in the sink we clean them, when one of our housemates has lapsed in his responsibilities, we hold him accountable and remind him of what is at stake. In this way we share leadership, grow each other, and move a little closer to our vision of a world where every person coming off the streets, or out of prison can get a seat at the table and realize their true potential.
Plum Brice serves as Director, Office of the Chairman for AEG, the world's leading sports and live entertainment company. In this capacity, Plum provides executive and administrative support to the organization’s five-member governing body including areas of policy creation, implementation and evaluation relating to both long-term strategy and day-to day management of the global company.
Plum, who joined AEG in 2007, also facilitates briefings to department heads and specific business units on behalf of the Board, relating to strategic oversight, governance and policies on behalf of AEG’s principal governing and management entity. Her responsibilities also include helping to develop and implement new policies and procedures to enhance executive productivity and improve business operations.
Additionally, Plum provides direct support to the CEO in the review and preparation of correspondences, maintaining his relationships with clients as well as managing timely review and responses to matters in his absence.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Plum developed her strong sense of community service and volunteerism from her mother, a retired school teacher and her father who served in the U.S. Army.
Plum’s active lifestyle includes regular strength training and hot yoga classes, dancing and meditation. She is an enthusiastic fan of hockey, enjoys music of all genres and loves to travel.
Joel Flores Bustos came to our program 10 months ago. You might have seen him on the yard hanging out with the gym dogs or on the Breath and Exposure deck where he has earned a leadership position. In the short amount of time he has been at DEUCE, Joel has grown to become a different person.
Out of all of our DEUCE Community interns that have taken and passed our Level 1 Coach’s Prep exam, Joel received the highest score. He now runs one of our offsite strength and conditioning programs at a correctional facility downtown. He has also become certified as an XPT Performance Breathing Coach.
Joel was the first intern to move into the Mar Vista house. He was there day one and we could not have gotten the program up and running without his remarkable efforts. Through every phase of our push to provide housing, Joel has taken more ownership of the project. His leadership serves as an example to others entering our program and gives them hope for what they might become.
]]>Conversely, what would happen to the quality of your work, relationships, and well-being, if you were forced to sleep in an unsafe house with a dozen individuals who are using drugs and have a lifestyle that will eventually send you all to prison? This is what our interns used to face when they are released from prison.
Truth be told, we always assumed that we would have a hyper-specific focus on our work and partner with organizations that could handle housing. That changed when we lost our most prized intern to a relapse that we believe could have been prevented if he wasn’t living in a state-funded halfway house upon his release.
To give you an idea of the environment, he found a used needle in his bed sheets on his move-in date. Frankly, the writing was on the wall, and we ultimately failed him by allowing him to live in such conditions.
It's with great pride that I’m excited to announce that DEUCE Community Inc. has launched our own housing solution in Mar Vista, CA. What this means is that we can control more of the variable qualities of our non-profit work to serve the most motivated system, substance, and housing-impacted individuals.
There are two distinct ways you can help!
This is a remarkable milestone in our journey to create a world where all people with unrealized potential can realize it. Thank you for your support along the way!
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Without the support of individual and recurring donations, the community we have created would not be possible. Thank you for making this possible.
]]>Strongwoman competitor and DEUCE Community board member Liefia Ingalls works with us at Homeboy Industries.
]]>Interns in transitional housing will take public transportation from South Central to Venice. This commute will sometimes take 90 minutes one way.
]]>These events include but are not limited to our monthly street clean-ups, free strength and conditioning classes for people with 48 hours of sobriety, and various training/educational experiences with partners like Mass Liberation, Amity Foundation, and Homeboy Industries.
At these events, we are able to identify motivated individuals. Ultimately, we share our mission with key players and offer a series of increasing levels of responsibility. These tasks and responsibilities, including enrollment in our online and in-person leadership development courses, serve as an important rite of passage. This rite of passage is vital to creating and maintaining trust and willingness in the organization that is vital to do the hard developmental work we offer.
For those that are ready to begin the process, we grant access to two online education programs, COACHES PREP and BUSINESS PREP. Those that take advantage of these programs are offered an unpaid internship where they can choose to develop as a coach through the mentorship of coaches at DEUCE Gym and/or develop as an entrepreneur under the leadership of Agency : Standard. Individuals who make it this far are challenged to begin redefining what success means to them. They are then asked to own their success so they might develop increased ownership over themselves and their circumstances. We attempt to expand their paradigm about what might be possible in life.
For those that commit to this work, we offer a paid internship stipend of $1,700 a month. This internship includes a subjective contract drafted by the participant and their mentor. The participant, who is now referred to as a coach, progresses through the program as they take more and more responsibility and develop the capacity to navigate the world successfully. The program culminates when the coach is able to transition to a sustainable career (with an upward trajectory?) of their choosing. For some, this looks like work in the strength and conditioning or nonprofit industries. For others, it looks like building and running their own business.
Program graduates continue to receive support and mentorship through alumni of the program. Our coaches know that the process of becoming is never finished…
See below for a representative framework that illustrates our process:
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Jose Bojorquez is now the third paid intern at DEUCE Gym to climb the ranks through our non-profit, DEUCE Community Inc, which seeks out and develops the most motivated individuals we can find that are substance, system, and/or housing impacted.
When we both have our “Friends Hat” on, we talk about sports (mostly our mutual love for baseball). When we’re in development mode, we talk business and we talk coaching. On Wednesdays for example, we’re working together through his Business Prep 101 homework to streamline his organization, Clean Slate Mobile Detailing. In the in-between days, we’re mostly talking about coaching theory or his Coach’s Prep 101 homework.
That said, there’s so much I learn from Jose because of the parts of his experience I don’t know how to relate to. When he started working in the gym, he was still incarcerated. He earned his way into a program that allowed him to accept responsibility at the gym with an ankle monitor.
You see, soon after Jose’s fondest memories in Little League, his life would change forever in ways not dissimilar to most of the people in our program.
Jose is the youngest of three siblings to a single mother. His mom made and sold tamales in the neighborhood while holding several jobs to make ends meet and soon idle time, poor role models, and the street life would steer Jose into trouble. He’d start using meth at age eleven. He’d run the streets for days at a time without a place that would welcome him to sleep.
At 14, Jose would be arrested for possession. Ultimately, he skipped his court date until police spotted him tagging an ice cream truck, which landed him in three-month juvenile detention. His behavior in that institution upgraded him to a four-year sentence imprisoned at the California Youth Authority.
For a while, things were good. By 19 years old, Jose would join the Carpenter’s Union making good money and l with his girlfriend. Keeping his gang banging to just the weekend wasn’t enough, though. Jose earned a 16-year sentence that he would serve until this year.
“You develop this fixed mindset for so long,” Jose recalled. “You embody that character.”
That fixed mindset stayed with him even until the early days in his internship with us. It wasn’t until he understood that his life experience didn’t make him incompatible with the world, but rather that his skillset primed him for dramatic success would he shed his fixed mentality.
Now, Jose is a free man. He’s employed as an intern at DEUCE Gym and his start-up Clean Slate Mobile Details has trouble meeting demand. Last week they detailed seven cars in a day (a new personal record). According to my back-of-the-napkin math, Jose is hitting the ground running. If you need a wash, give them a call at 213-294-9277.
At the non-profit, we like to say we’ve got “a seat at the table for anyone who is hungry.” Jose is hungry and he’s eating well.
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DEUCE Community Intern David Gonzales is living his best life and helping rebuild others.
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Nothing beats Saturday afternoons at DEUCE Gym, where coaches and members of the community lead individuals who are system impacted through a long training session in the yard. These experiences help form meaningful relationships and bridge the gap between incarceration and success.
Email campbell@deucegym.com to get involved.
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Our work with Amity Foundation was one of our very first efforts as a nonprofit. Our work with these men has remained one of the most rewarding things we do as an organization.
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