They call him Coach. The 7-Eleven on Southeast nd Avenue and Stark Street in Gresham is one of his favored spots to start his work shift.
Coach buys a banana Slurpee β a daily, midafternoon routine before he hits the streets for the night. In his kicks, basketball shorts and a jersey, Coach stands outside the store for a moment, scanning customers and others on the street corner. No trouble here. He gets inside his car and goes to work. As one of the only gang outreach workers in Gresham, Coach is on the front lines of a growing effort to battle the escalating gang violence that has law enforcement, city leaders and the community on alert.
In , tension of the previous two decades came to a head, with six of the city's seven homicides considered gang-related. Coach's job? Cut the pool of gang recruits by getting kids off the streets and into jobs or school. His duties range from helping prevent street fights to "kickin' it," as he says, with the kids at a MAX stop β anything to help the yellow tape from going up.
Gresham hired Coach as a contract worker in December, and he is now regularly recognized by residents, from a gas attendant to youths on a street corner.
He'll spend time at the hot spots, watching and waiting. Many nights he'll cruise with the windows open, looking out for potential trouble. In east Multnomah County, with its documented gang members, Coach's role in the streets plays into a larger goal of reaching those without opportunities, of ending the discrepancy between the haves and have-nots, by guiding youths toward activities and resources.
