Friday, September 10, 2010

Former gang member, made blind by violence, now counsels Dallas youth

By LINDSEY BEVER
Levels took a bullet to the left temple. It exited his right eye, severing both optic nerves.

"They took all my money and left me blind for the rest of my life," he said. "I was laying in the house one day in total darkness, and I realized all the people I was there for, wasn't there for me. I came up with the phrase, 'Even though I'm blind, I see.' "

Levels, 33, of Seagoville, who started the gang with eight others when he was 12, now speaks to local at-risk youth and young gang members through his own nonprofit, Now Eye See Inc., educating them about wise decision-making and the "destruction that lies ahead."

He has partnered with local intervention advocates LaKerrie Owens, founder and executive director of Dallas-based Youth Conversion, and Dallas Police Detective Leroy Quigg, founder of the nonprofit Gang Intervention Community Outreach Program. They're uniting to reach at-risk kids and their families to empower them to make healthy lifestyle choices. Dallas-Fort Worth News


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