He turned his life around, now he helps his community thrive!

At an early age, Tyrique Glasgow was caught up in a life of drugs, guns and violence and he led other neighborhood youths down the same path. Today, the 40-year-old is still a leader in his neighborhood - but these days, he instead inspires kids to follow him into a life of hope, service and opportunity!

This is my life—going in circles, Tyrique Glasgow thought glumly as he made his 10th lap around the track in the prison recreation area. The then 27-year-old was serving a five-year sentence for drug dealing, and this wasn’t his first incarceration.

Tyrique grew up in Grays Ferry, Pennsylvania, one of Philadelphia’s toughest neighborhoods. He was drawn into street life at an early age and quickly became a leader as he and his buddies fought to protect their turf. He was only 15 when he ended up in a juvenile detention center on a gun charge, and 22 when he began his second sentence, this time in an adult facility. Now, as he neared release, Tyrique told himself, “I gotta get off this track. I need to find myself a new journey.”

Little did he know, his journey would transform young lives throughout his old neighborhood.

Paying it forward 

From his grandmother, Tyrique had learned that if you want to accomplish something, “You need to figure out the ingredients to success and check them off the menu one by one.”

Tyrique wanted to live a good, honest life. To achieve that, he knew the first thing he needed to check off the menu was to get a job. So, every morning after his release from prison, he left his halfway house at dawn, and walked an hour to downtown and pounded the pavement, eventually landing a job with the city. He also enrolled in college classes.

Tyrique was proud of his new path, but as he looked around his neighborhood, seeing kids hanging out with nothing to do and nowhere to go but into lives of crime, violence and drugs, he felt pulled to help them.