Alan King, Sr., 37, has lived in the Frayser neighborhood of North Memphis for nearly three decades. In his own words, Alan details his troubled adolescence and how he and his older brother found themselves dealing crack-cocaine on the streets of North Memphis. One day, Alan received a terrible phone call — his brother had been shot. He rushed to be at his brother’s side, but it was too late. Seeing his brother laying dead in front of him on the concrete, Alan saw himself in his brother, knowing that he could just as easily be next if he continued down the path he was on. At just the right moment, hearing of his brother’s death, a leader at the local community center reached out to Alan and offered him a different path — one that would leave the streets behind and allow him to make a difference in the lives of children in his community. Today, over twenty years later, he works as a recreation leader at that same community center, the Ed Rice Community Center, that was a sanctuary for him in his youth – serving as a mentor and role model to neighborhood kids.

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