Fort Worth, TX — At age 20, after five rocky years, Rome has finally made the pivot that will put his life on a positive path.
Fresh out of culinary school, he’s a line cook at a Fort Worth restaurant. It’s a dream job that comes after five years of court appearances, lock ups, misguided youthful decisions, heartbreaks, and bad luck.
Rome said as a kid, he was quiet and stuck to himself. At school, without much effort, he got Bs and Cs and never got into trouble.
But as he grew from childhood to adolescence, he began worrying about his family’s wellbeing.
“My mom had health problems. She had mini strokes and couldn’t work,” he said. “She talked a lot about bills and things being cut off.”
By tenth grade, to ease the strain, he started selling weed. It went well until it didn’t, and he got caught.
“I got kicked out of school,” he said.
In the house with his mom, younger sister and older brother, things were tense and the pressure intensified.
Rome, 15, at the time, designed a bold plan for how he could provide for his family.
“I got a gun and robbed the corner store,” he said.
Rome went on to rob more stores. During that time, he took a trip to visit a friend and along the way became an armed robbery victim himself. The incident also made him a gunshot victim.
Back in Fort Worth, police caught up with him. Facing multiple armed robbery-related charges, he was arrested and placed in a youth detention facility. For the nine months he was there, he stayed to himself, avoided trouble, and had no infractions, something he said was extremely difficult to accomplish.
When the time came for his disposition hearing, Rome said he was placed on determinant probation — reserved for the county’s highest risk youth — for five years and assigned to a local office of Youth Advocate Programs (YAP®), Inc. A national nonprofit supported by philanthropy and local government systems in 31 states and Washington, D.C., YAP® provides community-based services as an alternative to youth incarceration and other residential placements. Family-centered, accountability-focused services are delivered by staff Advocates, mental health professionals and/or other employee teams.
YAP® Regional Director Alex Alvear, who served as a supervisor at the nonprofit’s Tarrant County office at the time, recalls learning that Rome’s mother moved out of state during his time in detention. He and YAP® Advocate Vincent Hayes’ first order of business was to find temporary housing for him. Alvear says given Rome’s background, it wasn’t easy.
“We finally found a family that takes in homeless kids, but there was no available bed for Rome,” Alvear said. “He had to sleep on the floor.”
With funding from YAP®, Hayes and Alvear purchased a bed and clothing for Rome. Adhering to the YAP® wraparound services model, they met with him regularly, focused on empowering him with skills to see and nurture his strengths. They also assisted him with practical matters, like obtaining his state ID and other personal documents, and saw to it that he participated in his assigned community service. Within weeks, Rome had a job at a local taco shop and enrolled in GED classes.
“It didn’t take him long to pass,” Alvear said. “He also assisted with tutoring other students.”
Alvear said Rome stayed out of trouble and looked forward to gaining independence and having a place of his own.
“He was clearly a leader among his peers,” Alvear said. “He was very wise in the words he chose. He knocked out his community service and had talked regularly with his probation officer.”
Alvear said in addition to working at the taco shop, Rome found ways to earn extra money, determined to not only put himself in a good position, but to also help the couple who took him and so many other young people into their home.
“There were four or five other kids at the house, and Rome really wanted to contribute,” Alvear said. “He ended up getting a job with a landscaper and eventually bought his own lawnmower.”
Things were going well until an evening when Rome was walking with his lawnmower in a suburban community. Police officers stopped him and asked what he was doing in the neighborhood.
“He told them he was out cutting grass,” Alvear said. “But he had a gun on him.”
On probation and with another felony level charge, Rome said he was adjudicated to spending the next four years at a Texas Juvenile Justice Department facility in Waco. Alvear made a commitment to stay in his corner. When he made the hour and a half drive to visit him at the facility, he learned that Rome had no other visitors.
“Still, he stayed positive and took accountability for his actions,” Alvear said. “I remember Rome said something to me that was profound. He said he found out who shot him and was going to write him a letter forgiving him.”
Alvear spoke to Rome whenever he could and was impressed by his strength and character.
“During that time, I stayed to myself; I almost never left my room except when I had to clean the halls,” Rome said. “I read a lot, Tony Robbins books, [Napolean Hill’s] Think and Grow Rich, all self-help books.”
He recalls taking full advantage of opportunities to watch TV.
“I would tell them to put it on Food Network,” he said.
On his 19th birthday, Rome was free to return to Fort Worth. He had no infractions and completed violence awareness classes. With no family to return to and support from his caseworker, he qualified for independent living where the foster care system supplemented his rent while he attended culinary school.
When he graduated, Alvear and Rome’s youth probation officer were at the ceremony. He said it was one of the happiest days of his life.
Today, in addition to holding down his restaurant job, Rome prepares dishes for his friends and creates menus for private parties.
His specialties are Jamaican jerk lamb chops and ox tails, smoked braised turkey wings, and barbequed beef ribs.
Rome has put his life on a positive path, grateful that his probation officer, Alvear, and Hayes were there for him when he needed it most, making him a believer that with support, there is such a thing as a second chance and sometimes a third one, too.
Learn more about YAP® and how you can support the nonprofit at www.yapinc.org.
Follow Rome on Instagram, @chefromelove.
