4 Troubled Teens Blog

The Maaco repair shop in Clarksville, Tennessee, fills up with teenagers every Saturday morning -- but they're not showing up just to hang out and look at cars. According to an Associated Press article by Tavia Green, the young people are participating in Project 59, an initiative aimed at giving troubled teens a chance to get their lives back on track.

Project 59 is an initiative through Operation Turnaround, a Clarksville Police Department program that gives teens who have been in trouble with the law a chance to get their lives back on track. Through mentorship from officers and volunteers, students learn trades and are better equipped to make good choices.

Maaco owner Mitch Rollins explained: "This is a car that nobody wanted. It was shunned, put away from society, and nobody wants to look at it. That's the way (these children) feel when they are incarcerated. They lose their self-respect and self-esteem. We show them how to rebuild that through the car."

Sgt. John Hunt, a director and mentor with Operation Turnaround, said the project will give the participants training they can use to better their future. Communication skills, a sense of responsibility, commitment, team-building and problem-solving skills, along with discipline, can all be accomplished if the teens take the project seriously, he said.

When the teens have finished restoring the 1959 Pontiac Catalina, the vehicle will be auctioned off to raise funds to help further the program, Green reported. Rollins told the AP that he hopes the car will sell for about $40,000.

Labels: prevention, troubled_teenagers, mentoring

Posted By: Aspen/CRC