Duo: Authenticity key to reaching youth

SANDPOINT — Louis Perez and Fabian Debora know a thing or two about helping at-risk kids.

As staff members of the Los Angeles-based Homeboy Industries, one of the most successful gang outreach programs in the nation, they deal with some of the most endangered youth out there. While visiting town over the weekend for the Sandpoint premiere of “G-Dog,” a documentary about Homeboy Industries photographed by local cinematographer Erik Daarstad, they sat down with local youth workers to offer advice.

“The things you have to deal with aren’t so far away from the things we have to deal with,” Perez told local youth workers at a Saturday meeting.

According to Perez and Debora, the most important thing when working with youth is to demonstrate a sense of authenticity. That’s easy for them in their urban outreach, since as former gang members and substance abusers, they’ve dealt with the same struggles as their clients. However, they said even those from very different backgrounds can reach troubled youth effectively by communicating their sincerity.

“When you show people you care, they respond to it,” Perez said. “Honesty is one thing that everyone can grasp.”

After all, Catholic priest Greg Boyle had very little in common with people like Perez and Debora when he founded Homeboy Industries. As a white man from a middle-class family, he never experienced the grinding poverty and hopelessness that send many individuals toward drug use and gang activity. According to Perez and Debora — and clearly portrayed in “G-Dog” — it was Boyle’s genuineness and dedication that made his outreach succeed. While he couldn’t force every gang member from their lifestyle, he could give individuals a way to escape through their own initiative.

“We’re not here to save lives — we can only provide them with direction,” Debora said.

The duo also recommended that local youth workers not impose too many rules and regulations on local troubled youth. When some expressed concern at the extremely baggy jeans and other personal appearance choices, Debora said it was much better to offer reasoned suggestions than enforce mandates.

“They end up thinking, ‘I already come from a set of rules. Now you want to put more on me?’” he said.  

In addition to counseling local outreach leaders, Debora and Perez had the opportunity to take in a little Sandpoint living during their visit. Despite a brief two-day stay, they spent time checking out the lake and meeting the locals. They were appreciative of the town for making the Friday and Saturday screenings of “G-Dog” successful and well-attended.

“Being from the city, this visit to Sandpoint has been great,” Perez said. “We’re pretty much on cruise control.”