Harlem-based mentor program ACES helps ex-gang members, troubled young men find their way

Two years ago, Emmanuel Tapia was 16, in and out of trouble in the Bronx, and trying to drink away his sadness over a breakup.

So it might have remained but for a cop at his local precinct, who referred him to a Harlem-based program tailored for troubled young people just like him.

“I was drinking and doing some f—ed up things and it led to an altercation with my mom,” said Tapia, now 18. “I was sent to the precinct and they suggested ACES. Now, I’m doing a lot of things I was never able to accomplish.”

Known as Assertive Community Engagement and Success, the three-year-old mentoring program shepherds a roster of about 110 gang-involved young people with multiple prior arrests in an effort to help them out of that life.

The program, run by the nonprofit group CASES — short for the Center for Alternative Sentencing and Employment Services — offers everything from a ride to the city clerk’s office to get a copy of a birth certificate to job skills, GED tutoring and substance abuse counseling.

ACES Director Jason Gordon says though participation is voluntary, clients stay in the program an average of 266 days, much longer than other similar programs.

“This is a long-term program. These aren’t things that can be fixed in 90 days. We build substantial relationships,” Gordon said. “We break down the walls and kind of wean them off of the gang stuff.”

Gordon, 43, is formerly incarcerated himself. He emerged from prison in 2016 after 11 years and studied his way to four college degrees — including a master’s degree from Columbia University — while paying his dues at several city nonprofits.

Tapia is now working on getting his high school diploma and is up for an internship. He plans to go to culinary school and cook for a living.

“They push me a lot. I thought that people didn’t care and they showed me how much they care,” he said.

Last Tuesday, Eric Guzman, 18, was headed downtown to get a copy of his birth certificate and his Social Security number with his ACES mentor, Damon Bryan.

Guzman needed the documents to get a job that will pay for studio time to record his music. He also recently got a learner’s permit to drive.

Guzman, like the other young men, is vague about what landed him in the program.

“I was going through a lot of personal stuff, so I just had to change,” he said. “I had to open my eyes. And I’m doing stuff now. I’m motivated.”

Gordon said Guzman was elusive at first but eventually signed up. “It’s fair. We’re showing up at his door, and he didn’t know us,” Gordon said.

Jose Harris, 27, was delivering holiday season packages Tuesday for Amazon in Harlem. Just a few years ago, he was also immersed in the area’s gang landscape.

Jose Harris“Time on your hands — it’s the devil’s workshop,” he said. “I just needed a door to open and when I was ready, they were there.”

Gordon recalled that Harris dodged ACES workers before he committed to the program.

“He was like, ‘What time?’ I’ll be there.’ And he wouldn’t show,” Gordon recalled with a laugh. “He’s working on his own now. Sometimes it makes you emotional because it means they don’t need you anymore.”

Jabari Mann, 26, did 17 months in an upstate prison on an assault conviction, records show. He was released in 2019. He came to the program through an arrest. Now, he’s a home health care aide with a 3-year-old son he plans to shower with toys on Christmas.

“They helped me experience life, with motivation,” he said outside his home in East Harlem.

Gordon said his main worry this holiday is about program funding. CASES receives $2.3 million a year from the city to operate ACES. The contract expires in June.

“It’s December and I don’t know the future, and that keeps me up at night, for the kids we serve and the staff,” Gordon said.

While the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice has yet to formally say it will renew the contract, a spokesperson offered an endorsement on Friday.

“[ACES], like many of the programs we fund, plays a pivotal role in breaking cycles of violence and reducing involvement in the criminal justice system among high-risk youth,” said Camille Adolphe, MOCJ spokeswoman.

Adolphe said the city is “diligently” working with ACES “to identify sustainable opportunities to continue serving New York City’s youth.”

Harris planned to work through Christmas delivering those packages. “It’s peak season. I know how to work and he needs me,” he said, referring to his boss.

Asked what his 2-year-old son is getting for Christmas, he said, “Me — his father. There’s not a lot of that around here. I want to be able to maintain, not just obtain.”