NFL Hall of Famer mentors young people through organization
PRINCE GEORGE’S COUNTY, Md. (DC News Now) — Kyla Campbell is studying criminal justice at Prince George’s Community College, but last week she learned about technology through a partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Eckerd Connects.
“I always think about how I could expand myself for my future,” she said.
Campbell, who says she is experiencing homelessness, learned about the program through an organization that is helping her.
“It gives me a push to be better,” she said. “It will make me get my own income, to basically live wherever I want to live.”
NFL Hall of Famer Darrell Green joined Campbell and other young people at the Kevin Durant Center to encourage them.
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“All these things are really about knocking down the barriers that you face to your success, you know what my barrier was, I’m 5’8” and ¾…. that’s a barrier,” Geen told them.
Green has been working with Eckerd Connects for about two years as part of his mission to give back to the DMV, but he has been volunteering his time for more than four decades.
“One of my teammates said he couldn’t read, and I was like ‘whoa,’ start thinking about that stuff and then I started learning centers,” he said.
He says he understands what it’s like to overcome adversity, with the right support.
“I grew up in the projects…brother died of a drug overdose. All that stuff. Everything. Everything people can imagine. I’m from that neighborhood, too, but by the grace of God, man, somebody showed up in a room like this for me,” he told young people.
Eckerd Connects provides free job training in various fields in 21 states across the country, for young people 18 to 24 years old.
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