b'TURNING LIVES AROUND, ONE AT A TIME\x0bohn could have easily joined the ranks of youngdisplays made by the young adultsthey realized people who cycle in and out of the criminal justicetheyhadoutgrowntheir,-square-foot systemafterspendingtimebehindbarsforanwoodshop in a rented garage. They turned to Sue earlymistake.Thoughheearnedhis\x08EDand\x07inegan, the Chair of Mintzs \x11ro \x03ono Committee, work certifications while incarcerated and landedwho has advised them on funding and governanceWe are immensely a food service position during his probation, hematters and also helped one of UTECs employeesthankful for Mintzs feltunsatisfiedwiththatjob.Whenherecalledwith a complicated immigration issue.learning about a nonprofit that helps young adultsWere happy to do anything we can do to help turnsupport as we withcriminalrecordsorpastganginvolvementaround young peoples lives, Sue said. navigated acquiring transformtheirlives,hecalledforanintake interview.ThoughknownastheUnitedTeen\x07ormer Mintz real estate attorney \x11eter \x08elzinisand renovating Equality Center when it was founded more than steppedintohelp.Mintzattorney\x08eoffSmitha new space for years ago to counter gang violence in Lowell, thethenguidedUTECthroughnegotiationsona organization has since shortened its name to UTECcomplex lease-to-purchase deal in December 19.our woodworking and expanded its service area to include LawrenceAt , square feet, the former auto repair shopprogram. Their andaverhill.\x0bohnstartedinUTECsmattressnear UTECs headquarters had plenty of room forwork is making it recycling work program, where he discovered heproduction,classroomteaching,ashippingand enjoyed working with his hands. After advancingreceiving center, and a retail storefront in its twopossible for us to totheorganizationswoodworkingprogramandadjoiningbuildings,butUTECwasconcernedexpand our program training at local lumberyards, he landed a unionaboutbelow-groundcontaminationonthesite. job that allowed him to begin building a stable life. \x08eoff pushed for a deal that includes a three-yearand provide more Each year, UTEC serves dozens of young adults likelease on one building. This enables UTEC to movejobs for young \x0bohn through intensive programs that offer workintoa1,9-square-footspacewhiletheowner completesaremediationplancraftedwiththepeople.experienceandcoaching,helpingthemmakeahelp of attorney Susan \x11hillips and legal specialist transition from a life of crime to one of promise.\x0catie Durham.While more than half, or , of 1-toyear olds who have been released from jail in MassachusettsWe were very pleased to be able to address theGREGG CROTEAUare brought to court on criminal charges withinenvironmental issues successfully, Susan said. Chief Executive Ocera year of release, UTECs statistics show that onlyUTEC1 of its participants re-offend during that timeThe additional space to expand the woodworking period. UTEC also gives more thanother youngprogram, along with a new classroom instruction adults each year a new chance at life through acomponent, allows UTEC to provide young adults team of liaisons called streetworkers that makewith even more tools to help them transcend their connectionswithyoungpeopleinprisonandtroubled pasts.gangs,througheducationprogramstoprepareWith the renewed emphasis on social justice going them for the high school equivalency or \x08ED test,on all over the country, their work just seems to be and at an on-site early childhood education centerin step with the times, \x08eoff said.for participants children.AsUTECsleadersthoughtabouthowthey couldexpandthewoodworkingprogramand its partnership with Whole \x07oodswhich buys cuttingboards,saladtongs,andmerchandising RESILIENCE // Mintz Pro Bono Journal 35'