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Barnabas Shakur says when he was 19 years old, his life changed. A friend of his who was in a gang was sentenced to life in prison for murder. Shakur says if his neighborhood had somewhere teenagers could go instead of the streets, things could have been different.

"We should have had options, like we didn't have options when I was younger," says Shakur.

Shakur didn't want anyone else to end up like his friend, so he started Bedford-Stuyvesant's Project Regeneration, also known as PRG. The organization gives teens jobs and provides them with career services, a family environment and a support system.

"Some people don't have a properly functioning family and you want to go someplace where you feel safe, where you feel like you have a family, where you have people who love you," says Shakur.

Shakur, who grew up in a single-family home in Bed-Stuy, says employing teens helps them stay motivated. The 40 teens in the organization's Foot Soldiers program help keep the community clean and homeowners pay their salaries.

"My sidewalk is clean everyday and I love, love, love the service," says homeowner Toya Williford. "The young people are polite, they're helpful."

"I would say it's a good cause because you are actually doing something productive," says foot soldier Mark Stephen. "You're not into any trouble, any fights, any gangs, any violence. You're actually out here, you are helping good people."

Shakur keeps the teens active by offering martial arts classes, which he says help build a stronger body and mind.

"There's not too many kids who can make it to 100 push-ups. So when you see those that do, you know that they are actually trying to get stronger," says Stephen. "And then with the knowledge that they know, they actually build their mind to become a lot smarter."

Shakur and the teens are raising money to expand their facility and build a teen center.

"He always attempts to bring out the best in us," says foot soldier Diane Glasgow. "When I first came, I really didn't have nothing, I didn't know anything.... I was not even about to finish high school, and now that I am here, I am a senior and I'm about to go to college."

So, for bringing out the best in teens and helping them achieve their goals, Barnabas Shakur is our New Yorker of the Week.

If you'd like to nominate someone to be NY1's New Yorker of the Week, send an email describing their qualifications to: nyer@ny1.com or mail a letter to:
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New Yorker of the Week
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