CHICAGO – On the 39th day of his 100-day rooftop vigil to raise money for a community center on the South Side of Chicago, Pastor Corey Brooks met with two former gangsters who were once destined to kill one another. Varney Voker ran the Black Disciples as one of its top bosses and ruled with ruthless business savvy. One block away, Lavondale Glass ran the rival Gangster Disciples with equal ruthlessness. Yet both men, by the grace of God or simple luck, avoided their deadly destiny when they met Brooks. He transformed them into citizens who now work for Project H.O.O.D. to repair the damage they caused their community.
However, this remarkable transformation did not come without a steep price for these two legendary street fighters who continue to be tested to this very day — sometimes beyond what most of us could endure.
When the pastor asked Glass, known on the streets as Big Dale, what it was like back in the day, he did not mince words.
“We tore the neighborhood up. Seriously tore it up,” Glass said. “We mainly fought about money. We mainly fought about real estate.”
Though both Voker and Glass began their lives as mortal enemies, they now work side by side as brothers as they try to right the wrongs of the South Side. Their Violence Impact Team, a vital part of the Project H.O.O.D. community center, has been credited for preventing as many as 50 retaliation killings a month — a stat never reported in the media.
“We on the line everyday, seven days a week, and the calls come out saying, ‘shots fired,’” Voker said. “If it’s two, three o’clock in the morning, we racing to get to these locations to try to see what’s going on. How can we be a help to the family? How can we prevent the next situation from taking place?”
It’s a risky and volatile world that Voker and Glass could walk away from anytime they choose. Instead, they choose to continue to put their lives on the line in the hopes of saving kids and their futures. Just like Brooks and Project H.O.O.D. saved theirs.
Follow along as Fox News checks in Pastor Corey Brooks each day with a new Rooftop Revelation
For more information, please visit Project H.O.O.D.
Eli Steele is a documentary filmmaker and writer. His latest film is “What Killed Michael Brown?” Twitter: @Hebro_Steele.
Camera by Terrell Allen.
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